Winter Speaker Series 2025 Virtual Only

All Lectures will be recorded for later viewing by subscribers and ticket holders

Subscribe to the Series and enjoy one lecture free!

Since 1928, the Winter Speaker Series has been a cornerstone of the Newport Art Museum’s annual programming. Each year the Winter Speaker Series Committee and Museum staff curate this series to reflect the ideas of our times and to educate, illuminate, delight and inspire. This Series, incredibly in its 97th year, promises engaging conversations on a variety of topics covering the political environment, alpacas and research, sharks, garden-like cemeteries, amazing textiles, and robots and movement.

Each lecture will be followed by audience Q&A, and continued conversation in the galleries over hot tea, coffee, light fare, and desserts.
Join us for these in person and live streamed thought provoking talks, accessible to you wherever you happen to be!

January 11: Darrell West

Bookings Institution Senior Fellow-Governance Studies Center for Innovation, Center for Effective Public Management, Douglas Dillon Chair in Governance Studies

The Political Outlook for 2025

West will examine the political outlook for the coming year. What are the priorities of the new president and what issues is he likely to address? What will the new Congress look like and how will that help or hinder progress towards resolving the country’s most pressing problems. Using an analysis of the latest polls and emerging trends, West will put the new administration in historic context and discuss what people should pay attention to.

January 18: Hidde Ploegh

Boston Children’s Hospital: Senior Investigator, Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine

Fighting for Our Health

Antibodies found in the blood of Alpacas are similar to those found in humans. Dr. Hidde Ploegh and his team have been researching ways to utilize this similarity in blood antibodies to develop new therapies to attack cancer cells. Thus far, the results are encouraging and provide new ways to fight cancer as well as some autoimmune disorders.

January 25: Gregory Skomal

Massachusetts Division of Fisheries:  Senior Fisheries Scientist

Sharks are Back!

The shark biologist who quite unexpectedly found himself in the middle of the newest white shark hot spot tells his story and the story of these magnificent creatures. Based on his book Chasing Shadows, written with Ret Talbot, this presentation highlights this remarkable conservation success story, which is loaded with cutting-edge science, drama, and controversy. From the fascinating early days of shark research on the east coast to the consequences of the so-called Jaws effect and the heart-stopping moment when he found himself beneath a 17-foot white shark off Cape Cod, Skomal sets the record straight about this iconic species.

February 1:  Meg Winslow

Curator of Historical Collections & Archives, Mount Auburn Cemetery

Landscape and Commemoration

Mount Auburn is the first American cemetery that purposely combined elements of experimental gardening, magnificent architecture, picturesque landscape design, and access to nature, starting a trend across the nation in the mid-19th century that led to the creation of the first public parks in this country.  As the Curator of Historical Collections and Archives at the Cemetery, Ms. Winslow will discuss Mount Auburn’s creation, history, and original features, as well as its current multifaceted role as a cemetery, arboretum, outdoor museum, and wildlife habitat.

February 8: Liz Collins

Multi-Media Artist

A Textile Wonderland of Color and Pattern

Liz Collins, whose vibrant and energized textile installation was included in the 2024 Venice Biennale, will talk about the process of planning her upcoming mid-career retrospective (RISD museum, July 2025) . Through the presentation of select featured works, Collins will elucidate the different facts of her making methods and of the contexts that engage and inspire her.

February 15: Sydney Skybetter

Brown University: Director of Brown Arts Institute, Associate Professor of Theater Arts and Performance Studies.

Clock, Fall: A Brief History and Speculative Future of Dancing Murder Robots

Sydney Skybetter is an expert in choreorobotics, a portmanteau of choreography and robotics, and a field which he has pioneered at the interdisciplinary intersection of choreographic theory and robotic motion planning. Choreorobotics offers a rich, critical aperture to consider how bodies in motion – human or otherwise – move through space and time to generate meaning. In this presentation, Skybetter will cover topics ranging from Boston Dynamics robots, Tesla’s “Party Mode” and Optimus robots, parasitic aesthetic theory, the movie M3GAN, Artificial Intelligence, and a little bit of Beyoncé.

WINTER SPEAKER SERIES CORPORATE SPONSORS

Platinum:

Gold:

Bronze:

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WINTER SPEAKER SERIES INDIVIDUAL SPONSORS

Lockett Ford Ballard, Jr.
Johanna Becker
Gabe & Eleanor Doumato
Angela Fischer
Mary M. Jennings Fund
Kathleen & Joseph Gallichio
Robert & Susan Kieronski
Chas A. Miller III
Santiago & Maureen Neville
Edwina Sebest
Cynthia Sinclair
Brian Zanghi

In-Kind Sponsors

Winter Speaker Series Committee

Johanna Becker, Chair
Eleanor Doumato
Joseph Gallichio
Susan Kieronski
Santiago Neville

Contact Susan Hanley, Senior Advisor Sponsor & Donor Engagement at 631-599-1950 (shanley@newportartmuseum.org) for more information on sponsoring the Winter Speaker Series.

Platinum Sponsor
Gold Sponsor
Bronze Sponsor