Share your passion for art: how a retired dentist became a docent at the Met with Deborah Pilla, DDS Artwork

The Call to Create with Betsy Bush

The Call to Create: Become the artist, writer, creator you want to be in midlife. With host Betsy Bush.

I’m talking to people who are exploring the creative life post-career or as empty nesters: painting, writing, making music, theater, film making. What about you? Is this the time to write that book? Return to arts you enjoyed as a kid or teen? Curious to try something new?

Here’s the thing: It’s never too late to bring a creative practice into your life. My guests talk about the satisfaction they find as they develop their new skills. They also share the uncertainty and fear they felt when they started and the confidence they gained as they kept at it and their skills developed. Even better: their definition of success is their own. Where do you want to go? Dare to follow your muse.

Have a creative journey to share? Please get in touch via our website contact page. www.call2createpodcast.com

All Episodes

The Call to Create with Betsy Bush

Share your passion for art: how a retired dentist became a docent at the Met with Deborah Pilla, DDS

March 18, 2025 • Call to Create

After a 33-year career as a pediatric dentist, Manhattan-based Dr. Deborah Pilla took on a challenge that rewards her love of art and of learning: becoming a docent and a school programs guide at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Her work with children in her dental practice makes her a natural for engaging students during museum tours. She also has her own arts practice, which she views as an important creative outlet. She has taken on a new project, writing a children’s story and developing it for publication.

Topics we cover:

How she became a docent at the Met, a rigorous and competitive process, requiring extensive research, writing, and public speaking skills.
The fulfillment she finds in sharing her knowledge and passion for art, especially with students who may be visiting a museum for the first time.
The intersection of science/medicine and the arts, and how skills from one field can translate to the other
Her favorite exhibits at the Met and why – her answer may surprise you.
The importance of staying intellectually engaged and finding creative outlets in retirement
The transformative power of art in providing perspective, calm, and wonder

Please rate and review on Apple Podcasts. And see more about Betsy Bush and her guests at www.call2createpodcast.com . Are you on your own artistic or creative journey? We want to know about you! Please contact us through the website. Dare to follow your muse!