This week we're revisiting conversations with artists who not only call New England their home, but have made the region a more vibrant, expansive and enduring home for the arts.

We begin with Chris Volpe. His series of paintings inspired by "Moby-Dick," were on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum last year. His works explore how Herman Melville’s dark tale of man versus whale is a parallel tale about how our dependence on fossil fuels is mutilating the environment.

Next, art is all around us. We just need to know where to look for it. And when it comes to augmented reality, it’s also about how to look for it. Last summer we caught up with Michael Lewy, the curator and artist behind Alpha 60, which brought 19 installations to the Emerald Necklace. It was free, abundant and it changed what it means to take a walk in the park.

We continue our focus on local artists with the mad genius of Madhouse Motors, which is also a coffee and art house. Operating out of Roxbury, it’s where mechanics work wonders on motorcycles, as both machines and masterpieces in motion. We bring you our revved-up ride through Madhouse, which we took last October.

Finally, artist Lavaughan Jenkins found his calling — twice. Not ready for the pressures of early success, he retreated from the art world — only to be prodded by Goya and Philip Guston in his dreams to get back to work and his true calling. Jenkins recently wrapped up an artist residency at the Addison Gallery of American Art, where his work is on view through July. We bring you a conversation Bowen had with him earlier this year.