Fall 2024 public programs

Columbia University School of the Arts presents… “Please join us for a season of readings, screenings, conversations, and more with these and other extraordinary artists.” —Sarah Cole, Dean of Columbia University School of the Arts and Parr Professor of English and Comparative Literature. 

In September, the Arts Initiative and Miller Theatre will present the 13th Annual Morningside Lights: In Retrospect: 100 Years of New York Art, “a shared celebration of a century of New York art and artists that have shaped our vision of the city.” Concept and Direction by Processional Arts Workshop. More.

Writing professors Deborah Paredez and Margo Jefferson will discuss American Diva, Paredez’s “powerful blend of incisive criticism and electric memoir” that touches on the work of Celia Cruz, Venus and Serena Williams, Divine, Aretha Franklin, and other icons. More.

The LeRoy Neiman Gallery will present Colors make us do vibrant deeds!—observational portraits and self-portraits by School of the Arts alum Heidi Howard ’14 that reference iconic images of faces by Matisse, Warhol, and others—in conjunction with the launch of Howard’s titular 424-page color monograph published by Phoebe Press. More.

In October, Professor of the Arts and Dean Emerita Carol Becker will lead a conversation about where ideas come from with Jennifer Homans—author of the monumental bibliography of George Balanchine, Mr. B—and neuroscientist Daniel Wolpert whose research focuses on experimental approaches to human movement. More.

Playwright and Theatre Professor David Henry Hwang will explore his play, Yellow Face—a laugh-out-loud farce about the complexities of race” that is on Broadway this fall—with Director Leigh Silverman as part of Dean of the School of the Arts Sarah Cole’s signature speaker series, Speak Now. Moderated by playwright and director James Ijames. More.

In November, visual artist Shahzia Sikander—Alan Kanzer Artist-in-Residence at the Zuckerman Institute and Mentor in the MFA Visual Arts Program—will present work including Witness, which was recently vandalized. “I have chosen not to repair it. I want to leave it beheaded, for all to see. The work is now a witness to the fissures in our country.” Response by Betti-Sue Hertz, Director and Chief Curator, Wallach Art Gallery. More.

Writer, Director, and School of the Arts alum Noah Schamus ’21 will screen his acclaimed film, Summer Solstice: “Leo, a trans man, and his cisgender and straight friend Eleanor go on a weekend trip, during which they uncover some old secrets, new challenges, and find the answer to the age-old question: can good friends and bad sex mix?” Followed by a conversation with Film and Media Studies faculty member Ron Gregg. More.

Lenfest Kids: Big & Small—a free monthly film screening series for children and families—will feature movies that make small things big and big things small. Shrink down to a subatomic level in The Incredible Shrinking Man and grow to enormous size in Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. Explore filmmaking techniques like rotoscoping in Gulliver’s Travels, stop-motion in James and the Giant Peach, and much more.

Visit the School of the Arts website for the full season of events. 

Columbia University School of the Arts recognizes Manhattan as part of the ancestral and traditional homeland of the Lenni-Lenape and Wappinger people. At the School of the Arts, we believe education and the arts are critical spaces to address issues of exclusion, erasure, and systemic discrimination.