Rich von Bargen ‘99 sent in this listing of upcoming events at the Williams Club in NYC. Looks like good stuff.

A Dialogue on Leaks, National Security, & The War

One prominent journalist, the New York Times’ Judith Miller, first went to
jail then went through a messy divorce from her newspaper. The nation’s best
known investigative reporter, Bob Woodward, has seen his reputation
tarnished for concealing that he too was leaked the fact that the wife of a
vocal war critic worked for the CIA. Meanwhile, one Bush Administration has
been indicted—and resigned—for allegedly obstructing a special prosecutor’s
ongoing investigation into the leaks. These scandals have shined a spotlight
on the sometimes incestuous relationship between journalists and the
government and suggested that the people paid to inform the public sometimes
leave them in the dark instead — a disturbing possibility at all times, but
especially when the issues concern national security and war.

Please join us for a discussion by a panel of distinguished journalists.
John Walcott ’71 has headed a team whose coverage of the war and related
issues has proved to be among the most accurate, in retrospect — raising
questions, from the start, about government claims about Iraqi weapons of
mass destruction. He is the chief of the Washington Bureau of Knight Ridder,
and, in December, the Washingtonian magazine named him one of the capital’s
“50 Best and Most Influential Journalists”. John Kifner ‘63 is a veteran
foreign and national correspondent with The New York Times. Michael Massing
is a contributing editor of the Columbia Journalism Review and the press
critic of the New York Review of books. He is the author of “Now They Tell
Us –The American Press and Iraq,” which describes the American press
coverage of the war in Iraq as “the unseen war,” an ironic reference given
the number of reporters in Iraq and in Doha, Qatar, the location of the
Coalition Media Center with its $250,000 stage set. Massing argues that a
combination of self-censorship, lack of real information given by the
military at briefings, boosterism, and a small number of reporters familiar
with Iraq and fluent in Arabic deprived the American public of reliable
information while the war was going on. He received his BA from Harvard and
an MS from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Wednesday, January 18th at The Williams Club (24 East 39th Street, between
Madison and Park Avenues, NYC). Reception 5:30 p.m. Panel discussion and Q&A
6:00-7:00 p.m. Cost of $15 includes light hors d’oeuvres, beer, wine and
soda. To RSVP, please contact Rich von Bargen ‘99 at
programs@williamsclub.org or 212-697-5300 ext. 223.

Barbara Ernst Prey: Paintings from the Seacoast to Outer Space

Barbara Ernst Prey is considered one of the foremost painters active in the
United States today. Tonight, she will be unveiling the Shuttle Discovery
Return to Flight painting, in conjunction with her An Exploration of Space
exhibit at The Williams Club. Prey, best known for her watercolor scenes of
Maine fishing communities, will be questioned by Paul Lieberman, who
monitors the art scene as the New York-based roving cultural correspondent
for the Los Angeles Times. Also on display will be her print of the Columbia
painting, a painting of the International Space Station and perhaps another
large painting interspersed with studies and some photos for the exhibit.

She graduated from Williams College in 1979, writing her honors thesis in
art history with Lane Faison. She earned a masters degree from Harvard
University and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship and a grant from the
Henry Luce Foundation, enabling her to travel, study, work and exhibit
extensively in Europe and Asia. Her artwork is included in prominent
collections throughout the world.

NASA commissioned her to do the Discovery painting to celebrate The
Discovery Shuttle’s Return to Flight this summer. This is her fourth NASA
commission. Her painting ‘Columbia Tribute’, was unveiled at the National
Air and Space Museum Tribute Dinner. A print of the painting with a quote
from the President was presented to the astronaut’s families. She was
commissioned by NASA to paint the International Space Station, which is
currently on exhibit with her painting of the Columbia Tribute, at the
Kennedy Space Center. She joins an elite group of American artists who have
been invited by NASA to document space history including Norman Rockwell and
Robert Rauschenberg. Dr. H. Lester Cooke, former National Gallery of Art
Curator who guided the NASA Arts Program comments, “future generations will
realize that we have not only the scientists and engineers capable of
shaping the destiny of our age but artists worthy to keep them company.”

She was invited by the President and First Lady Laura Bush to be the
official artist for the White House Christmas card. In Talk of the Town, The
New Yorker wrote, “Barbara Ernst Prey may be, at this moment, the most
widely viewed painter in the world.” Her painting was made part of the
permanent collection of the White House and her card was on display at The
White House this December. Barbara is an artistic ambassador for her
country, having been chosen in 2005 to participate in the United States Arts
in Embassies Program, which promotes national pride and cultural awareness
by presenting the work of influential American artists to a broad,
international audience. Her paintings are on exhibit at the United States
Embassies in Paris, Madrid and Oslo.

Barbara was honored by the New York State Senate with the Senate’s “Women of
Distinction Award”. She joins previous honorees Susan B. Anthony, Harriet
Tubman and Eleanor Roosevelt. The Women of Distinction program was created
in 1998 as a tribute to outstanding New York women. In addition to historic
figures, the Women of Distinction program also recognizes present day women
whose achievements merit them special tribute.

She will converse with Paul Lieberman ‘71, whose writings in the field have
ranged from examinations of art in Las Vegas and the auction house scandals
to a recent profile of British conceptual artist Damien Hirst. Lieberman was
a religion major at Williams and studied law as a Nieman Fellow at Harvard.

Thursday, January 19th at The Williams Club (24 East 39th Street, between
Madison and Park Avenues, NYC). Registration 5:30 p.m. Conversation
6:00-7:00 p.m. Reception 7:00-8:00 p.m. Cost of $15 includes light hors d’
oeuvres. Cash bar for drinks. To RSVP, please contact Rich von Bargen ‘99 at
programs@williamsclub.org or 212-697-5300 ext. 223.