All a Canvas Holds

Interdisciplinary artist Nafis M. White on unraveling history, finding resilience and beauty in loss, and enlisting raw materials like hair to explore power and identity.

Leonard Bernstein—the conductor and composer known globally for his charisma and style—comes roaring back into the public discourse. We celebrate Lenny’s relationship with Yaddo via a conversation with one of his mentees, acclaimed composer Daron Hagen. PLUS: Edgar Oliver, “the poet laureate of New York’s dispossessed” (The New York Times), performs an excerpt of his latest one-man show, Rip Tide, an ode to The Pyramid Club, which offered an early haven for artists and outcasts in New York City’s downtown, late ’70s scene. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Ned Rorem.

Art converges with nature, meticulous work that spans decades and continents, making the impossible possible and more, with a feature on internationally acclaimed sculptor Martin Puryear. PLUS: Preview Missy Mazzoli’s “Dark with Excessive Bright”—nominated for a Grammy, fingers crossed!

Forest restoration, how families avoid reality, coming to terms with trauma, healthy ecosystems and more, with luminous storyteller Martha McPhee, author of five novels and the long-awaited memoir, Omega Farm. PLUS: A recap of the Yaddo Artist Reunion! Contributing artist: Joseph Keckler.

Ghosts, artificial intelligence, horror, estrangement and more, with acclaimed writers Vauhini Vara (The Immortal King Rao, This Is Salvaged) and Brian Evenson, author of a dozen books of fiction, including Altmann’s Tongue and The Open Curtain. Contributing artist: Joseph Keckler.

On the Black roots of the banjo, the godfather of bluegrass, novelist as bandleader, and more, with a trio of talented musicians and writers: Celebrated author, bass player and literary outlaw Lee Clay Johnson in conversation with the incomparable David Gates, powerhouse on guitar, vocals, pedal steel, and author of several works of knock-out fiction. PLUS: Preview the new documentary featuring supernova Rhiannon Giddens.

Explore liminal worlds with three phenomenal Yaddo artists: Painter Elliott Green and the writer and artist Chris Rush on landscapes of the mind, blue suede shoes, outsider empathy and more. Plus: Eleni Sikelianos performs an excerpt of the title poem from her latest collection, Your Kingdom. Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Last Train Home, Claude Debussy, Josef Sikelianos and Kat White.

On music, the ’90s, and NYC cool: Bestselling novelist Sam Lipsyte (The Ask, Home Land, No One Left to Come Looking for You) in conversation with esteemed music critic, journalist and author of the forthcoming magnum opus, a biography of Lou Reed, Will Hermes.

Every art form has its own language, a puzzle to unlock. One of the great joys of life is having a conversation with an artist who can decipher the code for us and allow us to see paintings anew. For this episode, we visit art galleries with two phenomenal Yaddo artists: Odili Donald Odita—the Nigerian American abstract painter whose vibrant large-scale paintings and site-specific installations mirror the mixed realities of life—and Alexi Worth, the acclaimed critic and painter whose work explores what it means, in our digitally supersaturated environment, for pictures to be “mindmade and handmade.” Contributing artists: Joseph Keckler, Veterinarian, The Dave Brubeck Quartet. Special thanks to D.C. Moore Gallery and Jack Shainman Gallery.

Archival audio, a love story, new tech, and more! Hear some of the first sounds ever recorded: The New York Public Library (NYPL) digitized rare wax cylinders from Yaddo’s archive and made them available for the first time in more than 130 years. We’ll chat with the NYPL team who made this happen. PLUS: The Lazours will be headlining our Summer Benefit on June 22. Contributing artist: Joseph Keckler.