Previous
Previous
Concerts & Performances
Next
Next
“It has to do with women, their sacrifices and strength, and of course politics!” says author and poet Philip Schultz of his latest book of poetry, Enormous Mornings. The Pulitzer Prize winning poet is joined in conversation with visual artist and The Church co-founder April Gornik, whose painting Light Bending the World is featured on the book’s cover. Sharing excerpts from the book and engaging in a delightful dialogue with Gornik, Schultz invites audiences to discover his new work and the inspirations behind it. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A.
This newest poetic publication is set to release March 10th, 2026 by W.W. Norton. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and can be signed by the author after the talk.
Join us as we close out Women’s History month with a poetic program that celebrates and explores the wisdom of women.
Our much-loved and highly anticipated annual Creativity Conference returns! Now in its fifth year, this full-day celebration of bold thinking in the arts and sciences brings together visionaries who are truly celebrated in their fields whose work has shaped conversations and expand the boundaries of creativity. Curated by April Gornik, this conference once again offers a rare opportunity to intimately learn and engage with remarkable thinkers and makers in one mind-expanding day! Join us for an unforgettable gathering of insight, inspiration, and creative exploration - don’t miss the chance to experience these extraordinary voices up close.
Our distinguished speakers are:
PAUL BINGHAM – Author & Professor Emeritus, Biochemistry and Cell Biology, SUNY Stony Brook
Speaking On: Uniquely Human Creativity Is An Evolved Property We Now Understand
HARRIETTE COLE – Award-winning lifestyle expert and advice columnist. Author of How to Be, former editor-in-chief at Ebony magazine, and recipient of the Women of Excellence Award
Speaking On: Making Confidence Your Superpower
TOM JUNOD – two-time National Magazine award-winning Esquire writer and journalist
Speaking On: The Secrets of Creativity: Secrets
GEORGE MAKARI – Historian, Psychiatrist, Best Selling Author, and Director of the DeWitt Wallace Institute of Psychiatry, Weill Cornell
Speaking On: Imagining Strangers: Xenophobia, Then and Now
SUSAN RUBIN – 30+ Year Math Education Veteran and Math Student Teacher supervisor at Columbia University
Speaking On: Bringing Creativity into the Math Classroom
SUSAN WHEELER – Multi-award-winning Poet, Princeton University Professor Emerita, and author of Record Palace, Assorted Poems, and Meme
Speaking On: Noodling and Ambition
Wake up your joints and stretch into Spring as Dina K returns to the Church! Join us as Dina K. guides us through some gentle joint work and stretches that promote good posture and mobility.
“We need to first establish a conscious awareness of how we embody our physical bodies,” says Dina. “When we take full responsibility for how we think and feel in our bodies we can then start working toward a healthier, more balanced existence. Taking action from that empowered state makes it much more likely to heal and transform our being.”
Please bring a yoga mat and water bottle and wear comfortable clothing.
A heartfelt and special thank you to Dina for donating this program to The Church’s wellness program.
Martin Schoeller, esteemed and world renown contemporary portrait photographer joins us for a rare area appearance to delve into his life and process behind the lens. One of the ten photographers featured in our exhibition A Thousand Words: Photography at the New Yorker, Schoeller is an internationally renowned artist who began photographing for The New Yorker in 1998 and has contributed to magazines and campaigns around the world, including National Geographic, Vanity Fair, TIME, The New York Times Magazine, Rolling Stone and GQ, among others. In June 2025, he was honored at the Lucie Awards for his Achievement in Portraiture.
Most known for his extreme close-up portraits, a series in which familiar faces are treated with the same scrutiny as the unfamous. The stylistic consistency of this work creates a democratic platform for comparison between his subjects, challenging a viewer’s existing notions of celebrity, value and honesty. This artist talk will explore his vast body of work, which captures both the humanity inherent in all of us and the imagination and playfulness of the human spirit. Other notable projects include his Colin Kaepernick image in Nike’s “Just Do It” campaign. This image went along to win the prestigious D&AD Black Pencil and the Outdoor Grand Prix at Cannes.
Join us for the rare opportunity to catch the in-demand and on-the-move photographer with an eye for honesty and learn from his experience and expertise.
Welcome to the first Insight Sunday of the spring, Bill Armstrong! The acclaimed photographer invites you to join him as he discusses the process behind his book All A Blur: Photographs from the Infinity Series. In addition to speaking about his creative process, Armstrong will also lean-in to the process of editing and photo selection that goes into making a photography book – both highly intuitive processes to which the artist brings insight and wisdom. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A
An extensive body of work that has been ongoing since 1997, The Infinity Series brings together compositions Armstrong has made through a unique process of photographing found images with a camera’s focusing ring set at infinity, rendering a completely new image that is extremely out of focus. Armstrong creates new worlds, hovering between real and fantasy, where things are just beyond our grasp. In this world, the viewer is unable to fully resolve the image. Armstrong believes that the “psyche momentarily derailed” by this is what frees the viewer to respond emotionally.
April 26th Query: What is “Nature,” now that we- our effects, our influence, and our effluence - are everywhere?
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.
Welcome to the first Insight Sunday of the spring, Bill Armstrong! The acclaimed photographer invites you to join him as he discusses the process behind his book All A Blur: Photographs from the Infinity Series. In addition to speaking about his creative process, Armstrong will also lean-in to the process of editing and photo selection that goes into making a photography book – both highly intuitive processes to which the artist brings insight and wisdom. Following the discussion there will be a Q&A
An extensive body of work that has been ongoing since 1997, The Infinity Series brings together compositions Armstrong has made through a unique process of photographing found images with a camera’s focusing ring set at infinity, rendering a completely new image that is extremely out of focus. Armstrong creates new worlds, hovering between real and fantasy, where things are just beyond our grasp. In this world, the viewer is unable to fully resolve the image. Armstrong believes that the “psyche momentarily derailed” by this is what frees the viewer to respond emotionally.
Welcome, Francesca Zambello! The lifelong opera expert, known for being at the top of her field and for her esteemed leadership as the Artistic Director of the Washington National Opera (WNO) joins us for an intriguing presentation and dialogue. Zambello recently made headlines when she pulled the company from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, its home venue since 1971.
Zambello shares her reflections of this experience with Sally Susman, the best-selling author of Breaking Through: Communicating to Open Minds, Move Hearts and Change the World and valued Board Member of The Church. Following the dialogue the two will host a Q&A with the audience.
May 31st Query: Where, in the real world of the everyday, do you find inspiration, and how does the inspiration affect your thoughts and actions? (thank you to SSV collaborator Barbara Burke for the query).
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.
From newsroom to jail. Andrew Visconti’s fascinating journey started in journalism and evolved into a memoir writing program for incarcerated individuals. Join us for this very special Knowledge Friday in which Visconti talks about the experience he gained working with inmates. Since 2023, he has led workshops that foster personal growth behind bars and uses storytelling to guide transformation among the incarcerated population.
April is National Second Chance Awareness Month, which aims to reduce recidivism and highlights the barriers to reintegration that formerly incarcerated individuals face. With this in mind, this program intends to shine a light on the power of support and community in the walk toward rehabilitative justice.