PLAYBILL: Creative Minds, Unique Voices from Music, Art, and Television by thectforum

12 | 9 | 2021

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WELCOME TO THE CONNECTICUT FORUM!

CREATIVE MINDS

Dear Friends, Welcome to the 30th season of The Connecticut Forum! The topic of creativity is one that we’ve explored before, most recently in 2016 at Creative Artists with Nile Rodgers, Elizabeth Gilbert, and Bill T. Jones. At our 2011 Creative Minds Forum we welcomed Lyle Lovett, Miranda July, and Dave Eggers, and in 1999 the Wonders of Creativity Forum featured Gene Wilder, Jane Alexander, Danny Glover, and Werner Pfeiffer. That’s a lot of creativity! Tonight, we are in for another delightful evening of discovery with a wonderfully eclectic and talented panel of creators and thinkers. These three accomplished artists will discuss their lives, their work, and the creative process, exploring creative inspiration and expression. We’ll find answers to: Where does creativity come from? What are the roadblocks that tend to stop us from living a creative life? How can we find the magic and inspiration in the everyday? We’ll also explore how creativity helps us cope in difficult times. In the words of panelist Tracy K. Smith “Poems are what we turn to in big moments of change…poems give us a sense of what we feel, what we’re part of, and what that means.” So sit back, relax, and open your mind to the joy of authentic, untethered, playful, creative expression! All my best to you for a joyous holiday season.

Ruth Cullen

7:30 PM Welcome & Introductions Ruth Cullen

Executive Director

THE CONNECTICUT FORUM

Brian Ferney

Regional Vice President of Sales & Marketing COMCAST

7:35 PM Panel Discussion

Nick Offerman Tracy K. Smith Jeff Tweedy Alison Stewart, Moderator

8:45 PM Intermission 9:05 PM Welcome Back Andrew Maglio CT YOUTH Forum Member

CT Forum Board Member

9:10 PM Panelist Q & A 9:45 PM End of Show

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KEY MOMENTS FROM An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma Presented LIVE at The Bushnell, 11.9.2021 Photos by Nick Caito Photo

Ruth Cullen, Executive Director of The Connecticut Forum

Yo-Yo Ma, On stage at An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma

Jeffrey Brown, Moderator for An Evening with Yo-Yo Ma

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THE CONNECTICUT FORUM | PANELIST

NICK OFFERMAN Actor, Author, Humorist, Woodworker Nick Offerman is an actor, author, humorist, and woodworker, best known as the character of Ron Swanson on NBC’s Parks & Recreation, Forest in Devs, Karl Weathers in the FX series Fargo, and cohost and executive producer of NBC’s Making It. Offerman co-stars as Colin Kaepernick’s father in the Netflix series Colin in Black & White, produced by Ava Duvernay, and is the voice of Beef Tobin in the FOX animated series, The Great North. Upcoming projects include Pam & Tommy (Hulu) and Amazon’s reboot of A League of Their Own. Offerman has written five New York Times bestselling books, including Where the Deer and the

American Who Loves to Walk Outside, Paddle Your Own Canoe, Gumption, Good Clean Fun, and The Greatest Love Story Ever Told, written with his wife, Megan Mullally. Together, they host the podcast, In Bed with Nick and Megan. Film credits include Hearts Beat Loud, Lucy in the Sky, The Founder, Bad Times at the El Royale, The Hero, The Lego Movie (1&2), White Fang, and The Little Hours.

In his spare time, Offerman can be found at his woodshop in Los Angeles building hand-crafted items from wood ranging from spoons to canoes to ukuleles.

Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant

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THE CONNECTICUT FORUM | PANELIST

TRACY K. SMITH Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet, Former U.S. Poet Laureate

Tracy K. Smith received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her third book of poems, Life on Mars that draws upon the genre of science fiction in considering who we humans are and what the vast universe holds for us. It was a New York Times Notable Book, a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and a New Yorker, Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year. Smith’s debut collection, The Body’s Question, was selected as winner of the Cave Canem Prize for the best first book by an African American poet. Duende, Smith’s second book, received the James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets. In her memoir, Ordinary Light, Smith explores her own experience of race, religion, and the death of her mother shortly after Smith graduated from Harvard. The book was a finalist for the National Book Award and named a Notable

Book by The New York Times and Washington Post. Smith’s fourth book of poems, Wade in the Water, won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for its examination of the grave contradictions tied up in America’s history. Her new book of poetry is Such Color: New and Selected Poems. Smith served two terms as Poet Laureate of the United States, during which time she traveled across America, hosting poetry readings and conversations in rural communities. She edited the anthology American Journal: Fifty Poems for Our Time during her laureateship and launched the American Public Media podcast The Slowdown. In March, 2021 she was voted into the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Smith is Professor of English and of African and African American Studies at Harvard University.

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THE CONNECTICUT FORUM | PANELIST

JEFF TWEEDY Frontman of Wilco, Author,

Grammy Award-winning Musician Jeff Tweedy, the songwriter and frontman of the legendary indie rock band Wilco, is considered among the most influential American contemporary musicians. He has written hundreds of original songs, sold millions of records worldwide, won three Grammy Awards, received rave reviews from critics, and built a dedicated fan base. In Tweedy’s long-awaited memoir, Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back), he shares never-before-told stories about childhood and family, career and collaborators, addiction and mental health, honesty, and morality. In his follow-up 2020 book, How to Write One Song, he reaches beyond music to stress the importance of making space for creativity as a balanced part of life.

Now, Tweedy brings his captivating storytelling to live events. Beyond stories from his incredible career, Tweedy gives concrete advice on working through a creative block, becoming comfortable with failure, and bringing play back into the creative process. In 2020, Tweedy announced that he would commit 5% of future songwriting revenue to organizations dedicated to social justice, saying “The modern music industry is built almost entirely on Black art. The wealth that rightfully belongs to Black artists was stolen outright…I’ve often thought there should be an industry-wide plan to address this enormous injustice.” When he isn’t on the road, he lives with his family in Chicago.

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THE CONNECTICUT FORUM | MODERATOR

ALISON STEWART Journalist, Host of WNYC’s All of It

Alison Stewart is a seasoned journalist who has covered everything from presidential conventions and the Olympics to major news events. She is the author of First Class: The Legacy of Dunbar, America’s First Black Public High School, which was named one of the best books of 2013 by Essence and Mother Jones magazines. She is also the host of the WNYC radio show, ALL OF IT. Stewart first gained widespread visibility as a producer/reporter for MTV News’ breathrough political coverage Choose or Lose, for which she won a Peabody Award. She later served as anchor for ABC World News Now, receiving an Emmy as part of ABC News’ coverage of 9/11, and has since interviewed news-makers including President Bill Clinton, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, singer/

activist Bono, author Carl Hiassen, movie titan Steven Spielberg, and U.S. Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher. Stewart is a popular speaker at colleges across the country and has moderated events for NYC’s 92nd Street Y, The World Science Festival, The Smithsonian Institution, and the New School. She is a skilled and frequent moderator at The CT Forum, leading the conversation at Favorite

Authors, An Evening with Spike Lee, Women Rising, Creative Artists, Explorers & Adventurers, and Talkin’ ‘bout My Generation.

A graduate of Brown University, Stewart lives in New York City and Woodstock, NY.

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Proud Sponsors of Tomorrow At Lincoln Financial Group, we believe in helping people face their futures with confidence. It began over a century ago when we adopted Lincoln’s name. His legacy of honesty, integrity, and respect has helped shape our business as well as how we dedicate our resources to help the community around us. It’s also why we established the Lincoln Financial Foundation: To carry on our rich tradition of giving by supporting the hopes and dreams of Hartford with the tools it needs to lay the foundation for a better tomorrow.

Lincoln Financial is a proud sponsor of the Connecticut Forum.

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Powerful voices addressing key issues in the fight for racial justice: policing, voting rights, civil rights, criminal justice reform, education and more.

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30 YEARS

The Connecticut Forum’s 2021-2022 Season

LIVE from The Bushnell THURS, DEC. 9, 2021

HOSTED BY XFINITY

Creative Minds Unique Voices from Music, Art, and Literature FRI, FEB. 25, 2022

The Fight for

Racial Justice SAT, APRIL 9, 2022

Life in 2042

How We’ll Work and Live in the Future FRI, MAY 13, 2022

Creator of Humans of New York

HOSTED BY TRAVELERS

Brandon Stanton

An Evening of Storytelling and Photos