The Church in Sag Harbor will kick off an eclectic weekend Friday at 6 p.m. with “Stories. Noisemaking. Laughter: A Portrait of Lorne Michaels and ‘Saturday Night Live.’ ”
The program will bring together Susan Morrison, the author of “Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live”; Mary Ellen Matthews, who wrote “The Art of the SNL Portrait”; Jim Downey, a former writer, actor, and producer for the show, and Sarah Paley, who wrote for it in 1979 and 1980.
Ms. Morrison is the articles editor for The New Yorker and, formerly, editor in chief of The New York Observer. Mary Ellen Matthews, of New York City and East Hampton, is a photographer best known for her portraits of the show’s guest hosts and musical acts.
Mr. Downey wrote, acted, and produced for more than 30 seasons of the show, including many as the head writer and writer/editor of “Weekend Update.” He was also head writer for “Late Night With David Letterman.” Sarah Paley went on from “S.N.L.” to write for other television shows, including “The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd.”
Tickets are $15, $10 for members.
“Yard Ark: Transforming Your Yard Into an Ark of Biodiversity,” a conversation with Edwina von Gal, founder of the Perfect Earth Project, April Gornik, co-founder of The Church, and Frank Quevedo, executive director of the South Fork Natural History Museum, will happen on Saturday afternoon at 4.
The conversation among representatives of eco-minded institutions is designed to uncover the simple ways we can cultivate healthy ecosystems in our own backyards. Attendees will be able to pose questions to the speakers. The program is free, but reservations are required.
The environment, including birds and small winged creatures, informs the work of Monica Banks, an East Hampton artist whose “Restless Things” (2024) is included in The Church’s current exhibition, “The Ark.” She will be there on Sunday at noon to talk about the inspiration behind her work and how she makes it.
Drawn to contrast and dissonance, Ms. Banks’s porcelain sculptures of dead birds and insects refer to the delicate beauty and tragedy inherent in their lives. For the artist, “birds are everything,” and her work contains a deep sense of spirituality and hope that she considers “essential in all of us corporeal beings.”
She assembled the winged creatures for “Restless Things” last fall, during the annual butterfly migration. “I find great optimism in their seemingly random flight pattern that has successfully perpetuated the species for centuries,” she has said.
Tickets are $10, free for those who register.
