Recently disclosed Department of Justice files have revealed that two trustees from the prestigious Djerassi Resident Artists Program in California’s Santa Cruz Mountains visited Jeffrey Epstein’s Little Saint James Island in 2011. This visit occurred two years after Epstein’s initial conviction for soliciting prostitution from a minor. The attendees were listed in an email by Al Seckel, an art collector and Epstein’s reputation manager, which included trustees Alexander Maxwell Djerassi and Michael Molesky as guests for a ‘Mindshift Conference’ held during the weekend of January 7, 2011.
The ‘Mindshift Conference’ was an academic gathering focusing on science and medicine, with activities at the Ritz Carlton on Saint Thomas and on Epstein’s private island in the US Virgin Islands. Events ranged from stargazing and wine tasting to a lock-picking demonstration, with the itinerary indicating various discussions and leisure activities led by the conference participants.
Maxwell Djerassi, who has been a board member since 2017, is the nephew of Ghislaine Maxwell, a convicted associate of Epstein. He is the son of Dale Djerassi and Isabel Maxwell, the latter being Ghislaine’s sister and Al Seckel’s wife since 2007. Molesky, serving as a trustee since 2017, is the founder of Marker and previously held the COO position at LiveRail, a company acquired by Meta in 2014.
A spokesperson for the Djerassi Resident Artists Program clarified that the trustees attended a social lunch in 2011, years before joining the board, and asserted that the program had no involvement or knowledge of the event. The spokesperson confirmed that neither Epstein nor Ghislaine Maxwell had any contact with or made contributions to the program.
Founded in 1979 by chemist Carl Djerassi and author Diane Middlebrook, the 583-acre program began as a women-only residency in memory of their daughter Pamela Djerassi Bush. Over time, it gained a reputation as a leading West Coast artist residency. The recent release of Epstein files has linked various art world figures to Epstein, yet few have faced repercussions.
