Dance Podcast Episode159: Reimagining Public Space, Joshua King

#159: In this episode of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast, host Martheya Nygaard Scott sits down with Joshua King, mixed-media artist and co-founder and Executive Director of AURORA, to explore how art, technology, and public space can create more accessible and connected cultural experiences.

Joshua shares the evolution of AURORA from a one-night light, video, and sound event into an internationally recognized public art organization. He reflects on the importance of taking art beyond traditional venues, meeting audiences where they are, and creating unexpected encounters with art in public spaces.

The conversation explores audience development, interdisciplinary collaboration, technology, and AI, including how artists and arts organizations can experiment with emerging tools while keeping artists and ideas at the center. Joshua also discusses North Texas as a launching pad for creative work and why artists should think beyond geographic and institutional boundaries.

In This Episode

• How AURORA reimagines public space through art and technology

• Why access and meeting audiences where they are matter

• What makes interdisciplinary collaboration successful

• How artists and organizations can experiment with technology and AI

• Why North Texas can be a launching pad for creative work beyond traditional boundaries

Chapters

00:00 Welcome + Meet Joshua King

01:18 The Origins & Evolution of AURORA

05:00 Access + Expanding Public Art

07:20 Technology as a Tool for Accessibility

10:00 Rethinking Audiences + Unexpected Spaces

12:00 Experiment, Explore + Expand

14:30 Building Successful Creative Collaborations

18:00 Technology + the Future of the Arts

21:00 Our Relationship with Technology

25:00 Where Dance, Art + Technology Collide

27:00 AI Behind the Scenes in Arts Organizations

31:00 AI as an Artistic Tool

34:00 Saying NO to the BOX

35:30 Reimagining Public Space

38:00 North Texas as a Creative Launching Pad

41:30 What’s Next for AURORA

Joshua King

Joshua King is a Texas-based mixed-media artist and co-founder and Executive Director of AURORA, a Dallas-based public art organization exploring the intersection of art, technology, and community. Since co-founding AURORA in 2010, King has helped expand North Texas’ cultural landscape through large-scale light, video, and sound experiences. His own artistic practice reimagines post-industrial objects, inviting audiences to question the familiar and explore new perspectives.

CONNECT WITH JOSHUA KING + AURORA

AURORA: dallasaurora.com

Social: @dallasaurora

Joshua King: @joshuakingart

This season of the Dance Behind the Screen Podcast is supported in part by the Moody Fund for the Arts and our generous individual Season Sponsors,

Dexter & Jenel Evans and Helen & James Gallas.