backstory takeover: The 2025 Yaseen Lecture
It’s takeover time at the Neuberger. I’m making space for you to hear directly from some of the wonderful colleagues who help bring this place to life. This backstory takeover is written by Curator of Education Diana Puglisi and Director of Development Carrie Bianchi.
In just a few minutes, Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds will take the stage as the speaker for the 2025 Yaseen Lecture on the Fine Arts. His work, including the outdoor sculpture Reclaim (1997) from our permanent collection, invites us to look more closely at the land we inhabit and question the narratives that have shaped its meaning over time.
If you’re at home, you can still watch on our livestream:
Tonight’s program takes place during Native American Heritage Week here at Purchase. Alongside programs organized by the College’s School of Liberal Studies and the Multicultural Center, we are honoring the peoples, cultures, and traditions directly tied to this campus. The week’s events recognize the enduring histories of displacement and oppression—issues that Hock E Aye Vi Edgar Heap of Birds’ work critically examines.
As Tracy often says, the themes discussed in the Yaseen Lectures are pertinent to the moment and as distinctive as the speakers represented. Over five decades, the series has brought remarkable artists, authors, scientists, poets, composers, performance artists, activists, historians, critics, and scholars to campus.
We’re deeply grateful to the late Helen and Leonard C. Yaseen, founding members of the Friends of the Neuberger Museum of Art, for endowing the series in October 1974, just a few months after the Museum opened. We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Roger Yaseen and his family—several of whom are already here at the Museum for the lecture—for carrying forward his parents’ vision, and to The New York Community Trust for their partnership and stewardship of this enduring fund.
Whether you’re here for the lecture or watching from home… enjoy. It’s going to be a powerful evening.
— Diana Puglisi and Carrie Bianchi
