STORIES FROM A SUITCASE
Ellis Paul heads to the Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook on Feb. 23 for his 13th appearance in WUSB’s Sunday Street Series. The concert, held in the Carriage Museum’s Gillespie Room, will take place at 3 p.m. The program will feature many of the songs from Ellis’ latest album, “The Storyteller’s Suitcase.” Tickets are $25 in advance at www.sundaystreet.org through Feb. 21, $30 at the door. Call 751-0066 for more information.
Photo by Tim Rice
By Melissa Arnold
Running a museum is far from simple. Consider this: The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook is home to more than 2,500 pieces of artwork done on paper, 500 paintings and 100 pieces of three-dimensional art. Each piece must be catalogued, maintained, protected and stored. It’s a delicate and meticulous process that takes a lot of work.
Recently, the LIM received a grant from the New York State Council on the Arts to expand and upgrade its storage facilities. They’ll need to clear out some of their existing storage space to prepare for renovation, and fortunately its visitors will reap the rewards of the process.
From Feb. 22 to June 26, the museum will present Off the Rack: Building and Preserving LIM’s Art Treasures, an exhibit of approximately 90 works of art from its permanent collection, in the main gallery of its Art Museum. Many pieces in the exhibit are only put on view rarely, if at all.
“We could have taken the artwork to off-site storage, but we thought, ‘Why not put it on display?’ In order to make more space, we thought this would be a great time to assess the state of the collection and share its history and highlights with our visitors,” said LIM Deputy Director and Curator Joshua Ruff. “This is an opportunity for people to see things they may not have seen before.”
Ruff said that choosing pieces for Off the Rack was a team effort by the museum staff, who sought to put together a cohesive story of how the museum’s collection has grown and evolved over the years.
Visitors will be able to explore a time line of the LIM’s conservation efforts. In addition, each work in the exhibit will include its accession number, which will help teach visitors how the museum keeps track of each piece.
Off the Rack is divided into loose sections celebrating particular themes and standout artists. Not to be missed is a section dedicated to one of the museum’s “anchor” artists, William Sidney Mount. Among Mount’s included works are an 1841 painting of Crane Neck Marsh, which Ruff says is “an example of his extremely detailed craftsmanship while creating a natural setting,” and “Dance of the Haymakers,” a painting of a fiddler playing music for dancing farmhands, which made Mount a household name in 1845.
Other high-profile artists with dedicated spaces in the exhibit include Arnold Hoffman, Samuel Rothport, Winslow Homer, Joe Reboli and Helen Torr, among others.
There are also sections of artwork focused on coastal and marine environments, abstract work and contemporary artists, including some local Long Islanders like Janet Culbertson, Bruce Lieberman and Dan Pollera.
Ty Stroudsburg of Southold also has artwork at the LIM — her 2000 oil painting on linen “Pumpkin Field at Sunset” is one of many views that have caught her eye on the North Fork.
“I love color. I used to drive around with a sketch pad in my car, and it was always color that would lead me to pull over and either do quick sketches with pastels or take a photograph to use for later,” said Stroudsburg, whose work has hung in exhibits and museums throughout New York and New Jersey for more than 60 years.
“I didn’t strive for notoriety, I just painted because I love to paint and it keeps me going. I feel extremely fortunate that curators believe my art is worth being a part of their museums,” she added.
For LIM Executive Director Neil Watson, Off the Rack provides the chance to see their continuously evolving collection in a new light.
“As we began to do the work required for the renovations and take pieces out of storage, there were things in the collection I hadn’t seen in several years, and even some pieces I didn’t even know we had,” he recalled.
“That’s the beauty of this exhibit -— we get to share parts of our collection that people may have never even seen before. Of course, there will be plenty of ‘old friends,’ like the work from William Sidney Mount, but there is so much more to see. Ours is a living collection — it’s not sealed or stagnant, and it continues to grow.”
The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook presents Off the Rack: Building and Preserving LIM’s Art Treasures, from Feb. 22 through June 26. The museum is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. Admission for adults is $10; discounts are available for children, college students, seniors and the disabled. For more information, visit www.longislandmuseum.org or call 631-751-0066.
The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook hosted an artist reception for its latest exhibit, Anything Goes!, on Dec. 6. The exceptional exhibit features artwork created by 104 participating members of LIMarts, the LIM’s special membership initiative for artists.
Joshua Ruff, deputy director at the Long Island Museum, welcomed the artists and guests to the reception.“It’s quite amazing and impressive how, just within a space of a few miles, we have such incredible talent. I think this is our best show yet − it’s colorful, it’s wonderful.” Most of the artwork is for sale with a portion of the proceeds benefiting the museum’s exhibitions and programs. The show is on view in the museum’s Visitors Center through Jan. 5.
For more information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
Photos by Heidi Sutton
The Long Island Museum, located at 1200 Route 25A in Stony Brook, kicked off the holiday season with its premier fundraising event, the annual Holiday Celebration Gala and Silent Auction, on Nov. 9 with over 150 people in attendance. The tradition raises funds necessary to support the museum’s award-winning educational programs and exhibitions.
The museum’s History Museum was transformed into a decorative winter wonderland with an enchanting display of hundreds of decorative works by local artists and artisans, including ceramics, paintings and a beautiful selection of home goods and fine art.
Now in its 26th year, the event honored Ron Hoffman of Bliss Restaurant in East Setauket with the Community Leader Award and North Shore Pro Musica with the Patron of the Arts Award.
Hoffman has been dedicated to the Three Village community since becoming a local business owner in 2003 when he first purchased Village Bistro. “Ron Hoffman has the ability to make everyone feel like family when they walk through the door of his restaurant,” said Neil Watson, executive director of the LIM. “But his generous nature goes beyond his business establishment. Ron has been a loyal supporter of the museum for many years. He truly puts his heart and soul into Bliss’ surrounding community.”
Founded in 1980, North Shore Pro Musica has been bringing live chamber music performances to the Three Village community for the past four decades and has been recognized for innovative programming and diversity of repertoire.
“I’m so grateful to the leadership of North Shore Pro Musica,” commented Watson. “Not only does this group continue to make a contribution to the cultural life of Long Island but North Shore Pro Musica is also making the Long Island Museum a destination for an entirely new audience.”
Betsy Palmedo, founding member and director of North Shore Pro Musica accepted the award on the group’s behalf.
COLOR, CREATIVITY AND CULTURE
Artist Carol Hummel and her daughter Molly Sedensky from the Hooked@LIM tree project wrapped a tree on the grounds of the Long Island Museum in Stony Brook with a dedication ceremony on Sept. 15. Using over 250 skeins of nylon yarn, the community-based project began in June with 40 volunteers crocheting the individual elements needed to cover the silver maple that stands adjacent to the Carriage Museum on Route 25A. Five other trees on the museum grounds were wrapped in 2015. “The Long Island Museum trees are truly art by the people, for the people, and should be cherished as symbols of community pride,” said Hummel.
1969, orbiting Earth, three astronauts Michael Collins, Neil Armstrong, and Buzz Aldrin set out on a likely death mission that could only end in one of three ways: land, abort, or crash.
In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook invites the community to join them on Saturday, July 20 for a free screening of @SmithsonianChannel’s “The Day We Walked on the Moon” in the Carriage Museum’s Gillespie Room at 5 p.m. Admission is free.
For further information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
In celebration of its 80th anniversary, The Long Island Museum hosted a Mount House Summer Soirée at the Hawkins-Mount House in Stony Brook on June 28. The Americana-themed party featured signature cocktails dinner, live music and tours of artist William Sidney Mount’s childhood home, which had been closed to the public for three decades.
Photos by Karen Romanelli
On Saturday, May 18 the Long Island Museum invited members of its LIMarts collaborative arts group to participate in a plein air painting and sketching opportunity on the grounds and inside galleries.
Plein air painting is about leaving the four walls of the studio behind and experiencing painting and drawing in the landscape. It’s a technique that was made popular by French Impressionists (think Monet’s Garden at Givernay) in the 19th century.
Visitors to the museum enjoyed seeing the artists at work, taking inspiration from the museum’s beautiful gardens and world-class exhibitions. The day concluded with a reception where the artists had an opportunity to sell their work.
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Plein Air Art Event
Saturday, May 18, 2019
10am – 6pm
Museum Grounds & Carriage Museum
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Inspired by historic structures, beautiful gardens and a world renowned carriage collection, LIMarts members will have the opportunity to capture the museum’s beauty in a plein air art event.
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This creative day welcomes visitors to the museum from 10am-6pm to observe and meet the artists as well as purchase artwork at a reception outside the LIM Studio from 5pm-6pm.
Light refreshments will be served.
Regular museum admission is required:
$10/ adults; $7/seniors; $5/students 6-17 and college students with I.D. Children under six are free.
Rain date is Sunday, May 19 from noon to 5 p.m. with the reception from 5pm to 6 p.m.
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For more information contact Alexandria D’Auria
at (631)-751-0066 x285 or [email protected]
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By Heidi Sutton
The Long Island Museum in Stony Brook unveiled its annual juried art competition last Friday to rave reviews.
Designed to complement one of the museum’s current exhibits, Walt Whitman’s Arcadia: Long Island Through the Eyes of a Poet & Painters, this year’s theme encouraged amateur and professional artists to take inspiration from the written word — whether it be a poem, a quote, a song or a passage in a book, and turn it into something visual. The resulting exhibit is a wonder to behold.
Titled I Sing the Body Electric after a poem by Walt Whitman from his 1855 collection, “Leaves of Grass,” the show features 78 exquisite pieces of art in a variety of mediums including watercolor, pastel, oil, acrylic, sculpture, mixed media and photography, all beautifully displayed in the museum’s Visitors Center.
The exhibit was judged by Ripe Art Gallery President Cherie Rexer; Jessica Valentin, artist and owner of Muñecca Arthouse; and artist Beth Giacummo. The winners were announced at an opening reception.
“I’ve been [at this museum] six years and this is the best juried art show I’ve seen here and I’m so proud to be a part of it,” gushed Neil Watson, executive director at the LIM.
“From the start we all felt this [exhibit] was going to be something really spectacular,” added Lisa Unander, director of education at the LIM, before sharing the judges’ comments and presenting the awards.
Cliff Miller of Seaford captured first place with his oil on gesso panel piece titled “The McDivits,” which was inspired by Anthony Robbins’ quote, “The only impossible journey is the one you never begin.” Second place was awarded to Marsha Solomon of Baldwin for her acrylic on canvas piece titled “Orion’s Sapphire.” Melissa Imossi of Madison, Connecticut, won third place for “Shadowlands,” an oil painting on aluminum, which was inspired by the film of the same name about the relationship between C.S. Lewis and poet Joy Davidman. (See the judges’ comments under each image.)
In addition, each juror individually selected a piece for honorable mention. Giacummo’s choice was “Passerine,” a diorama by Ellen Wiener of Southold. “The main element perched like a passerine reminds the viewer that our relationship with art can strengthen our stance,” she explained. Rexer chose Helena Weber of Bay Shore’s “A Noiseless Patient Spider,” created in soft pastels. “I love it because it feels like it could belong in the Long Island Museum’s collection,” she said.
Valentin selected James Keller of St. James’ delicate abstract photograph “Sinuous,” which was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne’s quote, “Moonlight is sculpture …”
“This work … spoke to me so strongly. The mood and light are stunning. I’m in love,” she said.
While the artists were inspired by the written word, visitors to this exhibit are sure to be inspired by their achievements. Don’t miss this wonderful show.
WHEN TO GO: The Long Island Museum, 1200 Route 25A, Stony Brook will present I Sing the Body Electric through July 7. The museum is open Thursday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. Admission is $10 adults, $7 seniors and $5 students ages 6 to 17. Children under 6 and members are admitted for free. For more information, call 631-751-0066 or visit www.longislandmuseum.org.
Art reception photos by Julie Diamond/Long Island Museum
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