Science, literature, and music will come together Saturday afternoon at 4 at The Church in Sag Harbor in "A Lifelong Conversation With the Living World in Words and Birds and Music," a panel discussion with performance.
Moderated by the multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson, the program will feature the ecologist and author Carl Safina, whose work and writings explore how we are changing the natural world and what those changes mean; J. Drew Lanham, a writer and wildlife biologist whose prose and poetry focus on wild places and conflicts between conservation and culture, and Paul Winter, a saxophonist and composer whose pieces blend the sounds of the wild with classical, jazz, and world music.
Coming from different disciplines, the participants share a belief in the mission of the Safina Center at Stony Brook University: "Advancing the case for life on Earth."
Three other upcoming programs highlight The Church's current exhibition, "Threading the Needle," which explores how contemporary artists have incorporated fabric, textiles, and weaving in their practice.
Two exhibiting artists, Tabitha Arnold and Margarita Cabrera, will discuss their careers, ideas, and works on view, on Thursday at 6 p.m. Ms. Arnold's commitment to social change is reflected in her goat-hide-shaped tufted wool rug, "Pure Finder," which shows workers refining leather at a late-19th-century factory.
Ms. Cabrera, who was born in Mexico, often depicts common appliances and goods in her soft sculptures to pay homage to the Mexican laborers who work in harsh conditions in factories on the U.S.-Mexican border.
Friday's Knowledge Fridays talk at 6 p.m. will feature the textile artist Helena Hernmarck, who has been weaving since the late 1960s. Often inspired by photographic imagery, her mature style has been recognized for its monumental tapestries, which present illusionary space and a variety of subject matter, including trompe l'oeil, landscape, still life, and the human figure.
The relationship between art, textiles, and fashion will be the subject of a conversation on Sunday at 4 p.m. between Kimberly Drew, a writer, curator, activist, and associate director at Pace Gallery, and Sarah Hoover, who served as a director at the Gagosian Gallery for 15 years and is involved in the worlds of art, fashion, literature, and social causes.
Their discussion will touch on how the fabrics with which we adorn ourselves reflect the complex relationships we have with our bodies and identities, as well as the history of representation.
Tickets to each of the four programs are $15.
