Recap | East End Studio Tour
Annual New York Foundation for the Arts tour gives an insider’s perspective into East End Artists’ work and studios.
New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) Leadership Council Member Carol Ross and Board Members Marjorie Silverman and J. Whitney Stevens hosted an intimate tour of four artist studios on Long Island’s East End on August 4, 2017. Led by Christina Mossaides Strassfield, Museum Director/Chief Curator at Guild Hall, the group visited the studios of artists Quentin Curry, Donald Lipski, Arlene Slavin, and Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas. The ticketed tour concluded with a seated lunch at a private residence in Bridgehampton with the artists, where guests dined on smoked grilled salmon, purple kale salad, and sour cherry pie.
“NYFA’s East End Studio Tour brings visitors into the private sanctuary of the artist’s studio, and gives them the opportunity to further engage with the artists at a magnificent luncheon,” said Christina Mossaides Strassfield. “The artists that have participated show the talent, energy, and excitement of today’s art world and are a testament to the East End Art Colony that continues to thrive today,” she added.
Said Sayrafiezadeh, a NYFA Board Member who attended this year’s tour, said of the experience: “How often does one get to see the inside of a working artist’s studio, which might include a chainsaw on a shelf, a pull-up bar on a wall, a shadowy assistant in a basement with a blowtorch, and a barefoot artist standing in front of windswept dunes talking about how the ceramics class he took his final semester in college changed his life?”
The annual East End Studio Tour benefits NYFA’s programs for artists throughout Long Island and New York State. Past tours have featured artists including Alice Aycock, Mary Heilmann, Brian Hunt, Toni Ross, Joan Semmel, and Joe Zucker.
Quentin Curry is a multidisciplinary artist who explores the boundaries between different media while maintaining a passionate focus on sophisticated surfaces. He lives with his family in the Hamptons, where he maintains his studio. His work has been exhibited in national group shows at Stephen Stux, New York; Kavi Gupta, Chicago; and Tripoli Gallery, Southampton; as well as in solo exhibitions at Stellan Holm Gallery, New York and Kantor Gallery, Los Angeles.
Donald Lipski is an award-winning sculptor who is best known for his installation work and large-scale public works. He received a NYSCA/NYFA Artist Fellowship in Sculpture in 1986. His work is in the permanent collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, The Corcoran Gallery of Art, The Art Institute of Chicago, The Menil Collection, and dozens of other museums.
Arlene Slavin is a sculptor, painter, and printmaker who also creates large-scale art commissions. Her work has been exhibited in the Whitney Biennial and is included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Brooklyn Museum, Cincinnati Art Museum, Guild Hall, and others.
Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas is an internationally-acclaimed sculptor best known for her monumental sculptures in fabricated metal and cast bronze, stainless steel, and steel. Her work has been exhibited in one-person shows in New York City and the Hamptons as well as in group exhibitions in the United States and Europe.
Christina Mossaides Strassfield has deep knowledge of Guild Hall’s permanent collection, comprising more than 2,000 works of art. The museum, which presents world-class art exhibitions by internationally-renowned visual artists and emerging regional artists, often collaborates with artists of eastern Long Island to encourage local talent. Since joining Guild Hall in 1987, Mossaides Strassfield has curated numerous exhibitions and has contributed essays for many of the accompanying catalogs.
This was the fifth East End Tour and Luncheon, which has featured artists Alice Aycock, Mary Ellen Bartley, Sally Egbert, Mia Fonssagrives-Solow, Audrey Flack, Connie Fox, Christopher French, Mary Heilmann, Barry Holden, Bryan Hunt, Joel Perlman, Toni Ross, Joan Semmel, Nina Yankowitz, Claire Watson, and Joe Zucker.
Thank you to our media sponsor, Hamptons Art Hub.
Want to know more about upcoming NYFA events and to get a heads up on next year’s East End Studio Tour? Sign up for our free bi-weekly e-newsletter, NYFA News, to receive updates on future programs.
Images, from top: NYFA’s East End Studio Tour visits the studios of Quentin Curry, Donald Lipski, Arlene Slavin, and Elizabeth Strong-Cuevas; Patricia Silvers, NYFA Board Member and Host Marjorie Silverman, Laura Flug, and Rina Pianko at the private luncheon; All Photos Credit: Thomas Kochie
