Summer In The Hamptons Can Mean Art, Too

Between the parties, pools and promiscuity promoted in reality TV depictions of summer in the Hamptons, outsiders may have an impression of tony East End Long Island as existing purely for hedonism. Those who know better also recognize it as a cultural destination amid the bikinis, bellinis and Bentleys.

The Pollock-Krasner House in The Springs near East Hampton preserves the home and studios of Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. It hosts exhibitions while sharing the life and story of the dynamic duo of Abstract Expressionism.

Fifteen miles west down Montauk Highway, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill specializes in the collection and display of artists long drawn to the area. Since the late 1800s, the Hamptons has been one of the most concentrated creative communities in America. William Merritt Chase and Fairfield Porter, a pair of locals, are particularly well represented at the museum.

Returning to pace the cultural calendar here, Guild Hall, located between the Pollock-Krasner House and Parrish Art Museum, reopened on July 2, 2023, following a year-long, $29 million renovation project.

The museum and education center have been redesigned, exhibition and shared public spaces expanded, the gardens enhanced, and the lobby and visitor entrance hugely improved. The guts of the building are new–HVAC, electrical, mechanical, IT, security, doors, windows. Grounds have been made more sustainable through the planting of new trees, native plants and grasses, and improved stormwater management. The venerable building founded in 1931 has been brought completely up to date with the latest ADA Accessibility Standards.

Fortunately, none of this has taken away from Guild Hall’s beloved charm.

“This renovation goes against the trend of starting over with new construction,” Andrea Grover, Executive Director of Guild Hall, told Forbes.com. “We’ve accomplished a near-total infrastructure replacement of a historic building, maintaining the original scale and character of Guild Hall, but enabling it to function like new construction. It’s a magic trick.”

The updates have provided significantly expanded galleries with increased wall space for the display of art and heightened entry clearances to accommodate today’s artists practicing across a range of disciplines, media, and scales, and their most ambitious works.

“Something is surprising in every space, but the galleries have received the most astonished looks and comments from visitors,” Grover said. “Peter Pennoyer Architects found a way to make the museum appear larger and brighter without changing the basic geometry or adding square footage. This was done by enlarging the entryways, opening up historic ‘lay lights,’ bringing in natural light, and removing build-outs and extraneous doors. The result is clean lines and more vertical and horizontal space for hanging art.”

Gallery flexibility and guest flow have been massively improved and display spaces outfitted with state-of-the-art sound and LED lighting.

Behind the scenes, the renovation allowed for Guild Hall’s first discrete art-handling facility to support the installation, packing, and temporary storage of artworks, a recommended feature for formally accredited members of the American Alliance of Museums.

A robust summer program including ballet performances, culinary events, and musical guests will greet returning visitors, as will an inaugural exhibition in the new galleries by feminist, Jamaican-American photographer Renee Cox (b. 1960). Guild Hall’s museum focuses on artists affiliated with the area and Cox has lived in East Hampton since 1989.

“She is a pioneering artist who, for over three decades, has elevated Black identity through her photographs that represent art history, colonial history, and popular culture through her lens as a Jamaican-American woman,” Grover explains. “Renée’s message is timely, her work is powerful, and we are proud to inaugurate the museum with her show.”

“Renee Cox: A Proof of Being” exhibits the artist’s most celebrated photographs from 1993 to the present. The survey demonstrates how her practice has evolved through a series of performative self-portraits of stylized, powerful, and iconoclast figures.

Onna House

Housed in a Japanese modernist 1960s residence in the center of East Hampton, Onna House is a gallery, artist-in-residency and studio sanctuary filled with art, furniture, and objects by women artists and designers. The home has a fascinating history.

The original owners were taxicab magnates Robert and Ethel Scull. The couple were among the most important art collectors of the 20^th century. The home was a gathering place for Pollock and Krasner, the de Koonings, Robert Rauschenberg. Robert Scull commissioned a then struggling Andy Warhol to paint a portrait of his wife for her 42^nd birthday in 1963. Today, the artwork is jointly owned by The Whitney and The Met and marks the first of what would become Warhol’s countless, iconic celebrity portraits.

A Sotheby’s auction of 50 Scull collection paintings in 1973 remains a watershed moment in contemporary art.

Fashion designer, art collector and women’s rights activist Lisa Perry purchased the home during the pandemic and oversaw an extensive renovation completed in 2021. She renamed the property Onna House–the Japanese word for woman–and welcomed artists to work there and the public to visit in 2022.

With a dual mission to support and create visibility for the artists and provide a gallery space to display their work, Perry combines her passions under one roof curating the private home and studio as a space for women artists to engage and collaborate and for collectors to discover new work.

Onna House hosts three shows each summer opening Memorial Day Weekend and running through October. The East Hampton property does not publicize its address, but free tours are available to the public by appointment via emailing [email protected]. They’ll give you directions.

Southampton Arts Center

Perry’s influence can additionally be seen during the exhibition “Change Agents: Women Collectors Shaping the Art World,” on view at the Southampton Arts Center which celebrates its 10^th anniversary this summer. Opening July 22 and on view through September 30, 2023, the exhibition showcases the unparalleled vision and mission of women collectors dedicated to championing artists.

In addition to Perry, renowned collectors Agnes Gund, Pamela Joyner and collector/artist Mickalene Thomas are among 14 women contributing works to the show. On view are a powerhouse roster of contemporary artists including Mark Bradford, Nick Cave, Vanessa German, Zanele Muholi, Winfred Rembert and Lorna Simpson.