Talks & Thinkers
Upcoming Events
We all know The Beatles and Bob Dylan influenced the course of popular music, changing our social landscape along the way. But did they also influence and change each other?Acclaimed New York Times journalist and widely recognized Beatles expert Jim Windolf offers a definitive “yes,” with proof! Join us for an incredible and fun evening of stories, music, and a little bit of history.
Part dual biography, part cultural history, Windolf’s book Where the Music Had to Go (April 2026, Scribner) presents a portrait of how two beloved musical luminaries actively shaped one another’s work. Windolf is joined in conversation by Susan Morrison, New York Times bestselling author of Lorne: The Man Who Invented Saturday Night Live. The two are also joined for a special performance by singer songwriter Nellie McKay.
Packed with little-known anecdotes and revelations, including an account of every documented interaction between Dylan and the Beatles, and an exclusive interview with Paul McCartney, Where the Music Had to Go offers a critical framework for understanding the relationship between the two. Offering a fresh look into that complicated relationship, Windolf reveals a story of rivalry, generosity, and creative exchange that reshaped the direction of modern popular music.
This event has been programmed in tandem with our Summer Exhibition THIS LAND: Considering the American Landscape, which can be viewed June 21 – September 6 during our exhibition hours 11 AM – 5 PM, Thursday-Monday.
Anastasia Samoylova examines how contemporary life is shaped, mediated, and mythologized through images. With multiple photographs included in our Summer exhibition, This Land: Considering the American Landscape, Samoylova invites viewers to examine the entanglement of environmental crisis, consumer spectacle, and political imagination, revealing the tensions between surface structure, seduction, and instability, reality and representation.
Samoylova is joined in conversation by Seph Rodney, PhD, co-curator of This Land. The two will explore the work included in the show, her process, and artistic vision before opening the floor to an illuminating Q&A with the audience.
Samoylova is a highly respected artist known to create vibrant work that catches the beauty of location while juxtaposing it with the troubling consequences of climate change, gentrification, and political extremism. Her work moves across photography, painting, and installation and has been exhibited at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Norton Museum of Art, the Saatchi Gallery, Fundación MAPFRE, and C/O Berlin, among others, and is held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art, Pérez Art Museum Miami, and the High Museum of Art.
We invite you to view Samoylova’s selected photography included in our summer exhibition during our exhibition hours: Thursday – Monday, 11 AM – 5 PM.
An enduring spirit and more than a Christmas tree, the evergreen is both tangible and symbolic. Get to the root of the matter with Trent Preszler, author of Evergreen: The Trees that Shaped America (Algonquin Books, Dec 2025) as he reveals the hidden world of a tree that is central to so many cultures and landscapes, especially the East End.
Joined in conversation by The Church co-founder April Gornik, the two will guide the audience through a sweeping journey across century and continents, exploring Preszler’s powerful case that the American cultural landscape (and economy) would not be the same without these trees. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A and a book signing.
“It changed the way I see the world!” exclaims Gornik as Preszler digs deep with meticulous research to deliver an impactful and poignant portrait of the beloved tree and presents a timely call to action to tend to our environmental responsibilities. From its symbolic evolution through paganism, Catholicism, patriotism, and capitalism to its intimate relationship with underrepresented people like the Indigenous, the enslaved, immigrants, and Queer woodworkers, the Evergreen has played an integral role in the shaping of the inner landscape of the American people.
But Evergreen is also the story of power and commerce, as America’s evergreens built ships, railroads, cities, and fortunes, while fueling westward expansion and industrial growth. Drawing on his background as a professor of applied economics at Cornell University, Preszler asks what the American pursuit of progress reveals about the cost of abundance in living ecosystems.
A very special thank you to Book Hampton for being our community bookseller for the program! This reading and discussion has been programmed in tandem with our summer exhibition THIS LAND: Considering the American Landscape, which can be viewed June 21 – September 6 during our exhibition hours 11 AM – 5 PM, Thursday-Monday.
As part of This Land: Considering the American Landscape, The Church presents a talk with Executive Director Sheri Pasquarella exploring the origins of American art, artists, and the art market beginning with the Hudson River School. Drawing connections between the exhibition's 19th-century paintings and contemporary artists working today, the lecture will examine how ideas about landscape, nationhood, community, and value have shaped American art for nearly two centuries.
This Land juxtaposes works from the Hudson River School—America's first major art movement—with contemporary artists whose practices both draw upon and challenge enduring notions of the American landscape. Less widely known is that this same period also witnessed the emergence of the American art market, the founding of some of the nation's earliest museums and art schools, and the development of collecting practices that continue to influence the global contemporary art world.
What was the Hudson River School, and why did it become so influential? How did its rise coincide with the creation of America's cultural institutions? When did the term "speculator" first enter conversations about emerging artists and the art market? And how do these histories continue to shape the ways art is exhibited and collected today?
Drawing on nearly a decade of independent research presented at Yale University, Columbia University, Christie's Education, and other institutions, Pasquarella will place American art in the broader context of culture, community-building, and the market, offering a fascinating look at the historical forces that continue to shape artistic production and patronage today.
July 26th What is the relationship between freedom and equality?
Still, Small Voice draws its name from the idea of the "still, small voice" within—a quiet, inner voice that guides us in moments of reflection. This monthly gathering, started in 2023 as an artistic experiment, now returns as a community-led practice with rotating facilitators. It invites participants to engage in silent reflection and thoughtful sharing, centered around a question about creativity, community, and being human. We forever ever grateful for Nanao Anton & Erling Hope for their contributions, inspirations, and commitment.
This is a space to hear your and others’ authentic voices & own it in community, free of judgement or reaction, as necessary
This is not group therapy, a study group, a political action group or Quaker Meeting.
Please review our Community Values before attending.
Find your pathway to transcendence, your benefits in stress relief, and awaken your creativity as Bob Roth, Transcendental Meditation (TM) teacher and CEO of the David Lynch Foundation welcomes audiences to take a deep dive into the science of mediation. With over 50 years of experience teaching TM, the mental health luminary shares the inner workings and the techniques that have helped over 1.5 million people. Following the discussion there will be a thoughtful Q&A.
Bob Roth and the David Lynch Foundation have done extensive work to reverse the harmful effects of trauma and toxic stress through serving at-risk communities including urban youth, frontline healthcare workers, first responders, women survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, and veterans who suffer from PTSD. Their work elevates individuals, helping them become agents of their own wellness, fostering the creativity needed to shape their life with confidence. In alignment with The Church’s mission to inspire creativity on the East End and our own recurring wellness series, we look forward to this thoughtful collaboration and how it can benefit our community.
Proceeds from this event will benefit The Church and The David Lynch Foundation.
The 6th Annual Celebrating Creatives of Color returns and for the third time will be hosted at The Church! The event showcases creative artists and authors of color from Sag Harbor and beyond, providing an opportunity for them to display their work and interact with art and literature enthusiasts and collectors. All artwork and books will be for sale.
Proceeds from the donated entry fees will help support The Bridgehampton Child Care and Recreation Center and The Church. Likewise, artists will donate 10% of their total sales to support the community organizations.
This year, we are excited to announce the CCC is part of a weekend long celebration of Black Culture with the Apollo, CAAPA, and the National Black theater. We are also excited to offer special programming as part of this annual celebration!
10:30 AM – 12 PM: RSVP today and join us for special programming featuring Harriette Cole, author & lifestylist, Muriel Monik Johnson, storyteller & artist, ReShonda Tate, author of The Queen of Sugar Hill & With Love From Harlem. All books will be available for purchase and to be signed after remarks. Following the authors, Nanette Carter will be presented with the Living Legend Award. Then join us as we welcome esteemed academic and author Dr. Eddie S. Glaude Jr. The author of We Are the Leaders We Have Been Looking For and Begin Again: James Baldwin’s America and Its Urgent Lesson for Our Own, sits down with ABC News Anchor and correspondent Linsey Davis, to share insight and inspiration. Space is limited – RSVP in advance today!
Purchase a grab-and-go treat from Deanna Smith, the party perfectionist, and linger to enjoy all the fair has to offer!
Visual Artists to include Patrick Earl-Barnes, Elyse Beavers, Jamel Carroll, Andrew Caynon, Karim Chambers, Earlene Cox, Jeremy Dennis, Shimoda Donna Emmanuel, Faith Evans, Laura Gadson, Beverly “Bebe” Granger, Garry Grant, Judith Henriques-Adams, Rod Ivey, Jennifer Ivey, Muriel Monik Johnson, Donna Ladson, Collette McGuire, Shawn Rhea, Andrew Worrell, and Sheniqua Young (Shea Design)! List in formation.
A warm wave of gratitude to the event organizers and Village of Sag Harbor residents from the Sag Harbor Hills and Ninevah Communities: Beverly Granger, Victoria Pinderhughes, Paula Taylor, and Olivia White. Their efforts have helped revive and refresh the Historically Black Beach Communities’ history of supporting local charities through the arts.
We warmly welcome Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook to our Knowledge Friday series! Widely known as Ambassador Sujay, the visionary trailblazer and transformational leader has broken barriers across government, ministry, academia, and media. Her distinguished public service and international leadership have earned her recognition as one of the world’s leading voices in faith diplomacy, peace building, and cross-cultural engagement. Come celebrate her story with us and then stick around for the Q&A at the end of the program.
Appointed by President Barack Obama and nominated by Hillary Clinton, she became the first woman and the first African American to serve as U.S Ambassador for International Religious Freedom, advising the President and Secretary of State on global religious freedom and policy issues across nearly 200 nations. She remains the only Black woman from New York State to hold the title of U.S. Ambassador.
Ambassador Sujay was also the first African American woman elected senior pastor in 200-year history of the American Baptist Churches USA. She also served for 21 years as the first female chaplain of the NYPD, ministering on the front lines during the September 11th attacks, helping New York and our nation through traumatic times, and earning recognition as “America’s Chaplain.”
She is also a local legend. The best-selling author hosts a local television program on LTV called “Live with Sujay” and focuses on Black women leaders and East End Headliners.
This Knowledge Friday has been programmed in tandem with our Summer Exhibition THIS LAND: Considering the American Landscape, which can be viewed June 21 – September 6 during our exhibition hours 11 AM – 5 PM, Thursday-Monday.
Reflect on ecology, sustainability, and interconnectedness with esteemed sculptor Meg Webster as she joins co-curator Donna De Salvo in conversation. Examining her two sculptures Moss Bed King (1986-88/2026) and Steel Containing Salt (1990), which are both included in the summer exhibition This Land: Considering the American Landscape, Webster and DeSalvo enter into organic dialogue centered on Webster’s work as a whole. Following the discussion, there will be an insightful Q&A.
Working primarily with organic materials such as moss, water, stone, wood, and soil, Webster transforms natural elements into immersive sculptural environments. Her work invites viewers to consider nature as a vital and inseparable part of human experience rather than something distant or remote from daily life. Webster’s work contributes to important 20th century artistic movements and innovations, lending itself specifically to Land Art and Minimalism. Webster’s two sculptures can be viewed ahead of the talk during our exhibition hours: Thursday – Monday between 11 AM – 5 PM.
Arcmanoro Niles, esteemed East End visual artist and visionary, joins us as our August Insight Sunday speaker. Included in This Land: Considering The American Landscape, Niles has created a unique painting specifically for the exhibition. Niles invites audiences to see deeply into the work, learn about his process, and gain insight into the wellspring of his creativity. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A and the audience will then be led upstairs into the gallery to view the work in person.
A painter known for working with vivid and bright hues, Niles’s new painting is reflective of how much landscape has become a part of his practice. He says, “I began to realize how important my relationship to nature was. In this painting I wanted to capture the feeling of the day ending looking out into the fading sky, an attempt to connect and reset watching the sunset, contemplating what tomorrow might bring.”
Howard Marks, legendary investor and co-founder of Oaktree Capital Management and a Board Member of The Church, returns for another special summer discussion!
After a successful and highly engaging program last summer, Howard joins us again to discuss what’s currently on his mind concerning the world of finance and investing. Providing an accessible opportunity for our whole community, Howard welcomes guests to an insightful discussion, sharing his unparalleled practical wisdom gained from over 57 years of experience in the world of investing. There’ll be plenty of time for questions!
Following the discussion, the special evening continues with an intimate fundraiser, inviting up to 20 individuals to a private seated dinner with Howard. Guests will be treated to a catered meal and the rare opportunity to engage in an intimate dialogue with our financial expert.
All proceeds from the event will benefit The Church.
August 23rd - What’s so funny?
Still, Small Voice draws its name from the idea of the "still, small voice" within—a quiet, inner voice that guides us in moments of reflection. This monthly gathering, started in 2023 as an artistic experiment, now returns as a community-led practice with rotating facilitators. It invites participants to engage in silent reflection and thoughtful sharing, centered around a question about creativity, community, and being human. We forever ever grateful for Nanao Anton & Erling Hope for their contributions, inspirations, and commitment.
This is a space to hear your and others’ authentic voices & own it in community, free of judgement or reaction, as necessary
This is not group therapy, a study group, a political action group or Quaker Meeting.
Please review our Community Values before attending.
Join us for a very special screening of the documentary short film Earth, I Thank You: The Garden and Legacy of Anne Spencer. The film had its world premiere at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture and its New York premiere at The Frick Collection. The documentary explores the historic sanctuary of Harlem Renaissance poet, civil rights advocate, and gardener Anne Spencer. The 37- minute documentary celebrates the cultural and historical significance of the Anne Spencer House and Garden Museum in Lynchburg, VA. It is rare for a historic house and garden to survive intact—especially one belonging to an African American. The film screening will be followed by a powerful discussion on preservation and legacy between Brent Leggs, the President and CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation and poet Kevin Young, 2026 Griffin Poetry Prize recipient and National Book Critics Circle Awardee. The discussion will then open to a thoughtful Q&A with the audience.
This program is presented in tandem with our summer exhibition, This Land: Considering the American Landscape. Reflecting upon the 250th anniversary of the United States, the film explores the people and histories that have shaped the American experience and our understanding of the land itself.
A legendary Harlem Renaissance poet, civil rights advocate, and passionate gardener, Anne Spencer housed and entertained numerous luminaries and civil rights leaders including Langston Hughes, James Weldon Johnson, Zora Neale Hurston, Thurgood Marshall, George Washington Carvver, and Dr. Martin Luther King in her Virginia home. Her garden features a sculpture gifted to Spencer by W.E.B Du Bois and is one of the most significant examples of a preserved African American garden in the United States. A modest and deeply personal space, the garden is imbued with stories of civil rights advocacy, literary genius, and the many historic figures who walked its paths.
Appearing in the film are key figures in the world of historic preservation and African American history. Brent Leggs, CEO of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers insights into the significance of preserving this site. Peggy Comett, Curator of Plants at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello; Dr. Reuben M. Rainey, Professor emeritus at the University of Virginia and co-author of a book on Anne Spencer; and Dr. Noelle Morrissette, Director of African American and African Diaspora Studies at the University of North Carolina Greensboro and author of a book on Anne Spencer, discuss the horticultural heritage and legacy of the garden and its role in shaping African American cultural identity. The film was produced for The Garden Conservancy by artist Kate Cordsen.
Explore the interpretation of homeland and landscape with award-winning Indigenous visual artist and filmmaker Sky Hopinka. A member of the Ho-Chunk Nation and descendant of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, Hopinka’s work examines the correlation between language and culture in relation to home and land. Joined in conversation by The Church’s Executive Director Sheri Pasquarella, Hopinka will speak about his body of work, including the four video works included in This Land: Considering the American Landscape, his creative process, and the importance of Indigenous cinema in our cinematic landscape. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A with the audience and the opportunity to view the works in the main gallery space.
Hopinka has described his work to Filmmaker Magazine, saying: “deconstructing language [through cinema] is a way for me to be free from the dogma of traditional storytelling and then, from there, to explore or purpose more of what Indigenous cinema has the possibility to look like.” The award-winning filmmaker, whose films have shown in various festivals including Sundance, New York Film Festival, among others, digs deep into the personal and is reflected through documentary and other forms of non-fiction media.
Currently an assistant professor of film for Harvard University, Hopinka invites audiences to learn, reflect, and examine the Indigenous landscape of this land.
Stop by during our exhibition hours Thursday – Monday, 11 AM – 5 PM, to view Hopinka’s work in person and to take in the work of over a dozen additional artists included in This Land.
From Bob Crawford, the grammy-nominated bassist for the Avett Brothers, comes an astounding biography on the extraordinary life and legacy of John Quincy Adams, America’s sixth president. America’s Founding Son: John Quincy Adams, from President to Political Maverick (March 2026, Zando), paints a powerful portrait of an often-overlooked former president, whose fierce independence, nimble activism for democracy, and early crusade against slavery echo today. Joined in conversation by American journalist and political commentator John Avlon, Crawford will dive deep into a tumultuous period of the past and surface with the eerie similarities to modern times. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A and book signing.
Timelier than ever, Crawford’s biography does an incredible job of illuminating the valuable lessons and insights history holds for us. One of the strongest voices against Andrew Jackson’s “Make America Great Again” campaign and Jackson’s unprecedented executive overreach, John Quincy Adams became a political maverick whose grassroots activism and defiance of dictatorial gag-rules shifted the American political landscape forever.
Join us as we learn how the musician’s quiet obsession with books on American history turned him into an unlikely but widely popular public historian and experience real time his gift for making the past feel urgent.
A very special thank you to Book Hampton for being our community bookseller for the program! This reading and discussion has been programmed in tandem with our summer exhibition THIS LAND: Considering the American Landscape, which can be viewed June 21 – September 6 during our exhibition hours 11 AM – 5 PM, Thursday-Monday.
Calling all makers, artisans, artists, and tinkerers! We are thrilled to announce that this year’s Holiday Makers Market is now accepting submissions from prospective vendors. If you are a weaver, potter, designer, woodworker, jewelry designer, or a designer or retailer of other marvelous artisanal objects, we’d love to hear from you!
Our annual market features a curated selection of more than a dozen unique artisans and makers, offering our community a selection of home goods, clothing, jewelry, and more.
Interested in being considered as a vendor? Read below and apply!
All Applications must be received before 5 PM – September 13th to be considered. Late / incomplete submissions will not be considered.
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING BEFORE APPLYING:
Vendors must be able to present both days of the market to be considered
Goods that are made or designed on the East End and/or are handcrafted will be given priority
Vendors must be equipped with their own Point of Sale
Vendors who are not incorporated entities (S-Corp, LLC, and INC.) may be subject to sign an additional liability waiver
ABOUT THE VENDOR SPACES
All vendors are responsible to bring their own: Tablecloth(s), merchandise, supplies, and point of sale
ONLY ONE VENDOR PER SPACE – vendor spaces are not to be shared by multiple vendors
There will be NO WALL SPACE available
All vendors will be designated a space in our main gallery for this year’s market. Upon invitation to the curated market, vendors will be offered one of three possible spaces:
8’ x 5’ Vendor Space - $150 - ONE (1) 8 foot table provided
8’ x 10’ Vendor Space - $300 – TWO (2) 8 foot tables provided
16’ X 5’ Vendor Space - $300 – TWO (2) 8 foot tables provided
Applicants should indicate on their submission their space preference(s). Selection preferences do not guarantee an invitation to that size of vendor space. Vendor space availability will be communicated in acceptance emails.
