Damon Davis reflects on how stories shape meaning, memory, and responsibility. Working across film, music, visual art, and public installation, Davis explains why he lets the story dictate the medium and how creative practice begins with close attention to place, history, and lived experience.

Throughout the conversation, Davis discusses subjectivity and fairness in storytelling, the implications of local work entering national institutions, and why art often becomes one of the lasting records of a moment in time. He shares how process, patience, and care guide his decisions, and why resisting labels allows the work to remain honest and grounded in context.

Rather than offering prescriptions, Davis leaves us with a way of thinking about creative practice that values intention over posture, meaning over speed, and the long life of work made with care.

0:22 — Introduction and Background

2:21 — Letting the Story Dictate the Medium

2:54 — Early Life, Family, and Creative Roots

4:59 — Process, Symbols, and Public Monuments

7:53 — Local Stories Going National

8:20 — Ferguson and Making Whose Streets?

10:53 — The Smithsonian and Art as Historical Record

15:06 — Art as a Tool for Truth and Authenticity

15:52 — Grief, Tropes, and Telling Difficult Stories

17:04 — Subjectivity, Objectivity, and Power

18:30 — Teaching, Stillness, and Self-Awareness

20:23 — Accolades, Ego, and Staying Grounded

22:29 — Relationships and Creative Fuel

23:48 — Activism, Burnout, and Branding

25:40 — Fatigue, Relevance, and Stepping Away

26:36 — Creating an Opera

30:16 — The Three Phase Creative Vision

33:00 — Being Unapologetically Creative