PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 15, 2008

CONTACT:Beth Alvarez
(301)405-9298
alvarez@umd.edu

College Park, MD - The University of Maryland Libraries will be the site of an informative exhibit that explores American author Katherine Anne Porter’s relationship with Yaddo, an artists' retreat in Saratoga Springs, New York. Porter spent a significant amount of time at the retreat as a guest in the 1940s. She also served for nearly twenty years as a member of the corporation, reviewing applications and recommending individuals for residencies at the lovely wooded estate. She described Yaddo's "physical and surface conditions" as "ideal" and its atmosphere as "hospitality and friendliness of the purest sort." The exhibit focuses on the work Porter completed while at Yaddo. Viewers may also gain insight into the relationships Porter formed at the retreat. Also chronicled is the witch hunt led by poet Robert Lowell in February 1949. Lowell and others accused Yaddo’s executive director Elizabeth Ames of involvement in communist activities and accommodating communists at Yaddo because of the actions of the controversial writer, Agnes Smedley during her residency there. The exhibit includes original letters and documents from Porter’s papers that may be read in their entirety in a portfolio that accompanies the display.

The exhibit is part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the New York Public Library (NYPL) to celebrate the achievements of the upstate New York artist colony, Yaddo. NYPL will mount an exhibit titled "Yaddo: Making American Culture." The exhibit will explore the multiple ways that Yaddo as an institution and the artists who resided there were affected by the social, political, and economic crises that marked the twentieth century. Other exhibitions throughout the U.S. will honor Yaddo and its dedication to creative artists, such as Katherine Anne Porter.

The University of Maryland Libraries have a special connection with the distinguished American author. In 1968, the Katherine Anne Porter Room was established in McKeldin Library in appreciation of the author. From the time that the room was dedicated to Porter until ill health prevented her from it, Porter spent a significant amount of time in this room working on her papers. She thought of it as a place where interested individuals could "view and enjoy her library and furnishings" in an atmosphere that reflected her personal taste and style.

The Katherine Anne Porter Room is now located on the first floor of Hornbake Library. The exhibit will open on October 31, 2008, and remain mounted until May 22, 2009. It will be open every Monday and Thursday afternoon from 1:30 to 4:00 during the Fall and Spring Terms. The University of Maryland (UM) is the only nationally-ranked public university in the Baltimore/Washington area. With a total student enrollment approaching 40,000, the University is supported in its academic endeavors by the University of Maryland Libraries, comprised of eight libraries and more than three and one half million volumes.

For More Information: http://www.lib.umd.edu/
http://yaddo.org/yaddo/nyplimagesheet.shtml
http://yaddo.org/yaddo/yaddoarchiveexhibit.shtml