New York University’s College of Arts and Science will host a series of conversations on American Culture, Arts, and Social Policy beginning with “Cultural Phantasms: Thoughts on Hi, Lo, and Hi-Lo Culture,” on Wed., Nov. 12, 6:30 p.m. at NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, Silver Center for Arts and Science, Room 102, 100 Washington Square East (at Washington Place). Subway Lines: 6 (Astor Place); A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street); R, W (8th Street).
The event is free and open to the public. For further information, please contact the NYU College of Arts and Science Dean’s Office: 212.998.8100. Future conversations, also held in NYU’s Hemmerdinger Hall, are “From Patronage to Social Policy: Who Supports the Arts?” (Thurs., Dec. 4, 7:00 p.m.) and “Art and Social Conflict: Culture Wars from 1930 to the Present” (Wed., Feb. 4, 2009, 6:30 p.m.).
Discussants for the Nov. 12 conversation include: sculptor Terry Adkins whose work is in the permanent collections of the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Hirshhorn Museum; film producer Lisa Cortes, a member of the original creative team of Def Jam Records; critic and novelist David Gates whose works include Jernigan, Preston Falls, and The Wonders of the Invisible World; and Richard Locke, director of the nonfiction writing program at Columbia University. Moderating the session will be Marcelle Clements, a journalist and novelist (Midsummer) who is Collegiate Professor at NYU.
The conversation series is held in conjunction with the Corporation of Yaddo. When Yaddo, the storied artists’ retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York, welcomed its first guests in 1926, it was hailed as a new and unique experiment, which had no parallel in the world of fine arts. NYU is collaborating with Yaddo to host a series of evenings exploring the impact of that experiment and its resonance in contemporary arts and letters. The programs will run in conjunction with a major exhibition at the New York Public Library, “Yaddo: Making American Culture” (Oct. 24, 2008-Feb. 15, 2009). A concurrent exhibit at NYU’s Tamiment Library titled “Art and Politics” runs through Feb. 28, 2009 (Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, 10th Floor).