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Cindy Smith

The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook has dedicated its current exhibit, Two Centuries of Long Island Women Artists, 1800-2000, to the memory of arts patroness and community activist Cindy M. Smith, a Stony Brook resident and long-time supporter of local artists.

The sign placed near the exhibit entrance reads: “This exhibition is dedicated to the memory of Cindy M. Smith, a strong advocate for the arts and historic preservation in our community.” Ms. Smith, a Smithtown native who died last month of leukemia, was a frequent visitor to the museum as well as local galleries and cultural events across Long Island.

“Cindy was a passionate advocate for the arts as well as historic preservation, and quality of life in general on the North Shore,” said Warren Strugatch, her husband. “She felt women artists faced greater obstacles to success than men, and had to work harder to achieve recognition. She would have been first on line to see the exhibition if she were still alive.”

The well-reviewed exhibition includes works by such iconic women artists as Lee Krasner and Elaine de Kooning, as well as such contemporaries as April Gornik, Audrey Flack, and Jennifer Bartlett. The exhibition continues through Sept. 4. For more information, visit www.longislandmuseum.org.

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'Sagaponack' by Cecile Gray Bazelon will be on view at the museum through Sept. 4. Image from LIM
‘Roses’ by Jane Freilicher

The Long Island Museum (LIM) has announced it will reopen to the public on March 3, 2022 after a seasonal closure. The museum will invite visitors to explore two new exhibitions, Two Centuries of Long Island Women Artists, 1800-2000 and The 23rd annual Colors of Long Island Student Art Exhibition.

Two Centuries of Long Island Women Artists, 1800-2000, on view from March 3 to Sept. 4, is an exhibition that aims to provide a survey of the history of women artists on Long Island, exploring and emphasizing their significance, which has reverberated far beyond this region. 

Visiting Curator and Assistant Director at Questroyal Fine Art, Inc. Nina Sangimino, along with LIM Curators, Joshua Ruff and Jonathan Olly, took part in this project that draws from LIM’s own collection, private collections, and the collections of museums that include the Parrish Museum of Art, the Heckscher Museum of Art, and Guild Hall. 

The exhibition will present over 80 works from close to 70 different artists, both celebrated and those that are relatively lesser-known, from different eras and a diverse set of backgrounds, stylistic approaches, and materials. 

“Focusing an exhibition entirely on women’s contributions to art history, in this region, is an exciting opportunity for the LIM,” said Joshua Ruff, Deputy Director, Director of Collections and Interpretations at the Long Island Museum. “There are internationally-renowned artists in this exhibition, such as Grace Hartigan and April Gornik. But we also are presenting the work of less famous women artists who have had far less coverage but deserve to be known,” said Ruff. 

‘Shattered Color’ by Lee Krasner

The LIM’s 23rd annual Colors of Long Island Student Art Exhibition, on view from March 3 to April 3, affords an opportunity for hundreds of students from across Long Island to display their artwork in a museum setting. Art teachers from Long Island’s public and private schools in grades pre-k through 12th grade were invited to submit up to two pieces of student artwork for the exhibition.

Traditionally, the theme, “Colors of Long Island,” allows for many creative interpretations. While some students refer to Long Island’s landscapes, others prefer to focus on the cultural diversity that makes Long Island so beautiful. The varying interpretations of this theme will be portrayed through a selection of media, including watercolor, sculpture, pencil, ink, oil pastel, photographs and computer graphics.   

“The museum’s education department is excited to return to hosting student artwork in our History Museum gallery,” said Kristin Cuomo, Senior Educator at the Long Island Museum. 

“This year’s exhibition features 107 schools from across Nassau and Suffolk, with work from over 200 students in grades pre-k through 12 displayed. The art spans a variety of styles and media, reflecting the talent and dedication of our teachers and young people. As a whole, the gallery reflects the joy of creativity and the excitement of being able to once again exhibit in person,” she said.

In addition to exploring the new exhibitions, visitors are also welcome to explore the state-of-the-art Carriage Museum, which includes eight renovated galleries that tell the story of transportation before the automobile. 

The Long Island Museum is located at 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook. Hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.

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The Long Island Museum recently acquired 'Fellowship Night' by Cyril Arthur Lewis for its permanent collection. Photo from LIM

The Long Island Museum (LIM) in Stony Brook has announced a long-range plan to improve diversity and equity in the museum’s permanent collection.

In December 2021, the LIM’s Board of Trustees and Collections Committee approved an initiative to enhance the multi-ethnic and multicultural representation of all Long Island residents in its permanent collections. In a Collections Development Initiative to improve diversity in its collections, LIM will work towards a five-year goal to build a much more inclusive holding of art and historical objects from Long Island’s diverse communities. In an initial move in this effort, the Museum purchased the oil painting Fellowship Night, c. 1940, a work depicting a Long Island Black church, by Cyril Arthur Lewis (1903-1994).

LIM is beginning this focused institutional priority to better connect with, represent and share the stories, histories, and art of all of Long Island’s residents. By 2027, LIM is aiming to have made significant strides towards building a more inclusive collection that has much stronger, deeper representation of Long Island’s diverse populations of Latinx, Black, Native American, and Asian American communities (sometimes referred to as “BIPOC,” which stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, referring to Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Americans).

“We are making large strides to have our collections meet our programming efforts,” said Deputy Director Joshua Ruff, citing such recent exhibitions as Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island (2019) and education programs like Vehicles for Change, a popular LIM Education program (grades 4-8) which explores the life and activism of 19th century Civil Rights pioneer Elizabeth Jennings Graham, using a streetcar from its Carriage Collection. 

“This is vital to the Museum’s future. It is crucial for us to ensure that our collection properly reflects and shares the history of all diverse communities that have lived, worked hard, struggled, and celebrated here on Long Island throughout our collective history,” said Ruff.

The Museum has well-regarded permanent collections in its Art, History, and Carriage Museums, highlighted by an important and large costume and textile collection of 10,000 artifacts, from the 1780s to the 1990s; the paintings, drawings, and archives of significant American genre painter William Sidney Mount (1807-1868); and nearly 200 horse-drawn vehicles of every description, which help to tell the story of American transportation in the age before automobiles. This initiative will add to these strengths by adding the inclusion of artists or historical objects that help to document Long Island’s resident communities of color.

The acquisition of Fellowship Night, which LIM purchased from South Bay Auctions in December, aids in this process. 

Born in Birmingham, England, Cyril Arthur Lewis emigrated to the U.S. in 1927, settling in Brooklyn. In 1937 he moved to East Williston and began painting and sketching local landmarks. Depicting an African American church during a nighttime event in this painting, he spotlights a building that was an important social center for the Black communities that developed on Long Island in the decades following the end of slavery in 1827.

In order to improve LIM’s collections diversity, the Museum will develop a collections advisory panel composed of external subject matter experts to periodically counsel and work with LIM’s curatorial department and Collections Committee. The Museum will also develop future exhibitions about Long Island’s diverse populations, such as a project next year that details the history of Sag Harbor’s historic Black Arts community, and make specific targeted appeals through Social Media and other community outreach efforts to help promote new donations to the collection.

“This is a long-term effort,” said Joshua Ruff. “But it is one we believe in down to our bones, one that we are fully committed to.”

ABOUT THE LONG ISLAND MUSEUM:

Located at 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook, the Long Island Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate dedicated to enhancing the lives of adults and children with an understanding of Long Island’s rich history and diverse cultures. The LIM will reopen for the spring season with new exhibitions on Thursday, March 3, 2022. Hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information, visit www.longislandmuseum.org.

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Fellowship Night, c. 1940 by Cyril Arthur Lewis (1903-1994).

The Long Island Museum (LIM) in Stony Brook has announced a long-range plan to improve diversity and equity in the museum’s permanent collection.

In December 2021, the LIM’s Board of Trustees and Collections Committee approved an initiative to enhance the multiethnic and multicultural representation of all Long Island residents in its permanent collections. In a Collections Development Initiative to improve diversity in its collections, LIM will work towards a five-year goal to build a much more inclusive holding of art and historical objects from Long Island’s diverse communities. In an initial move in this effort, the Museum purchased the oil painting Fellowship Night, c. 1940, a work depicting a Long Island Black church, by Cyril Arthur Lewis (1903-1994).

LIM is beginning this focused institutional priority to better connect with, represent and share the stories, histories, and art of all of Long Island’s residents. By 2027, LIM is aiming to have made significant strides towards building a more inclusive collection that has much stronger, deeper representation of Long Island’s diverse populations of Latinx, Black, Native American, and Asian American communities (sometimes referred to as “BIPOC,” which stands for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, referring to Black, Native, Latinx, and Asian Americans).

“We are making large strides to have our collections meet our programming efforts,” said Deputy Director Joshua Ruff, citing such recent exhibitions as Long Road to Freedom: Surviving Slavery on Long Island (2019) and education programs like Vehicles for Change, a popular LIM Education program (grades 4-8) which explores the life and activism of 19th century Civil Rights pioneer Elizabeth Jennings Graham, using a streetcar from its Carriage Collection. “This is vital to the Museum’s future. It is crucial for us to ensure that our collection properly reflects and shares the history of all diverse communities that have lived, worked hard, struggled, and celebrated here on Long Island throughout our collective history.”

The Museum has well-regarded permanent collections in its Art, History, and Carriage Museums, highlighted by an important and large costume and textile collection of 10,000 artifacts, from the 1780s to the 1990s; the paintings, drawings, and archives of significant American genre painter William Sidney Mount (1807-1868); and nearly 200 horse-drawn vehicles of every description, which help to tell the story of American transportation in the age before automobiles. This initiative will add to these strengths by adding the inclusion of artists or historical objects that help to document Long Island’s resident communities of color.

The acquisition of Fellowship Night, which LIM purchased from South Bay Auctions in December, aids in this process. Born in Birmingham, England, Cyril Arthur Lewis emigrated to the U.S. in 1927, settling in Brooklyn. In 1937 he moved to East Williston and began painting and sketching local landmarks. Depicting an African American church during a nighttime event in this painting, he spotlights a building that was an important social center for the Black communities that developed on Long Island in the decades following the end of slavery in 1827.

In order to improve LIM’s collections diversity, the Museum will develop a collections advisory panel composed of external subject matter experts to periodically counsel and work with LIM’s curatorial department and Collections Committee. The Museum will also develop future exhibitions about Long Island’s diverse populations, such as a project next year that details the history of Sag Harbor’s historic Black Arts community, and make specific targeted appeals through Social Media and other community outreach efforts to help promote new donations to the collection. “This is a long-term effort,” said Joshua Ruff. “But it is one we believe in down to our bones, one that we are fully committed to.”

ABOUT THE LONG ISLAND MUSEUM:

Located at 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook, the Long Island Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate dedicated to enhancing the lives of adults and children with an understanding of Long Island’s rich history and diverse cultures. The LIM will reopen for the spring season with new exhibitions on Thursday, March 3, 2022. Hours are Thursday through Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. For more information visit: longislandmuseum.org.

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