Episode 214: Art, Survival, and Choosing Joy - with Hank Willis Thomas

What does it mean to live a meaningful life—and how do we know what truly matters?In this episode of About Art, Heidi Zuckerman is joined by artist Hank Willis Thomas and curator Rujeko Hockley for a deeply personal and expansive conversation about attention, time, and the choices that shape a life.Beginning from a place of reflection—on family, career, illness, and change—they explore how priorities shift over time, what it means to be present, and how we learn to identify what is essential. The conversation moves fluidly between the personal and the universal: parenting, partnership, creative work, and the quiet but profound question of how we want to live.Hank speaks candidly about his recent experience with cancer and how it reshaped his thinking, while Rujeko reflects on turning 40, motherhood, and the evolving balance between ambition and fulfillment.At its core, this is a conversation about perspective—about joy, gratitude, and the possibility of choosing how we move through the world.In this episode, they explore:how life events reshape priorities and perspectivethe relationship between attention and meaningparenting, partnership, and evolving identityart as a reflection of how we livewhy joy may be the most essential form of privilege