Wojtek Pilczynski & Kasia Kociomyk on Fine Art, Ego, and the Fight for Integrity

Las Vegas doesn’t need more shows. It needs more soul.

In this episode of Pursue Vegas, we sat down with artistic power couple Wojtek Pilczynski and Katarzyna Kociomyk (aka Kasia), whose mission is to bring truth, craft, and community back into the Vegas art world.

Originally from Poland, Kasia trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw and has been painting since 1998. Her signature style blends realism with subtle abstraction, a reflection of her life’s complexity and clarity. 

Wojtek, her husband and collaborator, has spent decades as a promoter, gallery owner, and fierce advocate for artists—refusing to let real art be diluted by hype and ego. “If I do not have a strong opinion about it, how can I contribute? How can I be a productive part of this or contribute to the growth which excites me?” he says, highlighting the responsibility artists have to shape the cultural narrative.

Together, they’ve impacted art communities across the country and now call Las Vegas home. Their goal? Put this city on the national art map by elevating quality over trend and connection over competition.

We explored the struggles of finding authentic collaborators in a city full of noise, where ego often overshadows expression. “Drop the ego, because ego is always gonna get in your way. Ego is so much affiliated with artistic souls,” Wojtek notes, emphasizing the spiritual maturity required to create something meaningful.

And for anyone tempted to rush the process, Kasia offers a reality check: “It takes time, it takes years of training. Nothing happens overnight. Just practice, practice, practice.”

Their conversation isn’t just about technique—it’s about integrity. About what it means to show up honestly, even when no one’s watching. “Artists need supporters, they need patrons, they need some injection of positive energy and hope and reason to create,” Kasia reminds us.

Wojtek also challenges the common perception of being a "local" artist: “No, I’m not a local artist. I don’t want to be a local artist. I don’t want to be put in that category... what a shame.”

This episode is a call to those who still believe in depth over performance, in emotion over algorithms, in building something real.

“Want to break the rules? Great. Like Picasso did. But you have to know the rules first.”

Key Takeaways:

• Art isn’t just aesthetics—it’s a calling to evoke emotion, challenge norms, and build community.
• Las Vegas has the bones to be a cultural powerhouse, but it needs artists willing to commit to truth and craft over surface-level fame.
• The art world doesn’t need more vanity metrics. It needs more artists willing to drop the ego and do the work.
• Labels like “local artist” can limit true expression. Think bigger.

Resources:

• Wojtek Pilczynski’s Fine Art Firm Global
• Katarzyna Kociomyk's Gallery 
• Follow Kasia on Instagram and connect with her for more behind-the-scenes from her painting process and artistic journey,

Thanks for tuning in to The Pursue Vegas Podcast!

Transcript

0:00:00 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): My name is Wojtek Puczinski.

0:00:02 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): My name is Katarzyna Kociomyk.

0:00:04 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And you are listening to the Pursue Vegas podcast.

0:00:09 - (Dave Burlin): The idea of Pursue Vegas was to really highlight the local people that really make Vegas Vegas.

0:00:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love that aspect of how these visionaries are actually bringing people together.

0:00:20 - (Dave Burlin): When we hit record, our responsibility is to connect the people of our city so we can show the world who we really are. All right, welcome back to the Pursue Vegas podcast. I'm your host, Dave Berlin.

0:00:32 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I'm your co host, Tawni Nguyen.

0:00:33 - (Dave Burlin): And we are.

0:00:36 - (Tawni Nguyen): Pick a word, Any word.

0:00:37 - (Dave Burlin): Very exciting.

0:00:38 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): O so do we.

0:00:43 - (Dave Burlin): I'm really excited about today's conversation because it's not very often that as Tawi and I have been working together, we get to introduce each other to new remarkable people in Las Vegas and had the honor of meeting today's guests at their home and looking at some of their beautiful artwork and everything that they're working on. We have Wojtek and Katana. Katana K. See, I got it. I got it. Not Kesha, by the way.

0:01:12 - (Tawni Nguyen): Not Kesha with the money grain.

0:01:15 - (Dave Burlin): Not with the dol. No. So grateful to have you guys on today's show.

0:01:21 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Than you.

0:01:23 - (Dave Burlin): This episode may not do it justice because it's just something that you have to experience to be able to come into your home and see everything that you guys have not just created from an art perspective, but just in community as well. So grateful to have you on the show. Tell us about you. Tell us about your story, what you're excited about, all the things we're diving in.

0:01:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Go off.

0:01:45 - (Dave Burlin): We're diving in.

0:01:46 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Od youa be.

0:01:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): First of all, thank you. Yeah. Thank you for sitting down with us. I know time.

0:01:53 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Thank you for having us.

0:01:55 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, yes, exactly. And this time is beautiful. And it was just great to have you in our home and meet you both. It's just terrific energy and terrific people to communicate with the message. They want to kind of communicate with Vegas folks. And so, Kashia, do you want to say something first and about yourself?

0:02:16 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Well, so I'm going to introduce myself. My name is Kataakoielk. I'm professional Polish painter. I received my education In Poland, my home/own Isielkoba, south of Poland. I was lucky to be admitted to Great art High school, which actually my father graduated from too. So it was like a family tradition. Then I applied to Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. It was still time when there was not too many art schools in Poland as far as college education.

0:02:50 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): So I was again, I got very Lucky I got admitted with first approach and after five years of education studying under really great professional Polish painters in the 90s. I'm so lucky because many of them they are not no longer with us. Unfortunately. I graduated in 1998 and since that time I work as professional painter. I prefer realistic or realistic paintings with sometimes with hint touch of abstract elements.

0:03:32 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And this is what I do for all those years. And I moved to United States in 2010. We started our collaboration with my husband Wojtek. He used to own art gallery in Vermont. Beautiful won award winning T25 in nation. And since then we are doing this together.

0:03:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): And for those listening that we need a little bit of a definition of what fine art is.

0:04:03 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Well, what fine art is. I hear very often that beauty is in art of beholder. But wow. I'm still for art education. If they are self thought artists, which is more power to them. I you really admire people who are able to gain knowledge, educate themselves. You know, having some self guidance. This is for me this is even more impressive when people achieve great effects and you know art, this is actually quite close to science. It has a lot of roles.

0:04:45 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): It has a lot of technology, techniques and art history which goes into this one big part. And when you somehow grasp this, you can pick and choose what you want. What you want, proceed. If you want to break the rules, great, like Picasso did. But you have to know the rules first. This is what I strongly believe in.

0:05:11 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love that and thank you for establishing the strong foundation so that we have something to like dance on, you know.

0:05:17 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, you know, if you want to dance, if you want to keep on dancing. If I may, I have a long time experience with on the other side. I've been an art promoter for many years and my venture with art started about 30 years ago. And unfortunately it never ends. You know though sometimes it's painful.

0:05:44 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): N. Unfortunately.

0:05:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, and I just want to add because Kasha never says that she graduated on top of the class with masters in painting and also graphic design.

0:05:58 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yes, graphic design. It was focused on poster design. But this old fashioned not using computers. It was everything done by hand. Oh wowes.

0:06:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): That's a thing.

0:06:10 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): That was the thing actually.

0:06:12 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Polish School of Poster Design. It was blooming through 6:17 in Europe was one of the.

0:06:21 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And it was actually used many times in American films in Halloween and things like that. So this we talk about the strong foundation of which I think is important with the subject that we're going to be talking about today. So know our. Our vision of fine art and Our understanding of fine art kind of developed in a time when that word was still kind of sacred. You know, when we were thinking about fine art as something that is just almost hard to reach and is very, very exclusive for the lack of a better word.

0:07:08 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And the things started to change, you know, the society started to change and you know, we will moved to a different country and things like that. And you know, here we are in Las Vegas. After so many years, after, you know, five different art gallies, after so many different clients and artists that we work with and institutions and charitable works, we are finding ourselves in Vegas and. And here we are in a different complete environment where we still have those romantic type of beliefs and ideas and we find it sometimes difficult to implement and inject in modern day.

0:07:54 - (Dave Burlin): Absolutely.

0:07:55 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yeah. We are a really old school, old fashioned and we would love to preserve this even in part of this big, vast field which art is right now, direct contact with clients, really good craft and art based on this, really good craft. So this is what we are for.

0:08:22 - (Dave Burlin): I love that. And I've thought about a lot about our conversation that we had at your house. And it's been fascinating because I know that in any community there's going to be goals that the community has, whether this be a. A community within a community. So we'll talk about the art community, but I'm also talking about Vegas as a whole. I feel like a lot of times the community is going in a certain direction and it's evolving by things that are changing all the time.

0:08:54 - (Dave Burlin): I thought a lot about what we had talked about in some of the challenges and we're definitely gonna dig into that. But I also, I want to have a little bit of grace too, because if you really look at Vegas in the global economy of things, while they are very much a global player in so many avenues, they're also a very young city. It's barely 100 years old. And it's evolved so many times because of the role that it plays in the rest of the world.

0:09:26 - (Dave Burlin): And with that we're getting some of the most remarkable artists, community leaders that don't necessarily fit where they come from or they see an opportunity, a spark, something magic that's drawn them to Las Vegas. And sometimes that magic is a responsibility that we have to go make an impact. And we see a gap in a challenge that's happening in a community. I saw that in a different way in more like entrepreneurship and things of that nature.

0:09:56 - (Dave Burlin): You guys see that and you see a lot of challenges, but also some opportunities that we have for the art community and artists who may be listening to this around the world of the things that are happening here in Las Vegas.

0:10:09 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, if I may, you mentioned Vegas being about 100 years old. I do believe that the Vegas that we are mostly interested in, which is the community of Las Vegas and Henderson, people who are moving here to actually stay here and live here and raise their children and get a satisfaction out of living in Las Vegas, it's even younger than that because I think I feel even being here for only seven years, I feel already there's a shift from the transient city that it always was and everybody was telling us about to the place where people actually want to live and they want to even maybe think about raising the generations of children.

0:11:00 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So with that, this is a very exciting part of Las Vega'history when it's actually transforming to a city instead of just being a fun place to be and in and out or just a little venure venture town. So it's becoming more substantial with much stronger infrastructure, much stronger influence of creative and bright people, innovative people. So I think the opportunities are there. But from my previous experience, when, because I've been in those places that were going through transition, Las Vegas is going through right now.

0:11:49 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And in that almost free falling, sometimes chaotic atmosphere, you can create a lot of good or you can create a lot of damage or miss out on many opportunities. There are being developed in a certain way but not being carefully watched. And I believe art is a big part of that. When there's a lot of different things and a lot of different people coming to Vegas with the hopes of exposing and their creativity.

0:12:30 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But I think from our observation for seven years, there is definitely an issue that is wor worth talking about.

0:12:41 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And if I may, there is also additional challenge in Vegas. People which are very much settled in Vegas, people who were born in Vegas, people who live here for 30, 40 years. This is like completely separate society, which is very hard to enter because they learned that people, this is transient city people come and go. So sometimes they are simply afraid to invest in any relationships. Even also either this is a professional relationship or personal relationship with newcomers or creative relations or creative relationship because you never know, people come and go. People, people come and go.

0:13:27 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): So gaining trust. This is also quite a work to proving yourself that you are here to stay, you are here to contribute.

0:13:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): I completely agree. I love the part where you said people are now planting roots here and we're starting to kind of weed out the different pockets of people in this town and different communities Kind of like us, like if we were to compare it to like a decade, then we're all transient. If that doesn't make the. The break of five years or whatever you want to call it. Right. So we're working on the first initial five years of being established as a local, as earning your badges, as planting and building and adding value to the people in our community. And not just coming and taking and making fast money and burning relationships and burning bridges and then just, you know.

0:14:15 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Leaving people worse than or using people and living. This is the worst.

0:14:20 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I think you mentioned something the word which is to me is sometimes I think I believe it's very important, but it's also very confusing. Meaning word local, let's say. But let me just maybe speak of the field that we are familiar with. Let's say a local artist. Okay. What does it mean, local artists? Local artists is the one who lives let say in Las Vegas. And that many times, you know, it is, people are attracted to the idea, the local artists.

0:15:00 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But from what we found, and forgive me, all of those school who disagree with me, and I knew that I'going to be controversial, that the majority of the local art is really not on a level that in many cases it should be even considered art. Not the case, not just because it's on a canvas or it's made by somebody. You know, it doesn't in our opinion, doesn't make an art. And I think that what we would like to do is make a shift.

0:15:38 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): That local artist, that artists from Las Vegas is the artist that is affiliated with quality, no matter what the style, medium is, whatever the creative, but it's created with creativity. So for example, people that from Vegas prefer to buy art in New York or San Francisco, or they go on a CRU or they go to Europe and they prefer to do that because it's kind of hip place to buy. If we somehow with time can make a transition where that Vegas would be the place to buy art, that would be terrific.

0:16:13 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It would be absolutely fantastic to have Las Vegas art shows like they have in New York, Miami. If we can la, we can bring that in here BN now or things like that. And there's definitely a lot of infrastructure that can accommodate that. But I think that if there is. There is some sort of movement in that direction, I think we can attract just tremendous amount of terrific artists and they will recognize that Vegas is a great place to live. And maybe we can create a much more stronger and more sophisticated art scene in Vegas.

0:16:53 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And local artists, people who just start who Learn can have great teachers around themselves, their motivations and motivation. There is nothing like going to the museums, going to the galleries. You can have teacher who'going to explain you something. But I'old that I am less I believe in teachers actually more I believe in you go places, you see pieces of artwork, you see how it's done, you analyze this, you take what works for you and you build on this.

0:17:31 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Because becoming a, you know, having an art teacher who is teaching people just their style, they were thinking it's like building mini me and art. This is about expressing yourself. So I really believe that this is quite a lonely journey when you have to look for things which are appealing to you, which you admire. And this is the best way to learn.

0:18:10 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah. Well, I think one of the challenges that I've seen because in a way we're all artists, right. Especially entrepreneurs, especially artists, musicians, even another fine art in the city. Maybe not to the same definition. Is food like foodly a massive part of art. And it's interesting. I work a lot with restaurants on one of the projects that I'm on. And there's in a whole industry, in almost every industry, there's people that come from ego and then there's people that come from the true capacity to want to learn.

0:18:48 - (Dave Burlin): I know because we have such a hodgepodge and you mentioned like it being a lot of the same people that have been here for a long time, sometimes that ego tries to protect and preserve what's maybe capped out at their true potential. Right. And I believe that it takes catalysts like you and people that come from other communities, not just the quality of the art that you do, which your art is amazing.

0:19:13 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Thank you.

0:19:14 - (Dave Burlin): It's also the places that you come, the lessons that you've learned. And you've seen other communities that have got it right, you've seen other communities that have got it wrong. And we all have something to offer. I think every kind of part of this community has the ability to learn from other communities or people that have come from other communities to say, hey, you may not realize that we're stuck.

0:19:41 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Yeah.

0:19:42 - (Dave Burlin): In what we believe to be awesome.

0:19:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): The bubble of comfort.

0:19:46 - (Dave Burlin): Exactly. The bubble of comfort. And it's like, how do you ever break out of that? Now I will say that we've had. And while again, it's a young city, we are still dusting off some of the residue from pandemic which challenged this city, it challenged everyone, but it challenged this city at a core that we're still seeing. Not just the repercussions of what that's caused. But we've also seen people a lot more open to being entertained and educated by people that have had to rely on other springs of life, like art, where art, I think, has always been a result of this community. It's like, well, we have to have art too.

0:20:31 - (Dave Burlin): And it's like people just kind of said, oh, let's do it. It was never someone that said, let's stop the world for a minute and make them realize the level of what's going.

0:20:43 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Excuse me, honey. Also, the pandemic, I think it showed the resilience of Las Vegas. And it was just really wonderful to see that as well. That made us actually believe in staying here. But, you know, if there's any main thing that I really would love to kind of project with this discussion is that I know and I met some and I believe there are many more people who I really would love to do something.

0:21:22 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): To put something substantial, to put Las Vegas on the art map of. Let. Let's start with America. And in order to do that, I think you have to have a group of people who are like minded. They have the same goal and they think big in a direction. They can actually make a difference. That the people from outside Vegas would pay attention to that. And if I may, it was just one of the. Part of our journey was living in Montecito, Santa Barbara.

0:22:00 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And if it wasn't for Montecito mudslides and fires and things like that, I hope that would come to fruition. We want to start a Montecito Art Festival, which was sponsored by Montecito bank and Trust. And I had some meetings with them. And then there were some celebrities like Opah, some other people, Ellen, the. So there were people involved in that sense of excitement to turn the streets, the main street of Montecito, into a beautiful, high quality art festival.

0:22:38 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yes. With artists from all over.

0:22:40 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): From all over. As many as we could get, and we have access to many. But I think that if there was a group, if we can just maybe preach here for a while, send a signal to those who are feeling frustrated, who are feeling, you know, maybe there's no. No hope for that, or I don't have anybody to talk to about that. Or maybe there are people just gonna reject my radical ideas. I don't believe in that. I think that the people can actually get together and create something. And even having art expo in Las Vegas, you like the art expo in New York, in another big city, I think there will be just such a fabulous idea.

0:23:24 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It Would create revenues, create some focal points from all over the country, the news, and that would just. And I think that that would motivate a lot of people, you know, and.

0:23:40 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): What I discovered few years ago when we moved to Las Vegas and I was learning more about Las Vegas artists, I learned that some just hide. They claim I just live here, but I'm not involved in art community here. They have presence all over the country, sometimes abroad, but this is, this is just place to live and create. In their bubble, in isolation, they're almost.

0:24:09 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): They're almost afraid to be identified as local artists because they're put in the same part with a lot of people who are and everybody who express them themselves artistically, more power to them. But unfortunately for us old timers or new timers who are having a certain vision, it's sometimes difficult. And it's very unfortunate that people hide because they say, no, I'm not a local artist. I don't want to be a local artist. I don't want to be put in that category, affiliated, affiliated with this. And I said, you know, what a shame, you know, what a shame, because the highest quality is just being hidden.

0:24:50 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And you can say, we went to a few shows and you see them having an international recognition, but they say, I don't want to have anything to do with this. And it's very unfortunate.

0:25:05 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, you brought up something that was beautiful, is the freedom of self expression, which I feel like that is one of the biggest art that we forget. And for us, the liberation on this show is we focus on speaking truth and bringing on people who aren toa speak their truth, regardless of what it feels like to others. But we do want to share our message freely because we want to attract other people to us that are either struggling or has a sense of loneliness, as you mentioned.

0:25:33 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Right.

0:25:33 - (Tawni Nguyen): But something that has resonated is that what Fine Arts was to me when we were at your house, just looking, is that the previous weekend I went to a digital art show, right? And it's immersive, it's the smell, the sound, it's just very bombarding. But when I was at your house, I felt a sense of peace and groundedness because it reminds me to just be collected and be present and really just let the art take me. And I don't need all of this stimulation because we are so digitally driven that sometimes we forget what it's like to just stand, sit, dine, talk with one one another, and like put away our phones and just really connect on a human level that we forget what that's like because we're just so distracted by so many things and I kind of question myself, like, what is art? What is it supposed to do to me? What is it like, what am I supposed to feel? Right?

0:26:24 - (Tawni Nguyen): But when you're in the moment of art, you forget. And then you remind yourself this is life. You know, standing, looking at the water, feeling the breeze, looking at the art, especially the two in your living room. The yearning. Like the one of my favorite things is you've done human emotions so well that through the eyes and through just the way you present yourself through your art. It's like it made me feel emotions. And that's something that I feel's really hard to define on.

0:26:53 - (Tawni Nguyen): On an art level. You know, like when you were explaining, you know, the two with the snake and the heart and the yearning, I felt those emotions and I just felt like, wow. Like I didn't know this is what like being in front of like, you know, a gallery of art is supposed to be anymore and just. Just real hospitality and you know that.

0:27:13 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): You said so many beautiful things.

0:27:15 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): This is extremely important to get in touch with people who are interested in art, who love art. Not necessarily collectors who are gonna buy it, but you know, just put somebody in front of the painting with incompletely peace and quiet environment and let them feel their emotions. I don't like explaining too much about my paintings. I like when they speak for themselves. This is visual arts. So words are completely unnecessary.

0:27:51 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): This is also what is, I think very distractive to visual arts is that you know people right now because there's instant gratification. You have to understand everything immediately. You have to experience everything immediately. And it. It's just killing. I mean, it's killing the true purpose of creativity. Because, you know, you sell the story. That's what sell the story. Give us a story.

0:28:18 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): What's your spiel?

0:28:18 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): What's your spiel? What's the story behind this?

0:28:21 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): This one?

0:28:22 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And it's just how long it take you to do this, you know, and.

0:28:24 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): It'S just you don't look like an artist. You should be, you know, looking quite.

0:28:29 - (Tawni Nguyen): Me a 30 second elevator pitch. Like, how tiring is that?

0:28:33 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Yeah, so it's all of it. All of it. It'just we basically what we're trying to always say to people and we've built for some time a very successful business on that and a very successful kind of life because it's that'only that we try to survive on that. We also try to. This is our life. This is what we breathe and every day.

0:28:56 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): So this is not our job. This is what we are.

0:28:59 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): As you said, just slow things down. We really would love to slow things down because the stimulation that you get from AI or some immersive experiences with art, all great and dandy'just. O, this is cool. But, you know, five minutes and I'm kind of. I'm done. We're a piece of art. And we've been and overall loaded, overwhelmin. But you. We've been to many beautiful homes here in Las Vegas and Henderson.

0:29:30 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And unfortunately, in our opinion, because we are not here to judge anybody'stays but in our opinion, there is that element that it is lacking of. Like that piece of art that people just say, o, you have to take a look at this. You know, this is the way I feel about it. So art brings certain emotions to your home that makes almost like a spiritually safe place for whoever lives there. And it's a reflection of who they are. So it creates a home instead of just putting something on or a.

0:30:09 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Yeah.

0:30:09 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And for me, connecting person with piece of art they really respond to. They feel. I don't know, this. This inner connection which they sometimes are willing to express, sometimes not. Sometimes people get so emotional that they are crying. And this is amazing. Amazing. I love people and people crying.

0:30:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Ugly CR. My face, by the way.

0:30:37 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): It's not. So this is the most rewarding experience for an artist to bring. To evoke emotions in other people. Well, bring something to surface.

0:30:50 - (Dave Burlin): I have to speak to that because since I've been in your home, I have been challenged with conflict. I have been given love and expression. Amazing, remarkable things have happened. And I'm not saying that it's just because I went to your house. But what was really interesting about after our conversation and incredible food, by the way. Thank you for that. You took us into one of the rooms where a lot of your art has been transformed into small prints in shadowbox frames.

0:31:27 - (Dave Burlin): And you gave all of us the opportunity to choose one. But you gave me one. You said, this one is for you. That one sits next to my bed. And since. So I wake up to it every morning and think. I lay there and I think and I look at it before I go to bed at night. And sometimes that's a large gap in betweenus. I'm busy. But I just want toa say this because it's something that now in what you're talking about, I keep here. I've heard it. It's scratched at my soul.

0:31:56 - (Dave Burlin): And now I have to put it down because it's almost a principle to what Tanya and I have ve discussed the role of this show. We have a responsibility to get to the truth. And this is probably one of the more poetic ways to circle Mike Kim into this conversation. Mike is somebody that Tany and I both know, somebody that uses words more eloquently than most artists I've ever known. But he has three really simple questions that have really helped me understand more of who I am and to challenge other people.

0:32:29 - (Dave Burlin): And I think it's a perfect segue, because the responsibility that I have now, that's echoed through the experience of you guys with your home. The piece of art that you gave.

0:32:38 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Me, he is called Rescue from mundane. And that'I love that. That's what, to me, is just what your podcast is all about. It's rescuing from mundane. Just run away from mediocrity and try to elevate, elevate our minds and our awareness. And God bless you guys.

0:33:01 - (Dave Burlin): Perfect. And you teed it up beautifully. Because now let's rescue from mundane. Let's not ask the surface level questions of what do you do? Mike's three questions. What pisses you off? What breaks your heart? And what problem are you trying to solve? Right. So as you really internalize that, one of the things that that's always pissed me off is when people look at this community and they think that we're just the Strip and that we all live in the Cosmopolitan.

0:33:31 - (Dave Burlin): Now I live in the wind, but that's a different story. I'm just kidding.

0:33:34 - (Tawni Nguyen): Reallytch ground.

0:33:36 - (Dave Burlin): And then what breaks my heart is I know when I remember the day that I drove into this community in a rental car one way I know there was 100 people that were leaving this city because there, because of you are coming. No, no more. Because they came here, got the news we not evennn try.

0:33:57 - (Tawni Nguyen): We got to get out here.

0:33:59 - (Dave Burlin): But no, the problem that I'm tryingoveringid, the problem that I'm trying to solve is that I believe that we can connect the people of this community and really show the world who we really are. Right? And it echoes through the conversations that we have here now. And I know that there are challenges that you see in the art community. You know that there's challenges that you see in our ecosystem as a whole.

0:34:22 - (Dave Burlin): But again, while ego is one thing, this isn't an ego play here. It's like the true understanding of why you see these challenges are echoing what pisses you off, what breaks your heart, and what problem are you trying to Solve. So I pass those questions to each of you, and then we start firing shots at how we fix it.

0:34:46 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So what p you, honey pie?

0:34:48 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Off. It was my first. What pieces me off? People who don't keep their world. We meet because of our profession. So many people, and we hear so many beautiful things. Amazing about collaborations, about introducing us to other people who love art, about whatever we can do together or whatever they want from us, and we can provide for them. And like, 99.9% just disappear. They don't follow through. And this is what makes me really upset, because you are getting, like, burned down inside, you know, Complet.

0:35:40 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Burn down. Burout out how it is in English.

0:35:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Burning.

0:35:46 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): I'BURNING yes. Which actually, one of my paintings is called Burning Desires and is a lot of fire in it. But this is what pisses me off. What was the second?

0:35:59 - (Dave Burlin): What breaks your heart?

0:36:00 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): What breaks my heart? Well, it's gonna be very personal what breaks my heart, and it's never gonna be mended. My experience is from my private life, when my kids were disconnected with me for about 10 and 12 years. I have 2 sts. One is almost 27. Other one is almost 21. I love them very much, but because of how life went and how life was directed not by me, but people with more means and more power than I had, we got disconnected for so many years. And we keep finding each other again. We keep learning each other, but.

0:36:56 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And I hoped that what we experienced with my kids together when they were small, it's still there in their hearts, like it's in my heart. And this is based to build on our adult relationship. Yes. So this is what's breaking my heart. You know, this. This time we lost.

0:37:21 - (Dave Burlin): And then all of that builds the character of who you are, not just in your story, but in the story of the history of this community with all of that. What problem are you trying to solve?

0:37:36 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): What problem I'm trying to solve? I'm trying to figure out how to find people who think alike, how to find people which I can have honest conversation. I can find some understanding, some, let's say, not moral, but, you know, like support on this more spiritual, higher level. I can just connect with them. It's not gonna be empty conversation. And if we're gonna see each other again, for both parties, doesn't mean much.

0:38:21 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): I would love to find my triaph. I would really love to.

0:38:27 - (Dave Burlin): I love that.

0:38:28 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Beauiful that.

0:38:30 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And first question. What?

0:38:33 - (Dave Burlin): What pisses you off?

0:38:35 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, you can pull out the laundry. I'm gonna be'm gonna just do like a shorter version here because you know. But I have to tell you the storyited we're invited and it's going to answer the question. We're invited to some fundraising event and somebody's home and another one of those experiences, fake experiences. And the question was asked to all the participants if they had magic wand, what would they change?

0:39:08 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And everybody's going out there trying to promote themselves and blah blah blah. And I'm just going like oh my God, this is. And I was my turn to say this. If I had let magic wand I would just get rid of all the bullshit, you know, Boom. Yeah. And like. And it was just like what did just happen? You know. But that's people. So this is what really. This what really pissed me off because it's just so.

0:39:36 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It's just so present, it's just so everywhere. And to me it's just people get more sophisticated with their B's instead of trying to spend their energy on becoming better people and more truthful people. So that really makes me upset. What breaks my heart kind of the same thing from a different angle, you know that people just do not communicate honestly with each other. That we don't have enough courtesy to one another, respecters one another. And I always believe that the biggest gift we can give another human being is to be truthful.

0:40:18 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And I alsoite write music anyway. But one of the songs is just the lyrics are saying the toughest, the hardest thing in being is to be yourself. And I truly believe that. And it really. It'a sad thing that that actually is the truth that know we struggle and we are not in. In the environment conducive to us being ourselves because we'constantly being judged and that makes us shy away or for whatever reason, whatever the reason is.

0:40:53 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): But if I can interrupt being enough.

0:40:55 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): You can it piss me up.

0:40:59 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): That's great. Your blood is gonna just, you know, run faster.

0:41:04 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But that was supposed to be a joker.

0:41:07 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): But I was serious.

0:41:08 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): No, you go ahead.

0:41:11 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And I lost my thought right now.

0:41:14 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So I'm gonna go to what do we do?

0:41:17 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And this is what's happening in our house all the time. So these are our creative discussion.

0:41:22 - (Dave Burlin): Well, in that like then ultimately. Thank you for sharing that. But also what is the problem that you hope to solve or what is the problem that you're trying to solve through that expression?

0:41:34 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Wellah, what I'm trying. What I'm trying to. You know, I would love to see. And again, this is. This is where. Where. Where the things are in transition. I think is or the places in transition or people are in transition, or the society is in tradition or or communities in transition, I think this is the most productive time to actually inject those ideas. Because if you are too late, if something is already formed in a certain way, injecting something new is very difficult.

0:42:06 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So that would be my dream. If as this city builds and grows, I think that would be just a wonderful thing if we became a city of truth. You know, I know this is a utopic concept, but I think that if people start coming out of woodwork and actually communicate with one one another in a truthful and respectful matter, I think that is the first step of creating a healthy community which can then strive and grow.

0:42:49 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): That I would love to do that. With me getting in trouble so many times for speaking the truth, I said I don't give a damn, you know, and sometimes I know that I'm leaning towards these people are never going to talk to me again. And I just said, okay, fine, you know, if this is what it is and it's not even delivery, sometimes delivery is maybe not appropriate or maybe it's not the way I would because I get them all emotional about it.

0:43:21 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But you know, the fact of the matter is the truth is the truth or my opinion, I'm entitled to it. And I'm going to listen to somebody's opinions as well. So I think that, that you know, just really I would love to work in a way and I feel like almost this pastast what you guys doing and this'what is so attractive to us that from your visit to our home and to now, it's just that you are really trying to do that. You're trying actually you'being proactive and you are saying, okay, I'm sticking my reputation, my podcast, my guests and everything. And I put it step forward to make this a better place. So more power to you and thank you for just including us in that.

0:44:09 - (Tawni Nguyen): No, thank you for that.

0:44:10 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And if I can say one more thing, you know, you mentioned judgment, constant judgment. And for artists in whatever field this is, this is what's happening constantly. Because you have to put yourself out there and you put out there pie of your soul. This is the most vulnerable part of you. And you wait what people are gonna say how they gonn how it's gonna be received. What are you gonna hear? Nice words, encouragement or somebody on Facebook because guy had a bad day gonna say really horrible things which gonna bring you down and crash for a long, long time.

0:44:56 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): So to yourself ye have you have to try to touch yourself from it. Yes, but people who start. It's very difficult. You know, people who are not sure if they are on right path or they didn't achieve this what they really would like to. It can be very discouraging sometimes.

0:45:18 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And this is brill I maybe this brings us to a larger, I think issue as far as what you are talking about in Vegas as a community. I think and when you have an environment, when people are prone to detach themselves from getting involved, from speaking their minds or they feel alienated. I think this is not a healthy place to build a community. So I think that encourage people in developing the sense of trust in one another.

0:45:49 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I think that is one of the most important elements of healthy community. I spent many years in Vermont in a very small, very beautiful community of people who are just basically were loving each other, caring for each other. And they. They were quite educated, sophisticated and they were quite, you know, uneducated and unsophisticated. But we didn't care. Everything was in one pot and we were treating each other as people.

0:46:23 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And you know, interesting thing about it is because Vegas is similar to that in the mat larger scale celebrities would gravitate to that town. It was Woodstock, Vermont. And they would build. Aerosmith had a farm there. You know, there were all kinds of different celebrities. They were walking on the street and nobody would botherels. Fashion models and things like that. Politicians. And I had them in the Gallo all the time.

0:46:48 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And nobody would bother them. They would just. There was this beautiful sense of everybody is equal and everybody should respect one another and. And that was beautiful. And I think I got a little spoiled living in that bubble for so many years. And then I went out to the world and just realized that, you know, well, things are little different.

0:47:15 - (Dave Burlin): Personally, I wouldn't take it as spoiled. And then now you just have to deal with people that don't get it. It's like again, it comes back to that responsibility. You guys have said so many things that have just seriously scratched at my soul. And now I feel like I gotta get loud about this stuff. Because when you talk about artists, I think everyone has a different responsibility. And it's the responsibility that we believe that we have.

0:47:41 - (Dave Burlin): And some people are inspired by art, some people are inspired by music. Some people believe that they have to go work in a 9 to 5 cubicle and work at the DMV. And for those people, those are the people that helped us get our driver's license so we can drive around and listen to your music or Go see the things that we want to see. And I think everyone plays this different role. And one of the things that I definitely want to touch on. And I'm gonna go off on a rant here because you mentioned the.

0:48:14 - (Dave Burlin): The people that flake and the people that get so inspired. And I think if it's anything like the experience that we had, or at least that I had when we went to your home, you immediately walk into a reflection of yourself, and you take everything that you've brought on this journey, and you're like, oh, wow. What I thought I knew before I walked into this house is a big part of it. But I remember one of the paintings that I looked at.

0:48:42 - (Dave Burlin): When I saw it, I felt like it was an expression, but I wasn't sure. And I asked, oh, what's this one? And it was the one that you said was inspired since you've been in Las Vegas. Because I could see architecture, and nothing resembles the Vegas skyline. It was sharper than anything else that I had seen in your house. And I felt like that was architecture.

0:49:05 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It was my veg.

0:49:06 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): My Vegas number one. And it was my. Like, something like Vegas boiled to this in my head when we moved in. Then he. Right now, I have much vaster. I don't know if this word exists, actually. Vaster experience I know more about.

0:49:30 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): There's unncle vestter.

0:49:33 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): So why their experience? I have much, much richer image of Vegas in my head. But it was my very first impression.

0:49:44 - (Dave Burlin): Yeah, good. Well, when. Now. And your first impression is pro. Probably was conceptualized by a lot of things. Since that time, you guys, I have been. I'm sure Tani has been, too. You. We've been hurt by people who get really excited, and they say they're gonna do these things, and then they don't. Right. Inna hit on that. Because it's something that, as you were talking about it, I was like, oh, I know there's not. I don't have the solution to that. But what I will do is this is kind of calling out anyone else.

0:50:19 - (Dave Burlin): It's not who runs from things. It's just. I feel a lot of people that say, get excited about something or they're challenged by somebody who'sees something in a different way. A lot of people that run from it. It's. It's about fear. Right? Ultimately, fear is what makes people behave the way they do. It's either out of fear or it's out of love. And there's this again. Since I received that piece from you, there's A poem that keeps coming up and I have to share it now because I feel like it's going to be part of a conversation in time.

0:50:57 - (Dave Burlin): But it's really trying to magnetize and polarize those people that are like us, that believe that we what we believe. And I'm just hitting it here because I was like, I've got to say at this point. And it's by Marianne Williamson for the conversation around God or universe, however you see it, Our deepest fear is not that we're inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.

0:51:26 - (Dave Burlin): We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are we not to be? You are a child of God and you're playing small does not serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that's within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.

0:51:56 - (Dave Burlin): And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

0:52:07 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Veryue beautiful and very truthful. Very truthful.

0:52:10 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And you mentioned pandemic. I think many people got time to rethink their lives, to reflect on it, to do maybe change something, to get closer who they really are, because they just got some time on their hands, which would never happen without pandemic.

0:52:34 - (Dave Burlin): Pandemic, I believe, was one of the most remarkable things to happen in our lifetime. And where everyone was at. It's very similar to some of those challenging things where, where everyone was at during 9, 11, and that's a whole different story. But I was on the other side of the world on my first deployment in the Marine Corps. And I look at the world differently because of that experience, just as I do being here in Las Vegas in a city that relied on live events and just having their doors open 24 7.

0:53:06 - (Dave Burlin): It's not just having the stages and all those things closed. I mean, the Strip became a piece of architecture and that was it.

0:53:15 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): The doors closed. I think what you're just saying is just. Is just really fantastic. And I, you know, it's almost like I feel that it's inappropriate for me to have such a strong opinions about the city. But in the same time, if I do not have a strong opinion about it, how can I contribute? How can I be A productive part of this or contributing to the growth which excites me. And I think that your podcast, and I didn't even know that was existing.

0:53:57 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I think your podcast, if it continues going the direction that you are describing, you are going, I think is an extremely powerful tool to create a group of people who would feet of each other with that creativity and try to really unselfishly build something new and awesome, you know, and that would include, you know, that lady in the cubicle in a dmv. We never know if this person is not yearning for seeing art.

0:54:37 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): If we had a client who never ever bought a piece of art in his life and he's in his 60s, he's in construction, he never thought that, you know, he thought the artist was the stupidest thing. His children, when he bought a piece of art, thought that he.

0:54:52 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): He went crazy.

0:54:53 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): He went crazy. So that kind of environment and he came to cash to us and saw Ksh's work and he transformed and he transformed. Then we got to know him. Oay. So this tough construction guy is telling us, you know, when I was in high school, I was in, you know, the theater program or I was loving acting, I was loving. So all those things are being pulled out. And he's saying, I'm catching myself in front of the painting, sitting for hours and kind of meditating.

0:55:26 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And I'm just saying, if we can. The construction work, all those jobs that we usually affiliate with a lack of sensit sens sensitivity or receptive soul or it'not true. Are people. I don't know anything about art. I think everybody knows everything what they need to know about art. It's just a question of pulling them out and saying, okay, just look at things, you know, and just create your own universe, whatever you respond to and try to grow with it and try to be open minded about it. And then this lady from the cubicle is gonna go to, hey, I went to this museum was so awesome, you know, it might have changed my mind and maybe life is gonna be different, maybe life is gonna get richer.

0:56:16 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So I know all those things. I mean, I've been always, you know, my mom was always saying to me, you know, you're gonna get on this white horse and you're gonna just. Just go through life on the white horse. And I fell off of this goddamn horse so many times'not been funny. But I'm trying to get back on it, but. And when I see other people trying to get on those white horses all around me, I'm saying, okay, maybe we can ride together and maybe create something bigger. So I think that what you is doing is a part of it. And God bless you for doing so. I mean, really.

0:56:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): And you know what's funny? It's the context of this is Total Stranger danger that if we were to tell anybody how we all met, they would be like, what the hell? Because I used such a digital way to reach out to you. And you responded back with a very old fashioned way, which spoke to me. Because if anyone in modern day now invites a stranger to their house, they come like, oh my God, am I gonna get murdered safe?

0:57:15 - (Tawni Nguyen): Yeah, like, what is going on? Should I drop my location? Should I? But we had conversation, we got on the phone, we talked and then you. I reached out to Dave, I was like, hey, like need go, we need to go here. And he's like, what? Like when's the last time someone invited you to their house? I'm like, not often. And that's why it was so magical, because for us with the food. You're gonna bring up the food?

0:57:35 - (Dave Burlin): No, I was gonna say, by the way, Tanei doesn't just go anywhere.

0:57:38 - (Tawni Nguyen): I don't leave my house for any reason unless it's absolutely necessary. I'm gonna put that out there. Don't invite me to your house. Thank you. I'm done. I'm maxing.

0:57:48 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But she's coming to house, to our.

0:57:50 - (Tawni Nguyen): House, their house only. But anyway, so I just wanted to bring up that point, that lost art of just communication. Like my word is my bond, right? So I hope that when I act in a certain way, I hold my integrity, I treat people right. I don't need to be telling other people, like, hey, kind of like when you mention all of our frustrations and what breaks our heart and what pisses us off, it always seems to be reflective of the projection of other people and how they can't show up for us in the same way that we wouldnn show up for people.

0:58:23 - (Tawni Nguyen): And I think for me in this platform specifically, it's that the message that, you know, when Dave was reading the poem, like, and I'm just sitting here in your words and we're just kind of bouncing and I'm just kind of mardting in this, in this awesomeness is that like we have a responsibility to communicate better, like you said. But now it's like communication is such an art. Disagreement is such an art.

0:58:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): Telling other people how we feel is such an art that people suppress for so many years just because it's not just by trade. And what they identify with what they do for a job. It's just a lack of self awareness to even want to connect to other people. Because I joke with him like he's the excitable one, I'm the cynical one. Because over the years of getting burned, of being in the hospitality of being in the people field, I developed such a callus around my heart for so many years that because I'm like, if I don't have this wallet, people are going toa keep hurting me and people are going to take advantage and if I don't people please in a certain way, then when I stand up for my truth, which I started to in the last couple of years and the best thing I ever did was I learned the ability how to be disliked because I make room now for people that love me for who I am. And I just stand. It's beautiful, you know, and you see.

0:59:36 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And we have very similar dynamic between both of us. I'm on this dark side much more.

0:59:41 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Than VO but she's pulling me there.

0:59:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): We have cookies.

0:59:44 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): No, but the thing is like you just, you just know this type of conversation, I mean it just, okay, it started organically from know isolated action and we don't know what we'going to be talking about that organically grows into something just phenomenal. And I think that if we can somehow send the message to whoever sees that podcast and hopefully it encourage them to share that past with others. Just to say okay, because we basically are sitting around the table and talking and you know, as we talk, as we open up, as we develop certain sense of trust to one another, I think that, that the power come, you know, just it's very powerful.

1:00:33 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And when you have those conversations and if you are, and if I may say to your audience, may I please.

1:00:42 - (Dave Burlin): You know, our audience.

1:00:44 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Thank you.

1:00:45 - (Tawni Nguyen): What's ours is yours.

1:00:46 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, thank you. You know, please share this. Please please be empowered by it and please contact them to. If you frustrated, if you think that, you know, the love is lost, the trust is lost and everything that is, you know, it's not just, it's just hiding, it's been suppressed. Like, like just Tony said that it'just it'suppressed you know, part of our journey was also when we, you know, again know I've been in our business for a long time. I've dealt with. I've been in a private eye for almost 25 years and many times on a high level. And one day basically we just got sofed up.

1:01:27 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Were living in woods of Indiana for two years in a Small house. And I was.

1:01:33 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): It was our retreat because we just.

1:01:35 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Could not take people anymore. It was just. And it was unfortunate because, you know, but again, you know, I was wearing overalls or wearing nothing or you showering in rain.

1:01:48 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Nothing was interesting.

1:01:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): Fucking amazing.

1:01:51 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Iired I have pictures of showering in the rain. I'm not gonna share it, don't worry. But I part the is very precious actually.

1:02:03 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): No, but y. I have to tell you this. This is something but. And that. And many times we don't have a luxury to just go off like this and we needed so very little. I mean, you know, sometimes I had the difficulty putting the shoes on because I didn't wear shoes for like such a long time that I. It was completely different. It was just.

1:02:25 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): He was walking like cut in the boots. Was learning.

1:02:29 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But it was an experience, you know, that also taught me a lot. Taught me also gave me an understanding of this country a little bit more of being in a rural Midwest environment, you know, so gave me more of an understanding. Not just judgment, but. Anyway, I hope. I really hope that I have tendencies to get over exccited about things like this. This is just conversation. But I hope that what you guys are doing and what we are trying to do is going to spread like maybe not a wildfire because. But just organically's going toa grow and a group of people who'going to be created and energy is going to be created. And I don't mean to sound like new age, whatever the patchouli stuff, but I really feel that maybe some energy can be created to move the people alike are going to be gravitating to and you can create something of substance and beautiful for this really terrific place to live.

1:03:43 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So I even living here for seven years, we have a very clear, you know, distinction between strip and this Las Vegas and the community of Las Vegas. And I know there are a lot of very bright, very wonderful, very open minded people are living here. They just maybe do not have a courage or they got so discouraged by speaking out they just said okay, screw this all. You know, I'm just going to mind my own business, so please come out.

1:04:13 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yeah, I found some connection between poem you read and vojox research recently about fear of failure. This is gigantic thing. This is gigantic issue. You can speak more to it because.

1:04:28 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): You learned, you know, I just, you know, a few of fairies actually. It's a phobia. It's a science based phobia. But it. As I learn more about it, I just see it how often it Happens in everyday people's lives. And overcoming that, it's not very easy. But I think, you know, I think that, you know, you never know. I mean, I had no idea that we're going to meet. I had no idea that we're going to be this. I had no idea why I said, hey, come over to the house.

1:05:06 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I have no idea how could have been a murder. I mean. Yeah. Have no idea. But there is that sense. You still might be, but just waiting for it be.

1:05:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): That was goodg. We gotta clip that. We got toa send that to the FBI to give me some clearance. No, I'm glad you guys didn't quit because you were sharing the story on how when you had the huge galleria and people thought you had it all and usually people that the world perceives to be so unapproachable and so intimidating and you were like, they didn't know. We were living in the back of the galleria in a tiny little, little basem.

1:05:51 - (Tawni Nguyen): What did you call it? Like a green room?

1:05:53 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): It was green room. It was in old hotel which was turned in the beautiful, I don't know, event space, space, apartment building and downstairs like restaurant and our gallery. It was with two beautiful ballrooms and some was gorgeous. It was top of the top in Midwest town.

1:06:20 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I think I was not even a Midwest town. People might, might, might get a little bit different. I mean, it was. I think it was just top notch. It was from the era of Al Capone and very cool. Louisville was, was, you know, a very vibrant city at that point.

1:06:42 - (Tawni Nguyen): Distilleries.

1:06:43 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yes. So between place when we owned our gallery which was Henry Clay building, Silva Hotel were great gods was created, was quite close and there was. I don't know r moral truth that there were secret tunnels during prohibition era between those two hotels. So it was quite. I have kusb when I talk about.

1:07:09 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): This, but, you know, on the largest we'go back to the subject that we were kind of trying to focus on. We strayghed away all of a su in a beautiful way. But I think that, you know, the experience of Louisville gave us a little bit knowledge and perspective on when coming here to Vegas. Because Louisville at the time was also a town which was in a transformation. There was. They tried to find their own identity as who they are. There was an influx of all kinds of different business people, young people, and they came with a lot of hopes.

1:07:55 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And there is a place, there's a street called Bartstown Road and that was very similar to arts district. And there was the same Kind of dynamic that, you know, this is what people were affiliating with arts and the time, but where it was actually 25 to 35 crowds, having good time, getting few drinks and whatever, find a date. And this kind of feels to me like the art district is here. That is just a fun destination.

1:08:23 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It's colorful, it's kind of funky. You can smoke pot, you can drink.

1:08:26 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And for younger cr.

1:08:28 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): For the younger crowds, but for the world outside and for people who are not. Actually many people don't go there, but it's the arts district, so they. It's just, oh my God, it. This s might being mecca for art, you know? No. And then you go there. And we've heard from so many people who really just go there with the expectation and they go like, what the hell was that? You know? And unfortunately.

1:08:59 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So that part also is very important for those who want to create, who want to just have a good time for younger generation or for the exploring their creativity. But I believe, and I tried to do it in Tivoli village once, to create almost like a mecca for art on a different level where people can actually comem and feel comfortable and just nobody's going toa be snooty and judgmental or. But the art itself and people themselves would be of high quality and open mind and heart. So art, I feel like we are.

1:09:38 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Just bringing great artists from all over the world.

1:09:42 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): You guys are inspiring. I'm always getting scared of that.

1:09:46 - (Dave Burlin): Well, this is maybe a hard question, right? But I think when we see a challenge with any kind of community, like you may see a lot of challenges with the art district as it exists right now because of the places you've been and the things you've seen. It's very easy to present those challenges out of shame and say it just. It's no good. How. How do you bring light to that in a way that isn't out of shame? It's out of how do you spark that curiosity within other people to really ask themselves, how can I make this?

1:10:33 - (Dave Burlin): What? It's like, how do you. It'like I know it's funny cause it was like in jobs, right? It's like, how do you show somebody something? How do people know what they want if they've never seen it before? How do you spark that curiosity within. Because I know you're not the only people that see that challenge. There's different ways. How do you create that, spark that curiosity with the next generation to take it to thet.

1:10:58 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Yeah, beautiful question, beautiful question. Beautiful way to put it.

1:11:02 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And criticism doesn't have to be mean. It can be very constructive.

1:11:06 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): You see that that's the biggest challenge. It depends from this is the biggest challenge. Because when I say, for example, I believe this, this, this and that, okay, many times, oay, maybe it's also a generational thing. Maybe it's just everybody's so sensitive. Everybody gets a word for participating. Any criticism is just taken as something mean. Absolutely not. As I said before, I applaud everybody who is trying to be creative. Not everybody is going to be as good, as successful as others.

1:11:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But any form of creativity, if it's theater, if it's sculpture, paintings, AI, whatever it is, a restaurant, food, all those things are just really beautiful because are people expressing themselves and if they can have an outlet in that area, that's wonderful. But I also, I feel like we both, and some others, so many others have a right to protect what we believe in. We do not have to. We can go hand in hand. You can have, okay, you are feeling great and wonderful there. That's wonderful.

1:12:27 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But let's create something different that will be great and wonderful for different group of people. And no, we don't have to judge, we don't have to criticize, we don't.

1:12:36 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Have to be better, worse, we don't have to compete.

1:12:38 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): We don't have to compete, but we can just, just create larger picture. So absolutely, there's approaching this and I hope this is going toa be really understood that this is not a question of we say, oh, oh, this guyery sucks, or this isn't that. It's not a question of like, whatever this is, you know, this is how we see it. And we would love for people to say, okay, you know, Sunday, I feel the same way, but I'm afraid to say it and I don't think it's right.

1:13:09 - (Dave Burlin): I think that's it right there. And this is my challenge to anyone that's listening to this. Right? Is that. Because I know that in comparison to other communities, like, there is a lot of kinetic power and energy that's happening right in this community and some of it is very concentrated to the arts district. But for anyone that's ever rolled through there and said there's gota be more, or for the people that are within it right now that are saying to themselves, I feel like it could be, but they're holding themselves back because they are challenged with the bubble that is around them won, do it.

1:13:54 - (Dave Burlin): Just do it. Like, if you need permission, this is your permission. And if you don't then you now have the invitation and you have our blessing. Yeah, absolly do the thing.

1:14:07 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Y. Absolutely. David is so right. Just do it. Just communicate with your fellow art guy owner or just talk to somebody. Just you start the conversation within your community and it's just. Do you have a desire to get better? Are you frustrated with the results that you are getting? What we can do to. To who do we talk to? How do we express our frustrations? How do we express our concerns? Again, even an hour ago I didn't know that we were going to be talking like this.

1:14:41 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And we could probably talk forever. But it's just. But please, I mean, just go ahead.

1:14:51 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Okay. And there is one more thing. Artists need supporters, they need patrons. They need some injection of positive energy and hope and reason to create and very trivial thing man. In order to buy materials, in order to support place to live, in order to have peace of mind so they can focus their creativity. And this is lac of this. This is something what kills people. You know, desire to create. People just have to look for day jobs or you know, they give up completely.

1:15:35 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yeah, they give up completely. They commit suicides in extreme situations. So if people want to see art district or other, I don't know, art in Louis, Louis in Las Vegas in different shape, in different condition, they have to support it somehow. They have to do their part. Artists do creative part, they have to do supportive part. If they are. If they will and they have means to do it, don't hold back if.

1:16:11 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): They cannot do it financially, which is. Which is totally understandable. And art this many times, we don't expect that everybody'going to come in and buy something. This is not about that. But just word of encouragement. The wor creating conversations you just guys did be constructive, be self aware of certain maybe shortcomings that you might have and be self critical in a positive and constructive way.

1:16:45 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Wonderful. And that'that's how you build, that's how you grow. And that's how you also gain respect of the public that comes your way and for the public. Just even if you see something that you don't like or something of that sort, please be encouraging, please be kind, be nice. It's not a question of you buying if you can please buy it if you like it, this is great. But just to.

1:17:13 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Yeah, we never know how people can grow year to five years where they can get with. Right. Support.

1:17:22 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Absolutely.

1:17:25 - (Dave Burlin): As we close on what is only the beginning of a conversation that needs to be had. Right. That we will continue to have for Many events and many amazing afternoons and evenings to come. This isn't just in the container of Las Vegas because we're all speaking to. We're not just speaking to ourselves here at the table. We're speaking to the whole network of cities where I've been in the past, where Tany's been, where you've been.

1:17:55 - (Dave Burlin): And for everybody that's began listening to this conversation in episodes in the past and found peace in it, we're speaking to their communities too. So if you had one piece of advice to anyone who is living in that fear through their art that like it's that thing that they know, like, what advice would you have for anyone who wants to do the thing, who build the community to be a character in this, in this quest that we're all on? What piece of advice would you give to that person listening today?

1:18:37 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, one major advice that I give that I've been given as a consultant or a person who work with close to a thousand artists, just forget the ego, okay? Just drop the ego. Because ego is always gonna get in your way. Ego is so much affiliated with artistic souls. But if you are thinking about not just yourself, but about the community, you have to drop the ego. You need to drop the ego because if you self centered and many times understood because you say, okay, you know, Don, I just want to survive, I just.

1:19:24 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): But if you just take the leap of faith, drop that ego and get involved with others, talk to others, try to find solutions that what I definitely would encourage, just to drop the ego, go out there and talk to your fellows, to your people from your tribes, from your environment and say, have a discussion, have a meeting and say, what can we do about that? How can we improve? What can we give to each other instead of taking from each other.

1:19:56 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And I think that is a start that must happen in order for anything to grow. But in arts, it is an extremely powerful tool work for me, work for many successful art promoters and artists in the past. So I highly recommend it. Just drop the ego and reach out to other fellow and try to be helpful.

1:20:20 - (Dave Burlin): I love that.

1:20:21 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): What would you say?

1:20:22 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): What would I say? I would say from artists side, people who start, they have certain vision and they don't have abilities yet, they didn't learn their craft, they don't have this physical skill to create, to recreate what in their mind in their heads. And many people just give up. Because what they see here, what they see on the canvas or on 3D sculpture, this is far, far away from what they wanted to do.

1:21:01 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): But it takes time, it takes years of training. Nothing happens overnight. Don't expect that you're gonna become great and amazing and you'renna amaze yourself overnight. Just practice, practice, practice. And look for people who are better than you to learn from it, from them. This is what I'm doing constantly. I'm looking for people who are better than I am to get inspired, to learn how they did it.

1:21:33 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And even on the level that Kasha is, you know, she still just has that.

1:21:39 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): I'm still humble, I'm still practicing, I'm still not there were I would love to be. And thankfully this is job. As long as you can hold a brush, she'el whatever is your medium you can create. There is no retirement plan in 60s, thankfully. So keep going. And you can start in any end.

1:22:05 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And be honest to yourself, because I think that that's like in a natural definition of an artist and is somebody who can recreate in a certain form. If it's a visual art or if it's a performing art, whatever. Its'a vision that appears in your head and you recreate this into something that the audience can see. And many times the vision that is in your head doesn'match what comes out. And you have that honest relationship with yourself to see if really I have this vision of creating some sort of, you know, monster or whatever, or some landscape or whatever. And it's in my head, it just looks so beautiful. And I try to do this on a canvas and just doesn't come out.

1:22:53 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): That waye be ready and be ready for a lot of frustration, rejections and how it was in my case, it was a lot of crying, a lot of throwing brushes into my husband when he was coming with constructive criticism, a lot of packing and leaviving and divorcing him because I cannot take it anymore. Because he kept saying, you can do this better. And I felt like, I cannot. I cannot. Yes, you can do this better.

1:23:24 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Sometimes artists just don't believe in themselves. And please be aware of that. If you're an artist, you many times you don't believe in yourself. And like in any other aspects of life, we just sometimes don't believe that in ourselves, you know. And sometimes others have much more faith in us than we have in ourselves.

1:23:44 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): But this is very lucky when somebody has support her like this, somebody person who understands.

1:23:52 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And actually I'm going, if I may say that, it'just so if somebody is watching this, okay, I'semi retired from art. You know, I do free services. I just work with Kashia, try to explore different areas of my creativity for myself because I spend most of my life promoting creativity of others. So if anybody listens to this, I am open. Please contact me. I offer free advice to artists from all over the world and encouragement and constructive, truly constructive and respectful criticism.

1:24:37 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So if you hear this, please contact me and I'll be happy to maybe give you a little nudge in the right direction from what my understanding. But it's completely free. And that is. Is something that I get out of satisfaction out of. And some people get really pissed off at me. Some people are getting very appreciative. But that's the part of the journey.

1:25:04 - (Dave Burlin): With that being said. And it's in the show notes as well. But where can people connect with you? Where's the best place to find and connect with you?

1:25:11 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Well, there are two websites. My company. It's Company I. It'it's a big word for that right now, but it'just kind of Leftover from my 30 years of career in art. But it's called Fine Art Firm Global. And you can go to fineearfirm.com and you can see that you can learn about me or what I do. And you can also see the artist and the way we approach art itself without philosophy is. And if there's a contact there, you can just email me. And I say, hey, Vojtek, what do you think about this? Are so your podcast. You're an asshole. You know, however you know. So whatever.

1:25:52 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): It's on your mind and kind of gives you the starting point of a conversation. I will always welcome you and I will try to do my best.

1:26:03 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And I always respond to people via social media. People from all over the world, sometimes they have really strange questions. Sometimes they want my advice as far as their artwork. Sometimes they want to express their appreciation, sometimes criticism. But this is good way to reach me via my website or via social media. Perfect. And I always respond.

1:26:34 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): We treat everybody with respect. And if we give any time, we can give to those who are throwing themselves out there into the creative world because we understand how diffic because this and we respect that very much.

1:26:49 - (Tawni Nguyen): Thank you again for being here and showing up with such humility. How do you feel?

1:26:53 - (Dave Burlin): I know you've no, it's great. And I would encourage anyone who is coming in from anywhere in the world as you're coming here for different things, however you found the show or however you got connected to us, there is just an amazing experience that's a few phone calls away to come in and experience an afternoon or an Evening. And I know you'll have more events, and as you guys have events, we'love to share those as well. But I have to add this little point, because I tell people often that my life, especially in this city over the last five years, has been sort of this Forrest Gump side quest on psychedelics, and I end up in some really remarkable rooms with some incredible people. But as we were leaving your house, it was so beautiful because you said, oh, my gosh, are you familiar with Social Register?

1:27:44 - (Dave Burlin): And that the house where you guys live is Claire Zito's old house? Created the Social Register, and that was one of the first organizations I found. One of the first events that I went to was at the Foundation Room. And since that time, Mary Grace has taken over the organization, and she was one of the most critical people to help me build a large network and here. And it was just amazing to know that that essence of that house where you do have your art has created so many amazing relationships here in Las Vegas and will continue to do so.

1:28:16 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And I think it's sounds wonderful. That sounds very wonderful and encouraging and hopeful. And I have to tell you, I'm gonna leave this space so stoked that I'm just almost afraid because it's just like, now we got to do it right'm I'm preaching. I'm preaching up reaching, and then I'm gonna. I have to. I mean, there's no stopping. There's no turning point. I love being in a point of no return because, you know, I don't, like, make an ass out of myself.

1:28:46 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): So if you commit yourself to something, you have to follow through. And, you know, if they allow us to be a part of their journey, that would be just our privilege. And. And so hop on.

1:29:03 - (Dave Burlin): And I've done my job. As long as. If you leave this studio scared, I've done my job.

1:29:10 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): I. That's new Synopsis.

1:29:13 - (Tawni Nguyen): The show not be afraid of t Please. People will cry or.

1:29:19 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): I cannot wait for theween Halloween edition of that show. It'snna be yeah.

1:29:25 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): And I would like to say that our studio house is always open to art lovers, people who live here, artists, collectors, people who are just interested in art, people who are visiting Vegas. So just.

1:29:42 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Just please be sincere about it. Sincere about it. And this is what we feel. And I feel like both of them are just so sincere and kind, and that's just very cool. And we would like to y. If you start with that basic couple words, integrity, sincerity, humility, honesty, you know, those are very simple things to do if you're not really defending yourself from it. It'a very simple things to do. And if you're there, you'welcome to our lives as well.

1:30:18 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): And yeah, let's build something pretty cool.

1:30:20 - (Tawni Nguyen): You know, we look forward to taking this forward with you guys.

1:30:24 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Thank you. Thank you.

1:30:25 - (Tawni Nguyen): Well, guys, that's it for us today. Please reach out, slide into our DMs. Just like I, I slid into their DMs. So what's the grammar on that? Dav and I exc. Soe one touch away. We gotta protect them first, right? We can't be giving their address on the Internet.

1:30:42 - (Dave Burlin): Right.

1:30:43 - (Tawni Nguyen): But if there's anyone else you would like to hear from or is there any way we can connect you with anyone that we know in our network, please do reach out. Anything else, please let us know. And look forward to doing some art and creative shit together.

1:30:55 - (Katarzyna Kociomyk): Oh, absolutely.

1:30:56 - (Wojtek Pilczynski ): Right on. Right on.

1:31:00 - (Dave Burlin): The idea of Pursue Vegas was to really highlight the local people that really make Vegas Vegas.

1:31:06 - (Tawni Nguyen): I love that aspect of how these visionaries are actually bringing people together.

1:31:11 - (Dave Burlin): When we hit record, our responsibility is to connect the people of our city so we can show the world who we really are.