Chautauqua Institution

| Featured Post, Institution News Air Quality Update for the Chautauqua Community Smoke from wildfires in Canada is affecting air quality across portions of our region, including Chautauqua. Conditions may change throughout the day, and we are closely monitoring local air quality to help our community stay informed. At this time, lectures, performances and other major programs are continuing as scheduled.

| Featured Post, Institution News Children’s Beach, Pier Beach, Heinz Beach and Club Lake Access Updates Questions regarding beach operations can be emailed to beaches@chq.org. July 8, 2026 Pier and Children’s Beach are cleared to open at 12 p.m. today for swimming. As weather and water conditions allow, they will remain open until 6 p.m. today. As of this morning, there is still HAB activity at Heinz.

| Featured Post, Institution News Boundless Campaign Report At the heart of Boundless, A Campaign for Chautauqua, is a simple but powerful truth: our mission thrives because of the extraordinary generosity of our donors. Together, thousands of supporters invested in a bold vision for Chautauqua’s future, helping us strengthen and sustain the four pillars that define our purpose and impact.

As the new Director of Religion and decades-long Chautauquan,I’m pleased to announce the following transitions and enhancements in our program offerings that the department has been working on since last fall. We welcome Sonya Subbayya Sutton as our new Interim Director for Sacred Music. She is an organist, pianist and choral conductor with more than forty years of experience leading sacred music programs in many ecumenical settings.

Greene Family Commons: A Renewed Home for Artistic Living and Learning At the heart of Chautauqua’s Schools of Performing and Visual Arts, the newly named Greene Family Commons reimagines one of the Institution’s most essential residential and gathering spaces. Formerly Bellinger Hall, this cherished facility has long served as a summer home for students, artists and patrons — and as a conference and events center throughout the year.

| Blog Posts, Institution News Roe Green Theater Center: A Centralized, State-of-the-Art Home for Chautauqua Theater Company With the opening of the new Roe Green Theater Center, a bold new chapter begins for the Chautauqua Theater Company — debuting with FutureNow New Play Lab 1: The Bone Wars on Friday, July 10, 2026, at 6 p.m. Designed to bring artists, students, staff and audiences together in one shared creative space, the Center marks a major investment in the future of theater at...

| Announcements, Featured Post Susan Choi’s ‘Flashlight’ Wins 2026 Chautauqua Prize Chautauqua Institution proudly announces Flashlight (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) by Susan Choi as the 2026 winner of The Chautauqua Prize. Awarded annually since 2012, the Prize celebrates a book of fiction, literary/narrative nonfiction or a book-length collection of poetry that provides a richly rewarding reading experience and honors the author for a significant contribution to the literary arts.

Watching Chautauqua’s Programs During the Summer Season As the summer season approaches, we want to offer one final reminder about how to watch Chautauqua’s programs on our YouTube channel during the season — particularly for those who rely on watching programs after they air live. During the season, the only way to watch programs on demand after a livestream is over will be through the Explore More & Sustain membership ($19.99/month).

Seven Finalists Named for The 2026 Chautauqua Prize Chautauqua Institution is pleased to announce seven exceptional books as the 2026 finalists for The Chautauqua Prize, now in its 15th year: Universality: A Novel by Natasha Brown (Random House) Flashlight: A Novel by Susan Choi (Farrar, Straus and Giroux) O Sinners! A Novel by Nicole Cuffy (One World) Old School Indian: A Novel by Aaron John Curtis (Zando – Hillman Grad Books) Perfect Victims: And the Politics of Appeal by Mohammed El-Kurd...

Only at Chautauqua: Lectures Only at Chautauqua does an audience engage in critical conversations on the matters that shape our world in 45 installments across nine weeks. I’m of course talking about our signature Chautauqua Lecture Series, “the 10:45” in the Amphitheater, which I have had the honor and privilege to steward for four cycles now.