Phil Buehler will share the remarkable story behind his book “Woody Guthrie’s Wardy Forty: Greystone Park State Hospital Revisited”—a journey that began when he discovered forgotten photographs in the ruins of an abandoned psychiatric hospital he’d gone to photograph. Those images led him deep into one of the most pivotal yet overlooked chapters of Woody’s life: his years at Greystone Park while battling Huntington’s Disease.
It was at Greystone where a young Bob Dylan first met his hero Woody Guthrie, and where a torch was passed that would change the course of American music. Through a powerful blend of haunting photographs from the abandoned hospital, intimate interviews with Woody’s friends and family, and rare materials from the Woody Guthrie Archives, and with the help of Woody’s daughter Nora Guthrie, Buehler reconstructs this crucial period and reveals untold stories of Woody’s final years.
The talk will close by touching on how discovering Woody’s legacy in the ruins of Greystone Park Hospital transformed Buehler’s own artistic practice, inspiring him to create massive public art installations that blend photography, archival research, and activism—carrying forward Woody’s spirit of using art to fight for justice.
Details
Saturday, July 12 at 6-7 p.m.
Okfuskee Country Historical Society
407 W Broadway St, Okemah, OK 74859
About Woodyfest
The Woody Guthrie Folk Festival is held annually in mid-July to commemorate the life and music of Woody Guthrie. The festival is held on the weekend closest to July 14 – the date of Guthrie’s birth – in Guthrie’s hometown of Okemah, Oklahoma.
