Love & Trouble: Commitment to Craft in the Life of the Artist

What does it mean to make a commitment to life as an artist? What does it share with other forms of commitment? Writer Katie Peterson and photographer Young Suh will investigate this question in conversation. Their discussion will touch on a range of topics in the life of the artist: the nature of craft and the purpose of a medium, the artist’s studio, the importance of routine, the reality of doubt and self-questioning, returning to your practice and principles in a time of crisis, and the vexed and necessary nature of ambition. From Katie and Young: “We are very different people who happen to be married so we anticipate equal amounts of harmony and conflict as we reflect on these subjects.” In addition to Katie and Young’s talk, there will be writing exercises and opportunities for participant discussion and reflection.

Date: Saturday, October 8th

Time: 10:30 AM-12:00 PM, followed by a lunch reception

Location: 2134 Allston Way, 2nd Floor

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Katie Peterson

Associate Professor of English at the University of California at Davis, where she teaches poetry workshops and courses on contemporary literature. She is the author of three books of poetry, This One Tree, Permission, and The Accounts, and the forthcoming collection, A Piece of Good News. Her edited selection of Robert Lowell’s poems, New Selected Poems, was published this last March. Her essays and reviews have appeared widely. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of Deep Springs College in rural Inyo County, California. She received a B.A. in English from Stanford and a PhD in English and American Literature and Language from Harvard.
Young Suh

A visual artist using photography, video, words, and handmade books to tell stories about human lives and the difficulties of our existence on earth. His work has been exhibited in Santa Barbara Museum of Art, the Datz Museum in South Korea, San Francisco Arts Commission Gallery, the Contemporary Jewish Museum in San Francisco. He is currently Professor in the Department of Art and Art History at University of California, Davis.