Conversations from the Cullman Center, LIVE from NYPL: Bugging Out! Peter Kuper and friends celebrate INterSECTS

Bug-lovers of all stripes discuss drawing, studying, and eating insects.

Featuring:

• Peter Kuper, cartoonist & curator of INterSECTS
• Dr. Jessica L. Ware, assistant curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History
• Dr. Elena Tartaglia, co-founder of National Moth Week & professor of Biology at Bergen Community College
• Chef Joseph Yoon, founder of Brooklyn Bugs & Culinary Director for the Future of Food at SXSW

Inspired by The New York Public Library’s exhibition INterSECTS, curator and cartoonist Peter Kuper gathers his friends from the insect world to bring the exhibition to life for a special one-night-only presentation.

INterSECTS is an homage to the tiny, underappreciated creatures that touch everything people do and on which our very survival depends. The exhibition traces the evolution of insects over 400 million years and narrates their intersection with Homo sapiens right up to the present day.

Presented in partnership with Conversations from the Cullman Center.

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Peter Kuper’s illustrations and comics have appeared in newspapers and magazines around the world. He is a regular contributor to The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Nation and MAD magazine. He has lectured around the world and has been teaching comics courses at Harvard University and The School of Visual Arts. He was the recipient of the 2020-21 Cullman Fellowship at The New York Public Library where he produced the work currently on display in the library's INterSECTS exhibition.

Dr. Jessica L. Ware is an associate curator in invertebrate zoology at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Ware’s research focuses on the evolution of behavioral and physiological adaptations in insects, with an emphasis on how these occur in Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) and Dictyoptera (termites, cockroaches, and mantises). She holds a BSc from the University of British Columbia in Canada, and a PhD from Rutgers, New Brunswick. Dr. Ware is the past president of the Worldwide Dragonfly Association and serves as current president of the Entomological Society of America. She was recently awarded a PECASE medal from the US government for her work on insect evolution.

Dr. Elena Tartaglia is a co-founder of National Moth Week and a professor of Biology at Bergen Community College in NJ. Elena earned her Ph.D. from Rutgers University and has worked in science outreach and environmental education since 2005. She is an expert on moths of the family Sphingidae, having studied various aspects of their ecology and behavior.

Chef Joseph Yoon founded Brooklyn Bugs in 2017 with the mission to normalize edible insects through delicious, creative, and educational programming. Brooklyn Bugs receives grants and funding from universities, museums, and institutions with their outreach and advocacy reaching millions of households through regular press and television appearances globally. Yoon views his participation in this global food movement as an extension of his commitment to his community.

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LIVE from NYPL is made possible by the continuing generosity of Celeste Bartos, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos, the Margaret and Herman Sokol Public Education Endowment Fund, and the support of Library patrons and friends.

Support for The New York Public Library’s Exhibitions Program has been provided by Celeste Bartos, Sue and Edgar Wachenheim III, Mahnaz Ispahani Bartos and Adam Bartos Exhibitions Fund, Jonathan Altman, and Miriam and Ira D. Wallach.

The Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center is made possible by a generous endowment from Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman in honor of Brooke Russell Astor, with major support provided by Mrs. John L. Weinberg, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, The Estate of Charles J. Liebman, The von der Heyden Family Foundation, John and Constance Birkelund, and The Samuel I. Newhouse Foundation, and with additional gifts from Helen and Roger Alcaly, The Rona Jaffe Foundation, The Arts and Letters Foundation Inc., William W. Karatz, Merilee and Roy Bostock, and Cullman Center Fellows.