Toward opening new possibilities for discovery, thought, and connection, The Flow Chart Foundation explores poetry and the interrelationships of various art forms as guided by the legacy of American poet John Ashbery.
Flow Chart Foundation programs and resources inspire creative thinking, exploration, and transformation.
Contrary to the “foundation” in our name, The Flow Chart Foundation must raise funds to support what we do. We rely on contributed support to continue producing innovative public programs and maintaining the extensive holdings of the Ashbery Resource Center. Please help us encourage future exploration and artistic activities generated from the art of John Ashbery. Through your support, not only can we be sure that Ashbery’s work continues to be experienced and enjoyed, we also ensure that his legacy continues to inspire and generate new work by others.
Become a Friend of The Flow Chart Foundation by making a tax-deductible contribution and and help us keep flowing!
exploring the interrelationships of various art forms & celebrating the legacy of john ashbery
The Flow Chart Foundation presents public programs—including performances, exhibits, discussions, and hybrid events—as well as symposium-like “Gatherings,” to foster continued exploration of poetry and the interrelationship of various art forms, develop community, as well as to deepen engagement with the work of John Ashbery. We present programs in our Flow Chart Space in Hudson, NY (348 Warren St.) and online.
A physical and virtual space for discovery and research
The Ashbery Resource Center provides both a physical and virtual portal to The Flow Chart Foundation's special collections library and repository, which houses extensive print materials, artworks, objects, recordings, and digital materials related to the work of John Ashbery. We invite researchers, scholars, artists, and readers to use the collections and its resources toward generating new scholarship, artworks, and explorations.
Watch videos of past poetry Exploration participatory events
Close Readings in a Virtual Space, an ongoing series of participatory virtual workshops taking place via Zoom, features some of our favorite poets leading reading-and-thinking-through sessions on (usually) single poems along with participants. Click below to visit our library of past Close Reading event videos (see Upcoming Events and Workshops for programs to come).
The New Spirit (excerpt)
I thought that if I could put it all down, that would be one way. And next the thought came to me that to leave all out, would be another, and truer, way.
clean-washed sea
The flowers were.
These are examples of leaving out. But, forget as we will, something soon comes to stand in their place. Not the truth, perhaps, but—yourself. It is you who made this, therefore you are true. But the truth has passed on
to divide all.
Have I awakened? Or is this sleep again? Another form of sleep? There is no profile in the massed days ahead. They are impersonal as mountains whose tops are hidden in cloud. The middle of the journey, before the sands are reversed: a place of ideal quiet.
You are my calm world. This is my happiness. To stand, to go forward into it. The cost is enormous. Too much for one life.
— from Three Poems (© 1972 Estate of John Ashbery. All rights reserved. Used by arrangement with Georges Borchardt, Inc.)