To Transform
Spring 2024 Public Programs and Engagement

Detail of Airworthiness, Jorge Otero-Pailos, 2019. Photo credit: Audun Haugen. © Jorge Otero-Pailos.
The Spring 2024 Public Programs and Engagement series at Columbia University School of the Arts is organized around the concept of “To Transform.” Here we present conversations, screenings, readings, and research about work that enacts transformation on physical, social, political, and psychic landscapes — exploring the complexities that ensue.
Schedule of Events

Friday, February 2, 6:30 pm
Presented in Dolby Atmos, a screening of Jonathan Demme’s newly restored Talking Heads concert film, Stop Making Sense, followed by a conversation about the making of the film with its distributor Ira Deutchman, visual consultant Sandy McLeod, and writer and critic Adam Reid Sexton '93. Moderated by Maureen A. Ryan, Film.

Thursday, February 8, 6:30 pm
Renowned artist, filmmaker, and cinematographer Arthur Jafa discusses recent work with art historian and curator Kellie Jones, African American and African Diaspora Studies and Art History and Archaeology. Introduction by Jafari S. Allen, Institute for Research in African American Studies.

Thursday, February 22, 6:30 pm
A screening of the powerful short documentary focusing on patients trying to get help in healthcare deserts as rural hospitals close. Followed by a conversation between the film’s Writer and Director, Film Professor Ramin Bahrani (CC '96) and Wafaa El-Sadr, University Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine.

Thursday, March 21, 6:30 pm
Artist and preservation architect Jorge Otero-Pailos, GSAPP, presents his series of sculptures created while restoring the former U.S. Embassy in Oslo — a Saarinen-designed landmark — and that will be installed alongside other mid-century icons on Manhattan’s Park Avenue this spring. Response by Matthew Buckingham, Visual Arts.

Thursday, April 11, 6:30 pm
How can crisis make us more attuned to the world in all its texture and strangeness? How can illness, silence, heartbreak, and hunger summon sharpened forms of attention and wanting? Featuring new books by Eliza Barry Callahan '22, Emmeline Clein '22, and Leslie Jamison, Writing. Moderated by Chloé Cooper Jones, Writing.

A free monthly film screening series for children and families that delves into the world of music—including West Side Story, The Blue Giant, The Wiz, the Spanish-language version of Coco (with English subtitles), and more.