Yaddo
Yaddo is a 1.6 km ² large artists' colony in Saratoga Springs, New York. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 11, 2013.
History
Built in 1850 and rebuilt after a fire in 1891 property was purchased in 1881 by the Wall Street magnate Spencer Trask and his wife Katrina. Trask had with profitable investment, for example made a large fortune in the newly establishing itself New York Times and the Edison Electric Company. The couple moved after the death of her five- year-old son Alan resident of New York City in the country. Died there in 1888 her daughter Christina and her son Spencer Jr. of diphtheria. A fourth child died in 1889, only twelve days after the birth. After the early death of four children, the couple decided in 1900 to convert the property into a haven for artists. After the death of Spencer Trask, 1907, longtime friend of the family and second husband of Katrina George Foster Peabody was instrumental in the funding and continuation of the project. In the year of death of Katrina in 1922, Elizabeth Ames was used as the first Executive Director. The opening of Yaddo finally took place in 1926.
The idea of Yaddo is to allow artists for a specified period within a socially and atmospheric supportive environment undisturbed creative process. The financing of stays made by a Foundation ( Yaddo Foundation). The target group are artists in the following areas: choreography, film, literature, composition, painting, performance art, photography, printing techniques, sculpture and video.
The Gardens of Yaddo are designed according to the classic Italian models who have visited the Trask while traveling in Europe. On the site there are many statues and sculptures, including a sundial with the inscription "Hours fly, Flowers to New days, New ways, Pass by, Love stays ." On the site there are four lakes that had to create the couple in memory of her four children.
Former fellows
The list of alumni is long, it is about 5,000. Among them are artists like Robert De Niro, Sr., Philip Guston, composers such as Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland, writers such as Richard Arnold Berman, Hermann Broch, Martin Gumpert, Heinrich Eduard Jacob, Truman Capote, Sylvia Plath, Jonathan Franzen, Jeffrey Eugenides Jan Brandt or Universal talent Miranda July.
The American crime writer Patricia Highsmith lived from May to July 1948 in the colony and placed the Yaddo Foundation as the main heir of her wealth. As far back as they had supported this foundation with several generous donations. During her stay, she wrote the novel Strangers on a Train ( dt: Two strangers on a train ), which appeared in 1950 and had great success. Alfred Hitchcock filmed the novel 1951 ( dt: Strangers on a train ) and helped Patricia Highsmith thus to world fame.