The Church’s programming is especially varied this weekend, starting with a film about the cartoonists of The New Yorker magazine, continuing with a camera-less photography workshop, and concluding with “Coup at the Kennedy Center.”
“Women Laughing,” a 37-minute film directed by Liza Donnelly and Kathleen Hughes, will be shown at the Sag Harbor cultural center Friday at 6 p.m. A conversation among the filmmakers and Emma Allen, the magazine’s first female cartoon editor, will follow. Lynn Sherr, a writer and broadcast journalist, will moderate.
Inspired by Donnelly’s book “Very Funny Ladies” and her own experience as a longtime New Yorker cartoonist, the film reveals how far women have come in a field historically dominated by men. While female artists were included in the first issue, they have had to struggle all along to make their voices heard.
The film features conversations with some of the most celebrated cartoonists at The New Yorker, among them Roz Chast, Emily Flake, Sarah Akinterinwa, Liana Finck, Amy Hwang, Bishakh Som, and more. It illuminates the magazine’s long tradition of cartoons that not only critique political systems but address social hypocrisies and absurdities, and express changing values in a culture.
The screening has been programmed in conjunction with The Church’s current exhibition, “A Thousand Words: Photography at The New Yorker.” Tickets are $25, $22 for members.
Also related to the current show, if tangentially, is “Photogram Collage: Lumen Printing,” a workshop led by Sara VanDerBeek that explores the camera-less photographic technique of lumen printing. It will happen Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Characterized by their vibrant and often ethereal colors, lumen prints are created by placing various objects, often plant life or flat shapes, on silver gelatin paper and exposing them to direct sunlight.
VanDerBeek will guide participants through the process of creating and exposing their own unique lumen prints, offering insights as to how the manipulation of object placement and exposure times can affect the outcome of the print. After exposure, the prints can be mounted on paper to form a photographic collage or kept as individual works.
All necessary materials will be provided. Participants have been encouraged to take any flattened plant life, textiles, or other objects they would like to incorporate into their work. No prior photography experience is necessary, and the works can be taken home after the workshop.
The cost is $45, $42 for members.
The Washington National Opera, which had performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since 1971, announced in January that it would terminate its relationship with the center. Francesca Zambello, an internationally recognized opera and theater director who has been the opera’s artistic director since 2013, will be at The Church on Sunday afternoon at 2, to discuss the reasons for the decision with Sally Susman, co-chairwoman of the International Rescue Committee, a humanitarian aid organization.
In its coverage of the decision, The New York Times reported that “Opera leaders said the decision to leave was in response to a drop in attendance and a decline in donor contributions during the president’s second term, as well as an escalating number of artists who have refused to appear at the Kennedy Center since Mr. Trump’s name was added to the building last month.”
Zambello, the artistic and general director emerita of the Glimmerglass Festival, served as the artistic adviser to the San Francisco Opera from 2005 to 2011 and as the artistic director of the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles from 1987 to 1992. She has staged new productions at major theaters and opera houses in Europe, Asia, Australia, Russia, and the United States.
Tickets are $30, $25 for members.
