Gabor Svagrik
From the conversation
An editorial summary informed by Vimeo’s AI captions—not a verbatim transcript.
Simon Kogan tells Gábor Svagrik how he met Western painter Bill Reese after a mid-1990s dentist appointment south of where the family—then recent Russian-Jewish refugees on Medicare—could find care. The dentist collected Russian art and passed along Reese’s number; Reese later called Kogan, opened doors, and left a legacy that includes the book The Painter’s Process.
Sometimes life's most transformative relationships begin in the most unexpected places. For sculptor Simon Kogan, that place was a dentist's office in Centralia, Washington, in the mid-1990s.
Fresh to America as Russian refugees in 1995, Simon and his family faced a common immigrant challenge: finding healthcare. With only Medicare and few dentists willing to accept it, they drove 30 miles south for treatment. During the visit, the dentist overheard them speaking Russian and mentioned he collected Russian art—specifically, original drawings by Ilya Repin, one of Russia's most celebrated artists.
When Simon asked how this was possible, the dentist gave him a phone number: “Call this artist friend of mine. His name is Bill Reese.”
Simon, who had a solo exhibition at the Jewish Community Center in Seattle at the time, called Bill and invited him to visit. A week later, the phone rang: “Simon, it's Bill. You have the best goddamn work. I lost my sleep over you.”
For someone raised in Soviet culture where compliments were rare, Bill's words were unforgettable. This wasn't just praise—it was validation from a master who rarely gave it. Before they even met face-to-face, Bill began opening doors, introducing Simon to major exhibitions and a network of established artists.
Bill's recommendation carried weight. As he once told Simon: “You make sure who you recommend. You're putting your name on the line. Make a mistake once, and nobody will ever listen to you.”
In this 18-minute conversation, Simon shares the full story of meeting Bill Reese, the legendary Western artist and mentor whose belief transformed his career. From a payphone call in Cashmere to Bill showing up unannounced at Simon's anatomy “boot camp,” this is a testament to how mentorship, guidance, and genuine connection can define an artist's path. It's also a reminder that sometimes the most profound connections happen when we least expect them—even in a dentist's waiting room.
This conversation has been preserved from the original Sojourn Fine Art archive.