Authors Posts by Tara Mae

Tara Mae

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By Tara Mae

One of the most generous gifts of an artist is the ability to translate private inspiration into communal offering so that viewers experience, rather than simply assess, art. 

The latest exhibit at the Mills Pond Gallery in St. James, Winners Showcase, features six local artists associated with the Smithtown Township Arts Council (STAC) who employ their craft as a means of communication with the world around them, enabling patrons to appreciate the simple intricacies of both everyday existence and the natural world. 

On display from Jan. 28 to Feb. 24, the exhibition presents approximately 55 pieces in multiple styles by Rhoda Gordon of Port Jefferson Station, Paul Mele of Island Park, Renee Caine of Holtsville, Karin Dutra of Port Jefferson, Catherine Rezin of Nesconset, and Angela Stratton of Selden, all of whom have shown at the gallery before. 

Gordon, Dutra, and Mele were winning artists from the 2022 Winners Showcase while Caine, Rezin, and Stratton were winning artists from the 2022 exhibit Long Island Landscape: From Awe to Action. 

“I love the Winners Showcase, as it is an opportunity to see a larger body of work from each artist. It is so interesting to sometimes discover that even in works of different mediums or color palettes, a common thread connects all their work either in technique or their creative voice and what they are trying to say in their work,” said Allison J. Cruz, Executive Director at the Mills Pond Gallery.

More than entertainment and aesthetics, art is an intimate conversation between creator and consumer. Featuring works in oil, acrylic, and pastel as well as photography and mixed media works in pastel and watercolor, pastel and ink, and watercolor and gouache, this exhibit is a dialogue in which the artists speak through their work. 

 What they choose to say is at their discretion. Winners Showcase has no particular theme and, once invited to participate, artists submit any pieces they choose, demonstrating a range of perspectives and portfolios.

“Even artists who I am familiar with will sometimes surprise me in a Winners show with a style or subject that I had no idea they pursued,” Cruz added.  

Divergent in style and substance, these works include abstract townscapes, reflective portraits, contemplative still life, tranquil nature scenes, and evocative photography. Not bound by an overarching topic, the art is uniquely personal and unflinchingly universal. It encompasses the whimsical and wondrous, the pastoral and pensive. 

Paul Mele’s photography series Confinement,  chronicling his grueling years’ long recovery from a car accident, explores dark, seemingly abandoned spaces that nonetheless offer a hint of relief, from a door ajar or a window that permits stubbornly optimistic sunlight to stream inside. 

“I kind of feel my work balances between a positive and negative, light and dark. I tend to be drawn to images that are more dark, but there is a lighter overtone in my work,” said photographer Paul Mele. “This is the most personal thing I have ever done.”

Hope is perhaps the component that appears in each print and on every canvas throughout the show: hope for a brighter future, hope to be understood. In subdued tones and vivacious palettes, realistic renderings and abstract observations, this ambition transcends from artists to audiences. 

Sharing art is an inherently brave act, making one vulnerable to public consumption while seeking understanding from those who observe and perhaps, admire. “It is nice when people see your work, relate to it, and appreciate it for it is,” Mele said.  

Catherine Rezin, a multi-genre artist, shares this sentiment, and views art as a means to forge a benevolent connection.

“In general, I want to portray the positive feeling I have of the subject to my viewer,” she said. 

Through strokes of watercolor and gouache paints, this attitude is revealed in her vibrant vistas, lush landscape, and affectionate portraits alike. She began exhibiting her art three years ago, after retiring from her career as a commercial artist. 

“I am now enjoying creating art for the love of it,” she added. 

Such passion is evident throughout Winners Showcase, a celebration of the courage of creation and ecstasy of expression. 

The public is invited to an opening reception on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 1 to 4 p.m. to meet the exhibiting artists and view their work. 

Mills Pond Gallery is located at 660 Route 25A, Saint James. Hours of operation are Wednesdays to Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and weekends from noon to 4 p.m. 

For more information, call 631-862-6575 or visit www.millspondgallery.org.

'Thirteen Moons: Nature Adapts and Transforms' by Anne Seelbach. Image courtesy of Gallery North

By Tara Mae

Nature’s beauty is at once defiantly delicate and stubbornly resilient. Elements Adrift, on view at Gallery North from Jan. 12 to Feb. 19, considers the alchemy and artistry of the natural world as expressed through Long Island artist Anne Seelbach’s oil, acrylic, and watercolor paintings as well as mixed media pieces.

Seelbach’s first solo show at Gallery North, it consists of approximately 35 works from three different series that organically ripple outward, encompassing the serenity of the sea and the perniciously predatory impact of pollution. Elements Adrift explores the inspiration found in the environment and the toxicity inherent in careless encounters with it.  

‘Thirteen Moons: Nature Adapts and Transforms’ by Anne Seelbach. Image courtesy of Gallery North

“Seelbach’s figural abstraction reflects her fascination and love of nature and interest in pointing to those elements that are polluting and deprecating it. In the past, she has tried to bring attention to that through her work,” said Gallery North’s Executive Director Ned Puchner.

Put together, each individual series transforms from island unto itself to an archipelago of artistic expression, chronicling Seelbach’s relationship with the world around her and transitioning the audience from one sequence into another. 

“Some pieces are really fascinating in that they show [Seelbach] moving on…you see her moving from one series into another, and I think that is really where the excitement in her work lies. She goes from series to series and in each series, she will sort of dwell on a topic and then move on, finding new avenues to build off of,” Puchner said. 

The first collection, “Troubled Waters,” follows the ebbing of natural resources as pollution flows into and interferes with sensitive ecosystems. Drawn to the seascapes of Peconic Bay off Long Beach in Sag Harbor and the Napeague Harbor at Lazy Point Beach in Amagansett, Seelbach’s work evolves to encapsulate the devolution of marine life as the disruption and detritus of humankind menaces it. 

“Instead of painting traditional landscapes, I always ask the question, ‘What is happening?’ in nature, rather than painting a beautiful view,” Seelbach said. “The landscape and seascape are created by forces of nature, the change of seasons, with the rotation of the earth. This is what I try to get at.”

Dance into the Unknown, 2014, oil on canvas, 30″ x 30″ by Anne Seelbach. Image courtesy of Gallery North

The vague abstraction of her fish renderings in this series came from fact, as the pollutants were actually getting into aquatic animal reproductive systems and causing deformities.

“When I started the series the fish were more realistic. I had to find a way to represent the effects of the chemicals. So, I stylized the fish form and duplicated it to create stencils of schools of fish,” she explained. 

Seelbach’s fish and other animal stencils are frequently made from repurposed and up-cycled washed up or left behind bits of metal, plastic, and netting from which she rescues the shoreline. 

While nature may have been shifting and changing around her, with rightful residents being harmed by invasive interlopers, Seelbach’s relationship with it remains steadfast and symbiotic, as reflected in her “Moon Paintings” series. 

These works, conjured from summer trips to Monhegan Island, Maine, illuminate the serenity she found walking along the sea cliffs, gazing at the lunar lit waters below. 

“I am still interested in the edge, where land, water, and sky meet…The moon shining on the sea and in tidal pools inspired these paintings,” Seelbach said. “As the sun nurtures the growth of everything by day, I suggest that the moon nurtures creative thought, ideas and possibility at night. I get most of my ideas at night when my mind is drifting, without a particular thought.”

Primarily painted on paper rather than on canvas, the “Moon Paintings” are imbued with deep blues and other hues that convey the depth of the setting’s nighttime repose. Yet, in these works, the moon is both a light and power source, rejuvenating sea, sky, and artist.

In fact “Earth: The Elements,” the third series to be highlighted in the exhibit, was a concept that came to Seelbach as she sat on the cliffside rocks and boulders. 

Earth: mercury (Vermillion), 2020, acrylic and reflective paint on linen, 30″x36″, relates to the planet Mercury by Anne Seelbach. Image courtesy of Gallery North

“They made me ask ‘What is the Earth?’ And immediately I thought of the elements. Thinking about each individual element, what it was and a bit of its history, I realized that many were acknowledged thousands of years ago, by the scientists of that time, the alchemists and philosophers,” Seelbach said.

Breaking down these otherwise immovable objects into their most basic essence, Seelbach sought to honor the individuals of the past who had understood better than to take them at face value. So, within some of these paintings, she includes the alchemical symbol of the historical elements and the periodic table designation.

Each element Seelbach selects is thoroughly, albeit abstractly, examined and expressed. Similar to the other two series, “Elements” inner complexity and vitality is amplified by Seelbach’s color palette and painting style. Rich, earthy tones and texture add dimension and definition to the paintings. 

“I was really drawn to the raw energy of them, dark and muddy in certain places,” Puchner said. “In all of her art, there is a kind of an endless search for beauty in nature. Even in the study of the earth’s elements, at root is her trying to explore the minerals and elements that exist within the nature that she brings into her artwork.”

Seelbach’s art is an outlet for her observations, an investigation of the inquiries raised by striving to be attuned to the world around her. At its core, her art seeks to explore and observe rather than obfuscate. 

“I paint what is. I see landscape as formed by the forces of nature, the seasons, the rotation of the planet. The question I ask sitting on the beach or a rock is ‘What is happening?’ What are the forces of nature that underly what I am looking at?” she said. 

Patrons are invited to make their own discoveries about nature through Elements Adrift. An opening reception will be held tonight, Jan. 12, from 6 to 8 p.m. As a complement to the exhibition, Gallery North will present a lecture on the marine ecology of New York’s waterways by Patricia Woodruff from the School of Marine and Atmospheric Sciences at Stony Brook University on Jan. 20 at 6 pm. Gallery North will also host an ArTalk with Anne Seelbach on Feb. 4 at 3 p.m. 

Located at 90 North Country Road, Setauket, Gallery North is open Wednesdays to Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-751-2676 or visit www. gallerynorth.org.

'Witch House' by Bryan Sansivero

By Tara Mae

When a once bustling home has languished into landscape, what lingers in the places where people once lived? Dreams of Decay: Shining a Light on Abandoned Places, a photography exhibit by Bryan Sansivero at the Huntington Public Library, 338 Main St., Huntington from Jan. 6 to Feb. 3, 2023, explores what remains and what may be reclaimed. 

Self-portrait of photographer Bryan Sansivero in front of the ‘Witch House’

Consisting of approximately 30 color photographs, ranging in size from 6”x4” to 20”x30,” the exhibit is Sansivero’s first solo show and chronicles his travels through Europe and North America, showcasing homes and other habitations that have been given up to the ravages of time.

“I have always been interested in abandoned spaces, old architecture,” Sansivero, who grew up in Huntington, said. “I am a very curious person; if something is abandoned and the door is open, I am going in to photograph it. I have seen hundreds of houses; I just photograph the ones that make you go ‘Oh my gosh,’ like the things left behind.”

Reflecting his ties to the community, some of the settings may be familiar to visitors, such as a Huntington mansion, a Commack farmhouse, and Bogheid, a historic estate in Glen Cove.

These deserted structures, frequently abandoned due to inheritance issues and disputes, are time capsules to places and people of the past. In Sansivero’s photos, among the light and shadows, the audience finds hints as to when comfort became careworn: crumbling wallpaper, disowned toys, tintype photographs, artifacts of age. 

With the absence of conventional subjects, the homes and their inanimate inhabitants become the sitters for portraits of ruin and reclamation. Sansivero’s photographs take patrons on a transAtlantic tour of everything from cottages to chateaus, in local, national, and international locations.

“I want some kind of story to be in my photos, almost like you’re reading a novel. People tell me that they see so many stories in my photographs. Sometimes I can research the families that lived there, people may want to know the background, etc., but I think not knowing may be better so you form your own opinions; an intentional mystery,” he added. 

‘American Flag Piano’ by Bryan Sansivero

The inherent intrigue of abandoned places is what first drew Sansivero to them. As a college student studying film, his senior thesis was a short documentary shot at the former Kings Park Psychiatric Center, now the site of Nissequogue River State Park. Then, while visiting family in Pennsylvania, the open door of an abandoned home lured him inside. The rest, as they say, is history.

“When I found that house in Pennsylvania with everything left behind — an old suit in the closet, an old piano, old photographs — it was like a movie set, or the entry into another time period,” Sansivero said. 

It ignited a passion that led Sansivero to sojourn in search of forgotten or abandoned places. Through online and in-person networking, he makes contacts both here and abroad who connect him with deserted houses and institutions. 

This system has created a sprawling body of thousands of images, selections of which he shares with the public. Using Instagram as an interactive catalog for many of his images, Sansivero, who also does editorial and portrait photography, published a photo book in 2021 about his trips through the United States titled American Decay: Inside America’s Forgotten Homes. A follow-up, sharing images from his journeys through Europe, is currently in development. 

Dreams of Decay is a crossroads of his travels; while some of the images in the exhibit have been featured on Instagram or in his book, others will be making their public debut. The resulting exhibit will highlight Sansivero’s most popular photos as well as his personal favorites.

“I am really excited to showcase them,” he said. “I cannot wait to see the reactions from people, particularly strangers, and get some input and insight…see how they are responding, especially to the new work. It is amazing to have my very first show in my hometown.”

‘Dollhouse’ by Bryan Sansivero

Brittany Bowen, the Art Gallery and Display Cases Coordinator for Huntington Public Library, first reached out to Sansivero a few years ago after she discovered his photography while researching local artists online. 

“…I was so taken with his work that I reached out to him immediately. I was very excited when he enthusiastically accepted my invitation to exhibit here. I tend to gravitate toward art and photography that captures mystery and intrigue. Bryan finds beauty in the unconventional, and I appreciate that. I think others will, too,” she said. 

The public is invited to an opening reception on Jan. 6 from 6 to 9 p.m. Viewing hours are Monday to Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m; and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. For more information on the exhibit, call 631-427-5165. To learn more about Bryan Sansivero’s work, visit www.bryansansivero.com. 

Stitch the Red-Tailed Hawk is just one of many raptors living at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Photo by John Davis

By Tara Mae

Birds of a feather, come together to support Sweetbriar Nature Center’s latest event, Rock ‘N’ Raptors, that puts the “fun” in fundraisers! The celebration will be held on Sunday, Dec. 11 at the Bates House, 1 Bates Road in Setauket from 2 to 6 p.m. Proceeds will benefit the Smithtown wildlife rehabilitation and nature preserve.

Meet Lily the Great Horned Owl at the Bates House in Setauket on Dec. 11. Photo by John Davis

“We have never done an event that featured only raptors, though they are the majority of what we have [at Sweetbriar], so it is an important opportunity to promote them. They are really expensive to feed…and since organizations like ours are not funded by the state or local governments, we largely depend on the generosity of our supporters,” said Sweetbriar’s Director of Wildlife Rehabilitation Janine Bendicksen.

The fundraiser will feature live music, raffles, games, and other activities. An auction, currently underway online, will conclude in person that night. St. James Brewery will provide beer and other beverages while Maui Chop House’s food truck will be onsite offering savory snacks. Homemade baked goods, created by volunteers, will be available for purchase. The guests of honor, raptors including a barn owl, Eurasian eagle owl, great horned owl, red tailed hawk, will make a fashionably late entrance as the music fades out, intermingling with guests and performing a demonstration. 

Brimstone (William M. Kucmierowski), a pro-wrestler, author, actor, and host of The Grindhouse Radio, will act as Master of Ceremonies for the afternoon. Three different tribute bands will provide the soundtrack for making merry and raising money: The Petty Rumors, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers cover band; Streetfighter, a Rolling Stones cover band; and 70s Rock Parade, a genre cover band. Each will each play a 45 minute set. All of the entertainment is donating their time. 

Having first connected with Sweetbriar through social media when he reached out to Bendicksen to see if he could meet baby squirrels being cared for in its rehabilitation unit, Brimstone is happy to lend his name and talents since he wants to amplify both the center’s work and its needs. 

“As a native Long Islander, I have known about Sweetbriar for many years, but I did not know in detail the true heroes they are until I was going back and forth with Janine on social media,” Brimstone said. “I got to see what they do at Sweetbriar and how they rehabilitate the animals. They are overworked and underappreciated and it kills me that they do not get the help, attention, and assistance that they deserve.”  

Meet Nebula the Barn Owl at Sweetbriar’s fundraiser on Dec. 11. Photo by John Davis

John Davis, who has been volunteering at Sweetbriar for two years, was similarly drawn to work with Sweetbriar after he visited the center and explored the nature preserve while participating in a photo shoot with a photography club. Now, he volunteers there a couple days a week and primarily handles the raptor residents, inspired by their majesty even in adversity. 

“They are majestic, powerful, efficient, streamlined, glorious hunters that are incredibly beautiful. What I find most interesting with our raptors is despite their shortcomings, whether it’s wing injuries or vision loss…or both, they’ve all found a way to adapt. They know their own  aviaries and navigate then with precision despite not being able to fly or see,” he said. 

As a tribute to the raptors and a sign of his dedication to the cause, Davis is coming out of retirement for one night only, resuming his role as the bassist and a vocalist for 70s Rock Parade. (He retired from the group last year.) Davis also helped connect the musicians with Sweetbriar.

The power of community interdependency, both in the animal kingdom and human society, are themes that tie this event and Sweetbriar’s mission together. Located on 54 acres of diverse garden, woodland, field, and wetland habitats, Sweetbriar’s rehabilitation unit, in addition to the raptors, houses other animals, such as rabbits, squirrels, songbirds and even tarantulas. 

There are over 100 permanent residents who call Sweetbriar home. Many of them live inside the center, but most reside in permanent enclosures. The staff and volunteers of the center, who may receive hundreds of calls a day about distressed or injured wildlife, treat more than 2000 patients a year, over half of whom are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.  

Addie the Red-Tailed Hawk is just one of many raptors living at Sweetbriar Nature Center in Smithtown. Photo by John Davis

“What the people of Sweetbriar do is incredible. They care for injured animals rehabilitate them, if they are not able to be released, Sweetbriar keeps them for their lifespans,” Davis added. 

Ultimately, the goal of Rock ‘N’ Raptors is simple: to enable to Sweetbriar to continue its lifesaving work while encouraging people of all ages to appreciate and enjoy the beauty of the natural world and its inhabitants.  

“Sweetbriar is so special, and as a nonprofit, it relies on people’s generosity and good hearts…I show up to the center and my blood pressure goes down; it is my zen,” Davis said.

Tickets to Rock ‘N’ Raptors are $25 each, free for children under the age of 12. To register, visit www.sweetbriarnc.org. For more information, call 631-979-6344. 

Darren and Sal St. George

By Tara Mae

Seasons greetings from St. George Living History Productions in conjunction with the Leo P. Ostebo Kings Park Heritage Museum! On Saturday, Nov. 19, at 11 a.m., St. George Living History Productions will present the Holly Jolly Holiday Party, at RJO Intermediate School, 99 Old Dock Road Kings Park which houses the museum. 

The two hour extravaganza, featuring a lecture, Q&A session, and luncheon, is St. George Living History Productions’ first in-person event in more than two years. It is a multifaceted celebration of holiday television specials of the past and the festive spirit of the present.  

“This is not just a lecture, it is a holiday party. There will be some games, dancing, and fun. The playlist will consist of classic holiday favorites,” said Sal St. George, co-founder of St. George Living History Productions. “People are going to have a wonderful time and it will bring back so many nostalgic memories.”

Unforgettable musical interludes include clips featuring timeless stars such as Julie Andrews, Lucille Ball, Ella Fitzgerald, Danny Kaye, Nat King Cole, Johnny Mathis, Bing Crosby, and David Bowie. Classic holiday films will also be represented with scenes from “It’s a Wonderful Life” and “White Christmas.” 

Even the lunch menu embraces the theme of holiday nostalgia, featuring recipes from The Frank Sinatra Celebrity Cookbook. “All of the food we serve are celebrities’ favorites,” said Darren St. George, creative director of St. George Living History Productions. 

Bringing history to life and honoring the past as it informs the present and inspires the future are tenets of Sal and Darren personally and St. George Productions professionally. 

The production company is a family affair. Founded over 30 years ago by Sal and his wife Mary, Darren joined his parents in the business at a young age. Now Darren’s wife Cassandra also works for the company. This mini-community formed from strong interpersonal connections is a key force behind-the-scenes, and Sal wants others to be able to create such bonds through the links of shared interests and communal warmth.  

During the start of COVID lockdown, Darren developed a plan to offer Sal’s entertainment lectures via Zoom. This then expanded into virtually touring celebrity and cinema history museums, with proceeds going to benefit those organizations. Sal still does a weekly Zoom lecture on Mondays. 

Envisioned by Sal years ago as a community building event that celebrated the merriment of televised holiday concerts and variety shows, the Holly Jolly Holiday Party strives to invoke the comfort of these viewing experiences while encouraging attendees to celebrate the company of each other. And, as with any St. George production, the underlying theme is entertainment that is both educational and ebullient.  

“This is something I have wanted to do for a long time,” Sal said. “People are going to have a wonderful time and it will bring back so many nostalgic memories. We want people to walk out of there with smiles on their faces.”

That goal is shared by Dr. Timothy Egan, superintendent of the Kings Park School District, which includes RJO Intermediate School. Sal and his wife Mary, the other co-founder of St. George Productions, originally reached out to him about a potential collaboration prior the pandemic. 

“I am looking forward to history being brought to life. I am also looking forward to hosting history-related events at RJO Intermediate School once again. The building (1928) was the original K-12 site of the Kings Park Central School District,” Egan said. 

“There are quite a few people that are by themselves and we welcome them to come and be party of the family — they should not feel funny coming by themselves…People have had such a hard time the past few years, and we want to help them put that behind them,” Sal said. 

$1 of each ticket sale goes directly to the Leo P. Ostebo Kings Park Heritage Museum, which was created in 1994 and officially established by the Kings Park Central School District’s Board of Education to preserve the history of the hamlet of Kings Park.

For individuals who prefer to virtually attend the party, it will be broadcast via Zoom. Tickets may be purchased online at www.stgeorgelivinghistory.com.

This 19th century whaleboat is the star of the The Whaling Museum's permanent collection.
An insight into Long Island’s nautical past

By Tara Mae

It’s a whale of a tale! Beginning in November, The Whaling Museum and Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor will host new monthly Whale Boat Chats chronicling the history of whaling on Long Island.

Generally 20 to 30 minutes long, the interactive discussions are metaphorically and physically centered around a historic 19th century whale boat. Led by Admissions Associate Gerard Crosson, the talks are guided by question and answer segments and incorporate whaling artifacts for the public to see and touch such as a 19th century iron harpoon, scrimshaw, and blubber encased in a jar. 

“We are excited to offer this new opportunity to engage with the museum’s exhibits! Visitors will learn the significance of this whaleboat and how it is tied to our local maritime history. We invite the community to come, stand around the boat and imagine what it was like to be out at sea chasing a creature larger than the boat you’re chasing it in,” said Assistant Director of The Whaling Museum Gina Van Bell.

The program was formed around the whaleboat, the foundational item of the museum’s permanent collection. It belonged to the 19th century New Bedford whaling ship Daisy, which during its long career sailed from many ports and harbors, including that of Setauket in 1872. 

Like many whaling ships, Daisy’s use was multi-faceted: after many Yankee whaling trips and at least one international journey, it was repurposed as a cargo ship during World War I and sank circa 1914. 

American use of whaling ships during warfare dates back to at least the Revolutionary War, when they surreptitiously sailed between Patriot controlled Connecticut and British-occupied Long Island, delivering messages, etc. 

“They were used in guerrilla warfare. Fierce hand to hand combat happened in whaling ships. They were very useful, very seaworthy,” said Nomi Dayan. Executive Director of The Whaling Museum.

For decades, the Daisy whaleboat proved to be profitably versatile. During her most famous excursion, Long Island ornithologist Dr. Robert Cushman Murphy used the whaleboat on an exploratory voyage to Antarctica in 1912, commissioned by the American Museum of Natural History to study birds and bring back specimens. 

A dedicated diarist, Murphy, who was fascinated by all he witnessed on the voyage and intrigued by Yankee whaling, kept a detailed record of the journey. He later published Logbook for Grace: Whaling brig Daisy, 1912-1913 about the sojourn. Murphy’s photos from the trip are part of the Whaling Museum’s collection. 

“He was one of the best scientists to come out of Long Island…Murphy ended up documenting whales and whaling in a way that no one had before,” Dayan said. 

So enamored was he with the experience, that Murphy purchased the whaleboat for the Brooklyn Museum in the 1910s. After the museum rejected his gift, he offered it to the American Museum of Natural History, which also declined to accept it. The whaleboat then hibernated under a tarp on a friend’s front lawn until Murphy and his friends generated enough support and funds to build it a home of its own: The Whaling Museum of Cold Spring Harbor. 

“The community came together to build the museum around the whaleboat. It is a key part of maritime heritage,” Dayan added. 

Established in 1936, the museum opened its doors in 1942. The museum currently has 6000 object and archival items in its holdings including whaling tools, products, and even art. 

“We have one of the best scrimshaw collections in the northeast. People can see beautiful examples of what men carved at sea during the hours, weeks, months, years, of boredom,” Dayan said. 

As one of the three original whaling ports on Long Island, Cold Spring Harbor maintains a buoyant connection to its maritime heritage. Whaling was one of the area’s most important sources of commerce, facilitating economic and social growth while making Cold Spring Harbor somewhat of an industrial hub.

Whaling was fairly steady, if inherently risky, work. Voyages were long and frequently fraught. Whalers could lose their boats or even their lives when whales fought back. 

“It was a dangerous job,” said Van Bell. 

Yet the sea provided potential opportunities to those who might not find it on land, motley crews of experienced sailors, farm boys, and escaped enslaved men. 

“Whaling ships were like a kind of United Nations,” Dayan said. 

Rather than being paid a wage, crew members were generally paid with a cut of the profits. Whale products included everything from food to oil for lamps, and overhunting eventually led some whales to near extinction. 

Whaling as a much sought source of communal sustenance, however, predates European settlers. Indigenous groups like the Shinnecock had a strong tradition of whaling on Long Island, anchored to their connections to the sea. This heritage is explored in another exhibit at the museum, Shinnecock Artists and Long Island’s First Whalers, which debuted January 2021. 

Both exhibits are part of the museum’s ongoing efforts to expose the public, both adults and children, to the diverse background of Long Island whaling. A different feature, the hands-on exhibit If I Was a Whaler, permits kids to pretend to be whalers from the 1800s. 

“We want to get the community excited and engaged in the story of whaling, following through with our mission of sharing the diversity of our whaling heritage and how it enhances and impacts our lives,” Van Bell said. 

Whale Boat Chats will be offered on Nov. 5,  Dec. 3 and 29 and Jan. 27 with more dates to be announced in 2023. The programs will be held at noon and 1 p.m. and are free with paid admission to the museum of $6 for adults and $5 for kids and seniors. Members are free. 

Located at 301 Main Street, Cold Spring Harbor, the Whaling Museum is open to visitors from Thursday to Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. For more information, call 631-367-3418 or visit www.cshwhalingmuseum.org. 

Portraits of Mrs. Nancy Williamson Smith and her husband Captain Jonas Smith by William Sidney Mount,1836

By Tara Mae

An opportunity to own priceless art is a chance to be part of living history. It does not come without a cost, but it can be worth the expenditure. On Saturday, Oct. 22, starting at noon, South Bay Auctions of East Moriches will offer such a possibility when it auctions off portraits of Captain Jonas Smith and his wife Nancy Williamson Smith of Stony Brook by local 19th century artist William Sidney Mount.

Portrait of Captain Jonas Smith

“Mount is significant to both art and local history. It is not often that his paintings come up for auction,” said Joshua Ruff, Co-Executive Director of the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook which has the largest collection of Mount’s paintings, drawings, correspondence, and archives. 

Primarily known for his genre paintings, Mount was born in Setauket in 1807 and spent many years living in Stony Brook in between and after brief periods in New York City. He painted the places and people he knew, frequently of the Three Villages. Initially drawn to history painting, which he greatly admired, Mount’s portraiture was not born of his inherent interest in the material but rather a timeless dilemma for so many artists: his other work was not selling and Mount needed to earn a living. 

Mount’s first portrait subjects were easily acquired; he initially painted himself and close relatives before offering his services to a better paying public. Among his early patrons were members of the Weeks, Mills, Strong, and Smith families, all of whom have prominent ties to the Three Villages. 

Captain Jonas Smith and his wife Nancy Williamson Smith were particularly lucrative commissions. Captain Smith, who owned and operated a fleet of merchant ships that sailed internationally, is considered to be Long Island’s first self-made millionaire. 

Their oil portraits were most likely done in Mount’s studio, according to Jean-Paul Napoli, Co-Owner and President of South Bay Auctions. Mount apparently charged Captain Smith $70 for the pair in 1836, the equivalent of about $2000 today, when adjusted for inflation. 

Portrait of Mrs. Nancy Williamson Smith

Privately owned, the portraits were obtained by the auction house from a collector who had moved from Long Island to Boston. “The owner felt they should be offered on Long Island where they originated,” said Napoli. 

Also up for auction is two portraits by Mount’s brother Shepard Alonzo Mount; a painting of Port Jefferson Harbor by William Moore Davis; two lithographs by Stow Wengenroth; a recently uncovered oil painting by Robert Motherwell; and works by Whitney M. Hubbard, Caroline Bell, Julia Wickham, William Steeple Davis and Joseph Hartranft.

The artwork is available for viewing at no charge from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Oct. 21 and by appointment. “I think this auction has a nice collection of fine art from Long Island and New York artists. Even if you are not interested in acquiring anything, it is an opportunity to see works that will in most cases not be in the public eye after the sale,” Napoli added.

South Bay Auctions is located at 485 Montauk Highway, East Moriches. Participants in the auction may bid in person or live online at www.Invaluable.com and www.LiveAuctioneers.com. Telephone and absentee bidding is also available. For more information, call 631-878-2909. 

'Cave of Adullam' will be screened at Theatre Three on Oct. 10. Photo courtesy of PJDS
Please note: The movie line-up has been updated.
Line-up spotlights how singular stories impact society

By Tara Mae 

What responsibility to people have to each other and the planet? This question is a recurring theme examined when the award-winning Port Jefferson Documentary Series’ film festival returns this fall. The season kicks off Monday, Sept. 19 and runs on select Mondays through Nov. 21. 

“There is an underlying thread of social responsibility — stand up and do the right thing or at least recognize when things are going wrong and put a spotlight on it —  throughout the whole season. It takes a lot of guts to take such a stance,” said co-Director Lyn Boland.

Screenings will be held in person at 7 p.m. With the exception of Rebellion and Heart and Soul, which will be screened at John F. Kennedy Middle School, 200 Jayne Blvd. in Port Jefferson Station, all documentaries will be shown at Theatre Three, 412 Main Street in Port Jefferson. 

“This series offers a valuable service, We are offering an opportunity for an arts organization in our community. Many of these films are noncommercial; people would not necessarily be able to see them in movie theaters,” said Theatre Three’s Executive Artistic Director Jeffrey Sanzel. 

‘An Act of Worship’

Sponsored by the Suffolk County Film Commission, the Greater Port Jefferson-Northern Brookhaven Arts Council, Maggio Environmental, Maia Salon Spa and Wellness, and Covati and Janhsen, CPAs, the festival, which started in 2005, will present seven thought-provoking documentaries this year.

Evoking questions of personal responsibility, public activism, and corporate accountability, these documentaries explore the private motivations of public figures, community workers, and morally dubious entities who exploit areas of opaque legality for profit. 

Kaepernick & America kicks off the series, exploring the thought process of a man whose actions speak loudly; An Act of Worship amplifies the ingenuity, initiatives, and endurance of female Muslim American activists; The Cave of Adullam chronicles the steadfast dedication of a Black martial arts sensei striving to support at-risk Black youths; Heart and Soul will appeal to rock and roll fans; and Rebellion, American Pain, and The YouTube Effect detail the detrimental impact of a trifecta of concurrent crises: climate change, opioid addiction, and misinformation, respectively. 

“This festival really has something for everybody. I do think that we have some really remarkable films. Quite a number explore current events — things that are so much on everyone’s mind,” Boland added.

Following every screening, Tom Needham, host of The Sounds of Film on WUSB, will emcee a Q&A session with the director or producer of the documentary. Some guests will appear in person while others will appear via Zoom.

The documentaries are selected by the all-female film board: co-directors Lyn Boland, Wendy Feinberg, and Barbara Sverd as well as Honey Katz, Lorie Rothstein, and Lynn Rein. Collectively known as “the film ladies,” each woman nominates a documentary to be included in the series and if approved, arranges for the speaker(s) to participate in the Q&A. 

After its nomination, the board and volunteers review the film to decide whether it makes the cut. The next step can be among the most challenging: securing the rights to show the documentary. This feat is generally negotiated by contacting the film distribution company or reaching out directly to a filmmaker in person at a festival, or through email and phone. Certain documentarians, such as Alex Winter (The Youtube Effect), have previously shown other work at the Port Jefferson Documentary Series, and thus have an existing connection to it. 

Films are largely sourced from festivals like the TriBeca Film Festival and the Hamptons International Film Festival. Board members pay their own travel expenses, tickets, and industry passes.  

The Port Jefferson Documentary Series is a passion project for everyone involved. 

“My favorite parts of this endeavor are attending film festivals, previewing films on the big screen, and meeting the directors and subjects in the films in person. The satisfaction of having previewed dozens of films and finally then narrowing down to seven of the best with guest speakers for each…I love it. To me, it is entertainment,” said co-director Wendy Feinberg.

Individual tickets are $10 each online or at the door. A season pass is $58 and also available online or at the door. 

For further details about the documentaries, booking tickets, or the series in general, visit www.portjeffdocumentaryseries.com.

Film Schedule
‘Kaepernick & America’

The season begins with a screening of Kaepernick & America at Theatre Three on Sept. 19. The documentary relives the summer of 2016, an election year with unrest rumbling through America, when Colin Kaepernick took a knee and America lost its mind. Kaepernick & America examines the man and his protest, exploring the remarkable conflict stirred by such a symbolic gesture. Guest speaker will be co-director Tommy Walker.

Up next is An Act of Worship on Oct. 3 at Theatre Three. The film weaves a glorious tapestry of personal stories, verité, archival footage, and home movies together, to open a window into the world of Muslim Americans. The film follows three women activists who have come of age since 9/11 and who are part of a new generation of Muslims in America. Guest speakers will be director Nausheen Dadabhoy and producer Sofian Khan.

The award-winning film Cave of Adullam heads to Theatre Three on Oct. 10. The film focuses on martial arts sensei Jason Wilson and his efforts to help often-troubled black youths from Detroit at the Cave of Adullam Transformational Training Academy that he founded in 2008. Guest speaker will be director Laura Checkoway.

■ After a brief hiatus, the series continues with a screening of Rebellion at John F. Kennedy Middle School on Oct. 24. The film gives us an in-depth look into the global environmental movement, Extinction Rebellion (XR), established in the United Kingdom, from its beginnings in 2018. Guest spaker will be co-director Maia Kenworthy via Zoom.

■ The festival continues with a a preview screening of Heart and Soul at John F. Kennedy Middle School on Nov. 7. The first-ever Rock & Roll Show at the Brooklyn Paramount Theater electrified the teenagers who waited for hours to see their new idols – Chuck Berry; the Chantels; Frankie Lymon; and a roster of some of the greatest talent of the time. Fourteen-year-old Kenny Vance sat in the balcony mesmerized by a unique style of music that still resonates for him -and many of us- half a century later. The film seeks to solve the question that may never be answered, because, like all art, it is about feelings: What was that particular magic that grabs a heart and never lets it go? Guest speaker will be director Kenny Vance with a vocal harmony performance by Vance & the Planotones.

■ Moving into November, American Pain will be screened at Theatre Three on Nov. 14. A jaw-dropping true crime documentary, the film tells the story of twin brothers and bodybuilders Chris and Jeff George, who operated a franchise of pain clinics in Florida where they handed out pain pills like candy. Director Darren Foster offers an incredibly compelling and shocking story that exposes the tower of corruption that made the George’s enterprise so massively successful. Guest speaker will be producer Carolyn Hepburn.

The Youtube Effect heads to Theatre Three on Nov. 21. The documentary takes viewers on a timely and gripping journey inside the cloistered world of YouTube and parent Google. It investigates YouTube’s rise from humble beginnings in the attic of a pizzeria to its explosion onto the world stage, becoming the largest media platform in history and sparking a cultural revolution, while creating massive controversy in the age of disinformation. The film is a startling but necessary look at a website that has become so intertwined with our daily lives. Guest speaker via Zoom will be director Alex Winter.

*Please note all films begin at 7 p.m.

 

'Right and Left' by William Sidney Mount (1850)

By Tara Mae

Idyllic, intimate scenes of small town life and sublimely serene landscapes. Warmly illuminated faces, too often absent in American fine art, immortalized for generations. William Sidney Mount’s art both embraced and defied the standards of the 19th century. 

Through this prism, the Ward Melville Heritage Organization (WMHO) will present a special program titled “William Sidney Mount and Long Island’s Free People of Color” at the Brewster House (c. 1665) in Setauket on Saturday, Sept. 24.

The cover of Katherine Kirkpatrick and Vivian Nicholson-Mueller’s new book.

The talk by Katherine Kirkpatrick and Vivian Nicholson-Mueller, co-authors of The Art of William Sidney Mount: Long Island People of Color on Canvas, will explore the identities and lives of the 19th century Black, Native-Black and Black-White people who Mount portrayed in many of his works as well as their ties to the Three Village community. 

During the presentation’s two sessions, from 1 to 2:30 p.m. and 2:30 to 4 p.m., Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller will discuss researching and writing their book, which delves into some identities of Mount’s most notable subjects: people who are largely missing, erased, otherized, or caricatured in American art of the 1800s.

Each session will be followed by a Q&A segment, book signing, artwork presentation, and tour of the Brewster house. 

“[Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller] put forward research that makes you want to ask more questions and think about who these people were…What were their lives like? Who were the other people that lived here? What were their relationships like?” said WMHO’s President Gloria Rocchio.

The event will be held at the historic Brewster House in Setauket, which Mount painted in ‘Long Island Farmhouses’ (see cover photo)

Among the individuals that the book and presentations will highlight are Henry Brazier, the left-handed fiddler in Right and Left (a portrait that is a stark departure from the racist caricatures of Black fiddlers typical of the time); George Freeman, the lively musician in The Banjo Player; Robbin Mills, the attentive outside audience in The Power of Music; and, Rachel (who’s last name will be discussed at the presentation), the poised fisherwoman in Eel Spearing in Setauket. 

Mount’s portrayal of these people is noteworthy in its normalcy. Rather than racist caricatures, at the time a prevalent American representation of any nonwhite person, he painted people as they were: members of the local community. 

So it is arguably a bit jarring to learn that, despite what much of his art might imply, Mount was not a abolitionist, an incongruous revelation that Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller address in the book and will acknowledge in the talks.  

“Mount was a complex man,” Kirkpatrick said. Despite the multitudes he contained, Mount’s artistic aims appear simpler: inspired by historical paintings he admired, Mount painted what he knew. 

‘Long Island Farmhouses’ by William Sidney Mount (1862-63)

And, Mount knew Long Island, particularly the Brewster house, which is now owned by WMHO and was restored in 1968 to appear as it did in his painting Long Island Farmhouses which is now hanging in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Mount even parked his mobile studio on the Brewster property while painting other farmhouses.  

Beyond his appreciation for the landscape, Mount was also acquainted with the Brewster house’s inhabitants. George Freeman of The Banjo Player and Rachel, of Eel Spearing in Setauket, who may have been a Brewster, were just two residents that Mount painted, according to Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller. 

While some structures featured in his landscapes, like the Brewster House, have had both their facades and histories preserved, not much has been cohesively published about the people who populated his paintings, many of whom were friends, neighbors, and townspeople. 

‘The Power of Music’
by William Sidney Mount, 1847

Rocchio sees “Color and Canvas…” as a way of correcting the apparent information vacuum. “I am looking forward to seeing people’s reactions to learning more about who lived and worked in the Brewster House…Any time we can bring out new information about the properties that we own, we are incredibly interested in the projects,” Rocchio said. 

It was such a search for knowledge that first drew educator and genealogist Nicholson-Mueller to the project. While on a quest for genealogical discovery, she learned that she is probably a descendant of Mount, the Brewsters, and many of the people he captured on canvas, including Mills, of The Power of Music. 

Having already bonded over a shared loved of history after meeting at the home of a mutual friend, she teamed up with Kirkpatrick, a historical fiction and nonfiction author, who grew up in Stony Brook. 

‘The Banjo Player’ by William Sidney Mount (1856)

“The research was a gift to myself; and it is Vivian’s and my gift to the people of the Three Villages, St. James and Smithtown. The details we put together will broaden people’s perspectives and knowledge of familiar places,” Kirkpatrick said. 

Each woman already had connections to the WMHO and were looking to work on a project together. Kirkpatrick is the author of Redcoats and Petticoats, a children’s book told through a young boy’s perspective about the British occupation of Long Island during the American Revolution and the Culper Spy Ring. Research and other projects have put her in contact with the WMHO over the years. 

Nicholson-Mueller has worked as a volunteer docent for the WMHO at the Thompson House, another historic property it owns. She has also conducted research on the Brewsters and Thompsons.

So, history is both a personal interest and professional passion for Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller. “Color on Canvas…” is a continuation of their efforts to make the past come alive for modern audiences by broadening the palette of people’s understanding.  

“I am hoping that people learn about Mount as an individual; about the lives and history of the people of color who lived in Brookhaven during this period and have heretofore been neglected or ignored,” Nicholson-Mueller said. 

Tickets to “William Sidney Mount and Long Island’s Free People of Color” at the Brewster House are $8 per person; space is limited and anyone interested in attending must register in advance by calling 631-751-2244. 

————————————————————————————–

There will two additional local events to celebrate the book launch of The Art of William Sidney Mount: Long Island People of Color on Canvas: 

On Sunday, October 2nd, the Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A; Stony Brook, will host an Author’s Talk on Oct. 2 at 2 p.m. It will include a presentation by Kirkpatrick and Nicholson-Mueller as well as a book signing, banjo and fiddle music, refreshments and a gallery tour, where The Banjo Player and Right and Left will be on display. Fee is price of admission. Visit wwwl.longislandmuseum.org.

On Monday, Nov. 14, at 7 p.m., the Three Village Historical Society will host a Zoom lecture with the authors. The event is free for TVHS members, with a $5 suggested donation for nonmembers. Registration is through www.tvhs.org/lecture-series. For more information, call 631-751-3730.

The entrance to Cedar hill Cemetery. Photo by Chris Ryon

By Tara Mae

From slightly spooky to sublimely serene, the Port Jefferson Village Center’s latest exhibit captures the majesty and tranquility of Port Jefferson’s historic Cedar Hill Cemetery.

Titled Cedar Hill Cemetery: Hidden Sanctuary of Our Past, the exhibit of approximately 60 photos offers insight into the still-operational, non-denominational cemetery as seen through the lens of Port Jefferson Historian Chris Ryon and historic photographs from the Library of Congress.  

The Hulse family plot at Cedar Hill Cemetery.
Photo by Chris Ryon

Located on the second floor mezzanine of the Center, the show, which opens Sept. 5, features black and white, color, and near-infrared photographs, evoking different emotions and transcending different periods of time. 

The photos trace the seasons, years, and decades of the cemetery, which was established in the mid-19th century and houses the grave markers for some of the area’s most prominent and historic names, including members of the Woodhull, Roe, and Mather families. 

Ryon, who began regularly photographing the cemetery about ten years ago, curated the exhibit and contributed most of the images, including all of the near-infrared pictures, which require a specially outfitted camera. He said he is fascinated by the distinctive, haunting images it can yield. 

One striking example is the Mather family marker, a 41-ton obelisk that is the largest memorial in Cedar Hill. Standing high above its neighbors, a focal point in any photo, it features the names of John R., prominent shipbuilder, and his son, John Titus, founder of Mather Hospital. 

With the near-infrared, details such as snow covered tombstones and skylines framed by trees and awash in clouds, the hint of the harbor in the background, take on a gothic luster. The cemetery’s gates appear stark and imposing. Names and details of the gravestones are frequently in sharp focus, names clearly visible. 

“I just keep going back to infrared; it is just so ominous looking … green turns white, shadows become more pronounced, etc,” Ryon said, adding that he was drawn to the cemetery as a subject because of his dual appreciation of photography and history. However, he sees the exhibit and cemetery appealing to more than photography and history buffs. 

The gates of cemetery came from the 71st regimental armory on Park Ave. in NYC. Photo from Library of Congress

“This cemetery has everything: photographic interest, history, insight into the lives of people in Port Jefferson … I return because it is a serene, moody place different from our everyday lives,” Ryon explained. “Through this exhibit, we are trying to encourage people to visit the cemetery; they will be rewarded for it.” 

Situated on 23 acres of carefully tended rolling hills (the highest point is 271 feet above sea level), grass roads, and reimagined sheep pasture at the end of Liberty Avenue, Superintendent of the cemetery Ken Boehm described Cedar Hill as “an oasis in the middle of suburbia.”  An additional few acres of untouched wooded property enhances the feeling that the cemetery complements and almost sprouts from the natural world. 

Architectural details, such a somewhat squat, “brick house” that once housed the deceased awaiting burial and now holds landscaping equipment, are testaments to the cemetery’s evolution from privately owned land to publicly accessible final respite. And, of course, historic Cedar Hill Cemetery continues to function as originally intended. 

“Not to sound corny or anything, but we are helping people at the worst time in their lives, so to be able to maintain this place, make it a sanctuary any way we can, is very rewarding,” Boehm said. 

In April of 1859 Hubbard Gildersleeve sold 13 acres of his land to the Cedar Hill Cemetery Association, which had been established on March 30, 1859, with the express purpose of establishing a public cemetery. Prior to this, residents had largely continued the long held custom of burying loved ones in family plots on private property. 

“These larger cemeteries were all established around the same time; there was a change in the way we thought about the dead, and how we wanted to respect them,” Ryon said. 

The Association still exists today and oversees the cemetery’s operations. 

Back row, from left, Nick Hartmann, Will Hatfield, Spencer Woolley, Tom Cove and Ken Boehm. Front row, from left, Nick Koban and Dennis Jourdain. Photo by Chris Ryon

Cedar Hill’s first official burial was of Mary B. Hulse, wife of Charles L. Hulse, who died March 27, 1859. Gravestones, belonging to people who predeceased her, soon joined Mrs. Hulse. 

Since it was considered both disrespectful and unwise to disinter the actual bodies from their more informal resting places, bits of soil from those locations were moved with the markers to their new homes. Families who visited would often picnic and tend the gravesites; photographs from different eras may show them sitting among the graves or looking towards the water. 

People still come to visit their loved ones, do some plantings at the family plots, and take in the views, though they rarely picnic, according to Boehm.

Other modifications, not just in behavior but appearance, have been made over the years. The tall gates, somehow both welcoming and austere, which greet or guard the entrance to the cemetery depending on the time of day, were purchased from a salvage yard in 1971. They once protected the 71st Regiment Armory on Park Avenue in New York City, and need some TLC after so much time on the job. 

“The gates will be restored; people want to restore them. Fundraising and other efforts are in development,” Ryon said. 

This ties into the larger goal of Hidden Sanctuary: to bring more public awareness to its existence and garner more support for its preservation and maintenance. The Cemetery Association and Village of Port Jefferson are discussing plans to create QR codes, implement cemetery tours, and generally invite people to take advantage of all the cemetery has to offer. 

“The exhibit is important to make the public aware of this beautiful sanctuary right in our village. Many do not know it exists. We are hoping to share our cemetery with everyone and take some of the stigma out. We are non-denominational, all are welcome,” President of the Cemetery Association Gail Tilton said.

The Port Jefferson Gallery at the Village Center, 101 E. Broadway, Port Jefferson presents Cedar Hill Cemetery: Hidden Sanctuary of Our Past from Sept. 5 to Oct. 31.  Join them for an opening reception on Sunday, Sept. 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. Viewing hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily. For more information about the exhibit, call 631-473-4778 or visit www.portjeff.com/gallery. To learn more about Cedar Hill Cemetery, call 631-371-6113 or visit www.cedarhillcemeterypj.com.