Taco Bell and Tenderness 🌮
nosey nuggets #12
✨ nosey nuggets with Stephanie
Curated gems of inspiration, fresh creative observations, and unexpected insights from the internet. These little nuggets of wisdom, humor, and curiosity are designed to spark your imagination and brighten your week. Delivered with love every Friday.
What’s on My Mind
Y’all, I almost didn’t get this nugget out. Why? Because I’ve been OUTSIDE. Beyoncé is in town, the weather is vibing, and everyone’s out here glowing and thriving. I don’t know what’s in the air (maybe glitter?), but it’s giving summertime magic. If I disappear mid-sentence, I probably just went to get a popsicle.
This Week in the Studio
Not a ton to report from the studio this week, but I did have a fun group studio visit with some friends. We coordinated a meet-up with a curator, and it turned into a great conversation—casual but energizing.
Lately, I’ve been thinking about bell hooks and her take on pop culture. She saw it as a powerful space for learning—one of the main ways we absorb ideas about the world and each other. That really sticks with me. I love pop culture—not just Real Housewives-level (though shoutout to NeNe Leakes for launching her own show 👀)—but in the way it shapes how we think, feel, and relate.
There’s this video I keep coming back to: Cultural Criticism & Transformation. (the video is age restricted so I couldnt just post it here). It’s bell hooks at her sharpest—talking about why representation matters, and why movies and media aren’t just entertainment. They teach us, even when we don’t realize it.
Which is wild, because in Bible study this week, we were talking about how everything we watch informs who we are—even in our spiritual walk. Like wow, y’all… the Real Housewives are shaping me. 😂 No wonder I love a dinner party.
Finds & Feels
🔍 Things I’ve been nosey about this week:
Thomas J. Price’s “Grounded in the Stars” – A 12-foot-tall bronze sculpture of a Black woman in Times Square has sparked a lot of conversation—love, critique, complicated feelings. When I first saw Thomas’s work, I legit thought it was me. That’s the point—it’s everyday people being monumental AF. I’d love to know what you think. As usual, Black women have folks shook, even when the folks shook are other Black women.
It looks like me. It looks like us. And the discourse? Whew.
Another article about this:Why Does Thomas J. Price’s Monumental Statue of a Black Woman in Times Square Make People So Mad?
Taco Bell Quarterly – Someone in my writing group mentioned submitting here and I was like… to what now?! I had never heard of it, but y’all—it’s a literary magazine with chalupa-level vibes.
“We’re a reaction against everything... including Artists Who Wear Cute Scarves.”
A spicy reminder that high art and low crunch can (and should) coexist.
nosey Listens 🎧
This week’s podcast episode features Bobbi Meier—Chicago-based artist, deep feeler, and joyful maker.
Ep 74: Navigating Grief Through Sculpture — Bobbi Meier’s Story
“Grief doesn’t have to be gray. It can be neon, it can be soft, it can be joyful.” —Bobbi Meier
We talk about grief, caregiving, COVID, and how Bobbi turned it all into squishy, colorful towers of sculpture she calls Sentinels for Innocence. This episode is a balm and a bop—a reminder that grief and play can live side by side.
In this episode:
How personal loss and caregiving shaped Bobbi’s art
The role of play and innocence in sculpture
Using art as a response to grief and social/political upheaval
Balancing humor and tragedy in creative practice
Professionalism, hobby culture, and rediscovering joy in artmaking
Until next time, stay curious, stay creative, stay cute.
—Stephanie
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