Yaddo is an artists’ community located on a 400-acre estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Founded in 1900 by Spencer and Katrina Trask, its mission is to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment. Yaddo offers residencies to professional creative artists from all nations and backgrounds working in various media. A glittering array of cultural luminaries have resided there, including Saul Bellow, Leonard Bernstein, Truman Capote, Aaron Copland, Philip Guston, Patricia Highsmith, Langston Hughes, Ted Hughes, Alfred Kazin, Ulysses Kay, Sylvia Plath, Philip Roth, Clyfford Still, Virgil Thomson and Alice Walker.
Normally closed to the public, this intriguing institution will open its doors for only the fifth time in its history on September 17 and 18. The tours include viewing the Yaddo Mansion’s dining room and table at which artists in residence gather to dine every night. The New York Times Travel section quoted Yaddo spokeswoman, Lesley Leduc, as saying, “That dining room table is the center of life at Yaddo. People meet each other there and get ideas for collaborations; they form lifelong friendships there.”
The essence of Squishtalks is, similarly, that gathering of interested, curious people willing to engage in conversation. People willing to share and explore whatever may be prompted by their interaction. To learn, grow, change and enlighten. Yaddo is an inspiration. But, so can your own kitchen table be that place of inspiration… set up your own Squishtalks here.
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