Good Things from Good Folk: Victoria Landers
weekly obsessions including french toast & women's sports
Good Things from Good Folk is a recommendation series of things artists in and around the American South are into and obsessed with. Curated by Good Folk contributors and podcast guests, the series offers a glimpse into what’s driving contemporary culture, both in the South and beyond. Find all the recommendations in the series here.
Regular listeners of this podcast will have long heard me refer affectionately in episodes to Vic, the nickname I have for someone of dear importance to Good Folk: Victoria Landers, my best friend and longtime Good Folk podcast producer, without whom this project would, quite truly, not exist.
Vic and I met in winter of 2020, back when they were assigned to the art room where I had been teaching middle schoolers for the fall semester. At first, I was annoyed to have them there; this had been my classroom. What did we need another artist at this tiny middle school for? I complained to my mother, who offered sage wisdom: okay, but what if you end up getting along and they become your best friend? Needless to say, I’m thrilled she was right; Vic and I worked alongside one another for the text two years and, through our conversations—and rants—about the state of the arts in rural spaces and the necessity of creating community for artists working outside of the urban sprawl, Good Folk was born.
Since the beginning of this podcast, Vic has served as our podcast producer—no small feat considering neither of us have a background in audio. But we’ve grown this podcast from the ground up, and I’m deeply proud of what we have created; you can listen all the way back to our first episode together, recorded on two cheap microphones from Amazon and laying out the blueprint of what we hoped to achieve through Good Folk: a space of artistry and community, one through which we could craft a vision for a new South, a place we had caught glimpses of growing up here and which we knew was collectively possible if enough of us began to believe in it. This work—and all the people I have connected with through it—have kept me here. Three years ago when I called up Vic and said, I have an idea and I want you to be a part of it, I could have never believed the scope of where we are now. Thank you, deeply—for listening, for reading, for coming out to our events. For the DMs and messages from so many folks across the South telling us how this project resonates for you. We exist because you all have chosen to come home, to stay, to talk about it in your work, and to be willing to talk about it with us.
You might have noticed that we recently welcomed Brennan Jones to the team as our new podcast producer. In an exciting update, Vic has accepted a job as the cohort lead for ArtistYear North Carolina, the very program we met in back when we were young artists fresh out of college, looking to work with students in whom we saw our younger selves. There is truly no one better for this job—but with any job in education, the time commitment is significant, and we want to give Vic the space to step fully into their new role. But rest assured—they are still supporting things around here at Good Folk as our Head of Media and Design, working with me on our website redesign, partnerships, and outreach to podcast guests. (And as a side note—if you are or know of an artist you think should be on this podcast, reach out to us via email! We’re always looking to connect with new folks).
As ArtistYear’s North Carolina Program Coordinator, Vic works to support and mentor Resident Teaching Artists and expand partnerships with North Carolina schools, stakeholders, and organizations through collaboration and communication. Prior to this position, Victoria was part of ArtistYear’s first cohort in North Carolina and served two years as a Visual Arts Resident Teaching Artist. They have also worked in Event Management and Social Media for The Sandhills Children Center, an early developmental children’s education non-profit, helping them raise over $150,000 and broaden their connections within the community. Victoria grew up in the Sandhills of North Carolina and graduated with a B.F.A. in Studio Art with a concentration in Photography at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. They are a steadfast believer in giving back and uplifting your people; their contributions to planning Moore County’s PRIDEFest and music showcases, volunteering with local theaters and creative spaces, and participating in grant panels that fund regional public schools and non-profit art programs are a testament to their love and gratitude for their community. Victoria can often be found reading with her cat surrounded by thrifted art and oddities.
Because Vic is someone whose opinions I trust deeply, I asked them to share with our readers what they are currently obsessed with.
Microwave Dinner by Petey
If this song doesn’t show up on my Spotify wrapped I will be shocked
The summer smash from 1994, Speed
Starring Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock. Honestly this is something I am into all the time. No joke I watch this movie at least once a month
Sunset Lamps
The sunset lamp is definitely the mid-20s version of the strip LED lights
Stray Cats in the Garden
Including Toe Beans, the new stray cat that has been showing up in my garden the past couple of days
SVU
Watching SVU for the first time and it has become my favorite thing to have on the background as I make dinner
Coach Jackie J (@jcubehax)
Coach Jackie J is a TikToker who reports on all the women’s sports stories from her bedroom. I don’t even like sports like that but I love her content and the stories that she shares that tend to get over shadowed on main stream media
Amanda Nolan’s painting Heirloom XXXVI (@amandanolanbooker)
I yearn to be as delicately complex
French Toast
I had it for the first time in over 10 years the other week and I can’t believe I went that long without it