Albany, NY -- The producers of The Creative Life: A Conversation Series at UAlbany are pleased to announce that artist William Wegman, best known for his portraits of his Weimaraner dogs, will be the next guest in the series on Tuesday, February 27, 2024 at 7pm at the UAlbany Performing Arts Center on the uptown University at Albany campus located at 1400 Washington Avenue. The event is free and open to the public.

William Wegman is a beloved American artist known throughout the world for photographs, videos and calendars that feature his Weimaraner dogs in a variety of costumes and poses. His work is held in the permanent collections of major museums, including the Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art and Smithsonian American Art Museum. The author of numerous books for children, Wegman is also the creator of short segments featuring his dogs for Sesame Street. His new book is William Wegman: Writing by Artist (2022), his first collection to focus on his multifaceted and deeply funny relationship to language, spanning the early 1970s to the present.

The Creative Life series is a major arts initiative of the University Art Museum, New York State Writers Institute and UAlbany Performing Arts Center in conjunction with WAMC Northeast Public Radio. Sponsored by The University at Albany Foundation, the series features live onstage interviews conducted by WAMC’s "Roundtable" host Joe Donahue with artists of national and international prominence in conversation about their creative inspiration, their craft, their careers and the demands of sustaining an artistic practice over time. A question-and-answer period closes each program. 

Creative Life guests span the creative disciplines including writing, music, dance, choreography, visual arts, architecture, theatre, filmmaking and more. The series celebrates the depth and range of artistic practices, helps to demystify the creative process for the audience and explores what it means to dedicate one’s life to a creative pursuit. It is also intended to bring attention to the vibrant arts community on the University at Albany campus.

Previous guests in The Creative Life series have included fiction writer Joyce Carol Oates, tap dancer Savion Glover, jazz violinist Regina Carter, painter David Salle, author Lois Lowry, choreographer Garth Fagan, Broadway star Patti LuPone, Warhol film star Bibbe Hansen, sculptor Jean Shin, author/ essayist Esmeralda Santiago, New Yorker journalist/ author Susan Orlean, comedian/actor Paul Reiser, high-wire artist Philippe Petit, rapper Rakim, novelist Jhumpa Lahiri, chef/food writer Ruth Reichl, designer Debbie Millman, author Roxane Gay, art critic Lucy Sante, actress/comedian Jane Curtin and singer/guitarist Susanna Hoffs. Additional guests in the series will be announced for the spring of 2024.

Major support for The Creative Life is provided by The University at Albany Foundation and University Auxiliary Services.

More information can be obtained by contacting the UAlbany Performing Arts Center at (518) 442-3995 or [email protected].