If you’re a lover of the arts, there are plenty of Australian-made TV programs probing its parameters. Documentaries, interviews, chat shows, awards ceremonies and reality arts series. Right now, you can watch a number of visual artists paint a celebrity’s portrait in-situ (Portrait Artist of the Year, Anh’s Brush With Fame) or talented “everyday” pianists unknowingly ply their skills before two famous musicians (The Piano) and both will almost certainly make you cry.

But something’s missing. We’re missing the feel of the arts. The thrill, the danger, the torrid toil and clanking failure of it all. The success, vulnerability and heart-beating otherness, loneliness and togetherness of experiencing the arts first hand or trying to make new bits of it.

Dylan Lewis, Sarah MacDonald,and Glen Mitchell on Recovery during its run.Credit: Fairfax

What we have is great. Please don’t take it away. I’m not complaining about the shows on now, mostly on the ABC. The Art Of, an arts and culture deep-dive hosted by Namila Benson, features Australian and international artists exploring and discussing themes ranging from memory to space, the taboo, the inner child and more. Its predecessor Art Works, also hosted by Benson, was........

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