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October 15, 2015Albany Institute To Host William Kennedy & Michael Oatman For Discussion About Creativity
The Albany Institute of History & Art is pleased to host William Kennedy and Michael Oatman for a discussion “About Creativity” on Sunday, October 18, 2015 at 2pm. Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author, and Oatman, an artist, curator, and professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, are highly regarded for their creativity and their contributions to the Capital Region’s rich art and literary environment. Kennedy and Oatman will talk about the creative process and how they have used the Capital Region as inspiration and basis for their work. This program is free with museum admission and open to the public. Tickets for seats are available on a first-come, first-served basis on October 18.
This event is part of a series of programs that coincide with The Capital Region in 50 Objects exhibition, which opened in September. William Kennedy’s LC Smith and Corona typewriter is one of the fifty objects currently on view at the museum. Kennedy is known for incorporating the characteristics of Albany and its people into his writings. He used this typewriter in the 1960s to write his first novel, Ink Truck, as well as later works.
In Albany, Kennedy found inspiration for his novels, which he refers to as the “Albany Cycle.” The books O’ Albany!, Legs, and Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game are a few of Kennedy’s “Albany Cycle.” Kennedy’s most successful work was his 1979 publication, Ironweed, which won a Pulitzer Prize and was turned into a feature film starring Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep. In 1983, Kennedy founded the New York State Writer’s Institute at the University at Albany. Today, this organization promotes the art of writing and imagination for students and the general public.
Troy-based artist Michael Oatman is known for his installation work and collages. He received his BFA in Printing from the Rhode Island School of Design and his MFA in Painting from the University at Albany. Oatman has exhibited his work widely in the United States and abroad. He is currently a professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and has taught at Vermont College and the College of Saint Rose. His collage The Birds was the Albany Institute of History & Art Purchase Prize from the 2003 Exhibition of Artists of the Mohawk-Hudson Region and is part of the museum’s permanent collection. In 2013, Oatman published his first children’s book with Mark Bailey and Edward Hemingway called Tiny Pie.
