Katrina Trask in focus
Event covers life of Yaddo founder Katrina Trask
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Katrina Trask was the topic of discussion at this year’s 13th annual Lecture Luncheon presented by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Action Council.
Saratoga Springs-based literary dramatist Betty Spinelli gave a presentation at Thursday’s sold-out event titled, The Fascinating Life of Katrina Trask.
In her lecture, Spinelli shared the events of Trask’s lifetime, which lasted from 1853 to 1922.
“Katrina’s life was filled with prosperity, tragedy, romance and creativity,” Spinelli told the crowd of 365 attendees.
Today Trask is best known as the founder of Yaddo, a famed artist retreat in Saratoga Springs that has housed a wide variety of creatives such as Aaron Copland, Sylvia Plath, Truman Capote and Langston Hughes.
“This is the first event I came to as the new president last year and I was so blown away by what happens here,” said Saratoga Performing Arts Center president and CEO Elizabeth Sobol in welcoming guests to Thursday’s lecture luncheon. Sobol shared that her previous knowledge of Trask’s Yaddo was what helped her make the decision to move to Saratoga Springs and become the Saratoga Performing Arts Center’s new leader. “The very presence of Yaddo and the simple knowledge of all the great artists who passed through there played a very big part in my decision to make this place home.”
Trask’s other enduring legacies, event-goers learned, are the Wiawaka Center for Women in Lake George and her many published writings.
“Katrina was a prolific writer of poems, novels, essays and plays,” Spinelli said, explaining that writing was one of Trask’s most consistent passions until her death. “Above all that is what Katrina did.”
From hosting envied house parties at Yaddo to tragically losing all four of her children in infancy or childhood, audience members heard a detailed synopsis of Trask’s life.
“Katrina’s life is the stuff movies are made of,” said Spinelli who loves to tell Trask’s story.
Following Spinelli’s presentation, participants enjoyed boutique-style shopping and an elegant fall luncheon at the Hall of
Springs as part of the Fall Lecture Luncheon event.
This annual fundraising gathering is presented by the Saratoga Performing Arts Center Action Council, which raises more than $250,000 annually for the venue’s world-class classical music, dance and children’s programming.
The next upcoming Action Council event is the annual Nutcracker Tea, to take place in two sessions at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 19 at the Hall of Springs.
More information about Saratoga Performing Arts Center and its Action Council efforts is available online at spac.org.