Meet Ari Stidham | artist & producer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ari Stidham and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ari, is there a quote or affirmation that’s meaningful to you?
In placid hours well-pleased we dream
Of many a brave unbodied scheme.
But form to lend, pulsed life create,
What unlike things must meet and mate:
A flame to melt—a wind to freeze;
Sad patience—joyous energies;
Humility—yet pride and scorn;
Instinct and study; love and hate;
Audacity—reverence. These must mate,
And fuse with Jacob’s mystic heart,
To wrestle with the angel—Art.

Art by Herman Melville

——

i just keep coming back to it
i believe it makes the argument that:
the variety of lived experiences
and emotions about those experiences
and emotions about the people and events involved
are in fact all that fuels our creative pursuits
conscious or not
our emotions are all we have
and our words
and craft
are all we can fight with
so living to create feels like melville says
like wrestling with some other-worldly force
no matter
more to do

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
i love to make music (as Dr. TV)
and to create and produce theatre

i have done nearly every job you could think of in production
started out as an actor and had some success on TV (Scorpion on CBS)
and have followed my passions ever since most recently adapted The Great Gatsby into a six-person-black-box educational tour then produced it in Thousand Oaks and at the Strasberg Institute in West Hollywood my independence as a creative is very important to me and the ability to follow my gut is at the core of every move I make

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
oh man
i am old and dusty
i like spots that remind me of my younger
less creaky
teens and twenties

–
the valley:
casa vega
morts deli
uncle bernies deli
henry’s tacos

dtla:
frank and hanks
the pantry
langers
coles
is this basic???
taylors steak house
JIST cafe (get that chashu breakfast bowl)
RIP pacific dining car

if u get to malibu —
malibu seafood

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
adam cagley referred me here, so thank you to adam.

Instagram: @aristidham

Image Credits
selfie collage through OBS – ari stidham 2023
selfie on iphone – ari stidham 2024