Art exhibit from ‘Reservation Dogs’ producer runs through March 2 at Wesleyan College

There are just a few days left to catch Kathryn Dean’s “Banana Cat” exhibit at the McCrary Gallery in Wesleyan College’s Murphey Fine Arts Building.

In circles that follow such things, Dean is a well-known, in-demand, award-winning television and film producer but she began her creative journey as a painter and sculptor with gallery exhibits in New York and Toronto and doing work for the New York Times Magazine, Sports Illustrated and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Through the years, her fine arts undertakings have taken a back seat to her career as a producer, executive producer and co-executive producer on Academy Award-nominated feature films like “Hell or High Water,” starring Jeff Bridges, and “Winter’s Bone.” Her television work includes Emmy nominated “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” where she shared a producer credit with executive producer Oprah Winfrey.

A New York transplant to Atlanta, she is now on set in Oklahoma continuing her producer role for FX’s acclaimed “Reservation Dogs” on Hulu. Known for its quality, entertainment value and being nearly all indigenous in its production, writing and acting team, Dean is the only non-writing, non-indigenous producer.

Oddly, regarding her show in Macon, just below Dean’s IMBD producer listing for “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is the TV movie’s music credit for famed jazz saxophonist, composer and band leader Branford Marsalis. Marsalis - one of music’s famous Marsalis brothers — will be in Macon in concert with pianist Joey Calderazzo Thursday, March 2, at Mercer University.

The bad news is the performance is sold out, its $5 advance tickets an unbelievable bargain versus the not-less-than $99 tickets on sale when Marsalis travels on to Miami then Carmel by the Sea, Calif., with his quartet.

Of course, it’s good news Dean’s work is yet viewable at Wesleyan weekdays from 1-5 p.m. – no charge.

All that speaks to the caliber of artists and entertainers being drawn to Macon these days, some a bit under the radar. And it underscores the multi-faceted value the city’s colleges and universities bring to the area, in this case to its cultural life.

I spoke to Dean when she opened her show with an artist talk in late January and again by phone this week with production duties underway in Oklahoma for season three of “Reservation Dogs.”

She said new shows should air in September for those waiting not so patiently for them.

A few combined discussion highlights include how she came to be a producer, her work with “Reservation Dogs” and what do producers do, anyway?

“It’s hard to describe,” she said. “I’m the only producer for ‘Reservation Dogs’ who’s not a writer. I guess I’m accountable for everything else, from actors to budgets to scheduling to transportation to script readings and on and on. I determine the sequence of shots during our five-day per-episode shoots. It’s hard to put an actual definition on it but I guess mainly it’s a matter of getting things done, solving problems and making sure it’s a good show not only as it appears on screen but for those who get it there.”

Dean said while addressing students that personally as a producer, she always puts an emphasis on people and makes sure work days aren’t overly long or tiresome. She said she respects people and realizes they have valuable lives outside of the production that need protecting – something maybe a bit unusual in the fast-paced, pressurized entertainment world.

When confronted that her attitude sounds very nurturing versus the strong-willed, demanding producer stereotype she responded, “Yeah, I guess it does. I hadn’t thought of it that way but it does.”

Another value that Dean has as a producer is her visual background which carries over into how a story can and should be told visually. But in opposition to that, for an artist with an artist’s background, she said she has a natural facility for numbers and time management. Combined with people skills, that’s a valued premium to any team.

A related artist-producer theme that came up often as Dean talked to students centered on not being afraid of failure but embracing it as part of the process to learn and grow.

Citing her own path, she noted numerous missteps but said with determination she learned failure could be a creative tool and stepping stone.

That played into her “Banana Cat” exhibit which came at the invitation of Alexis Gregg, associate professor of art at Wesleyan.

“I really haven’t been painting much in years,” she said. “But I still love it and Alexis invited me to prepare a show.”

Gregg and Dean are long-time friends who got to know each other through family connections and the friendship among eight, older southern ladies that would make an interesting mini-series in-and-of itself. As Gregg and Dean planned the show, COVID-19 hit and stalled it.

“I had never painted collaboratively with anyone – it’s a lonely art form,” Dean said. “One thing I like about producing is the creative team involved. I decided to incorporate my kids and their ideas and budding talents into the art show. Sometimes they’d create drawings and I’d help or they’d help me with something I had going. For me, I’ve learned some of the best ways to fail and use them in making paintings. With the kids, I wanted them to learn, grow and deal with the fun and failure and frustrations and have it help shape their brains. It’s nice to be able to give them an additional tool and approach to see the world and that there’s no right answer to what you want to do when producing almost anything.”

Homer and Esther, along with other family members including grandparents, were on hand for the opening.

And what did she hope to leave students and others, and how did she feel it went?

“Opening night was a fun way to engage on an artistic level,” she said. “Being in that creative space and being with the students, watching them learn who they want to be, is exciting. The way my brain works and how I’ve gone on very different paths from what I was trained for or thought I would do have made me pretty fearless. I’ve gained deep confidence and I don’t think I’d know what I was capable of artistically without it. I wanted to express that and show what you do in life and what you find rewarding is not always in a straight line.”

Gregg said there’s been good feedback from Dean’s appearance and on the exhibit.

“Students were excited by how her journey as an artist led to her working in diverse and creative ways in New York,” she said. “The fact she wanted to tell stories as a producer that no one was telling and how that led to such incredible projects as her work on ‘Atlanta’ and ‘Reservation Dogs’ had an impact.”

Contact writer Michael W. Pannell at mwpannell@gmail.com.