This event is a supportive program for the Driftwood
exhibit, which will be open for 30 minutes prior to the lecture. A reception
following the lecture will be sponsored by the University Press of Kentucky.
Writer, artist, and sustainability pioneer Harlan Hubbard
(1900–1988) lived a quiet, unassuming life, and yet he is thoroughly embedded
in Kentucky’s historical memory. While some may know of Hubbard’s shantyboat
sojourn on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers with his wife, Anna, or of Payne
Hollow, their hand-built homestead, few know the full story. After four decades
of transformation, Hubbard emerged in middle age as the rightful heir to the
Transcendentalist ethos, ready to envision a unique existence of simplicity and
wild beauty akin to that of the revered Henry David Thoreau.
In this comprehensive biography, Jessica K. Whitehead
reveals why Hubbard is beloved by his fellow Kentuckians and has been an
inspiration to generations of readers interested in art, adventure, and
environmentalism. Driftwood delves into Hubbard’s family background, education,
and relationships, and into his theories on art, writing, music, and
philosophy. Using journals, letters, paintings, manuscripts, and sketches,
Whitehead pieces together the distinct phases of Hubbard’s life, providing new
insights into his character and legacy. By examining his perspectives on
creativity and responsible living, Whitehead connects the early Hubbard, who
grappled with his identity and yearned for travel, with the confident and
intentional Hubbard of Payne Hollow.
Driftwood: The Life of Harlan Hubbard is a complex portrait
of a person who deserves a place alongside other iconic American thinkers and
artists in the nation’s broad cultural history. It offers a vivid depiction of
Hubbard, the traces he left behind, and his template for sustainability in our
modern ecological landscape.
Jessica K. Whitehead, writer and curator of collections at
the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky, is coauthor of The
History of the Kentucky Derby in 75 Objects and a contributor to The
Watercolors of Harlan Hubbard: From the Collection of Bill and Flo Caddell.