2022: A Year in Review in the Arts

Art Moves at the Parrish

January 6 – In late December 2021, the board of trustees at the Parrish Art Museum announced that director Kelly Taxter had resigned after less than a year on the job. Then on June 8, the board announced the hiring of a new director — Mónica Ramírez-Montagut, former assistant curator at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York who came to the position from the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum of Michigan State University, where she was executive director. Ramírez-Montagut began at the Parrish on July 8 at an important time, as the museum celebrated its 10th anniversary in the Water Mill building and its 125th anniversary as an arts institution on the East End.

Redefining the Role of Black Artists

January 27 – In designing a 2022 Black History Month exhibition, gallery owner Julie Keyes, who counts many African American collectors among her clients, joined forces with Eden Williams to curate “Afrofuturism: Re-imagining the Future by Honoring Now.” The show encompassed four separate exhibitions at galleries on both the North and South forks highlighting work by some of the most dynamic African American artists working on the scene today, including Claude Lawrence, Erika Ranee, Faith Ringgold, Clintel Steed, Leslee Stradford, Cullen Washington Jr., and Thornton Dial.

Collaborative Creativity

February 10 – For two weeks in late January, Jose Sebastian, founder and artistic director of Hamptons Dance Project (HDP) and several fellow ballet dancers (including Lauren Bonfiglio and Tyler Maloney) participated in the newly created Guild Hall William P. Rayner Artist-in-Residence program in East Hampton. Founded by Katharine Rayner to honor her late husband who was an accomplished watercolorist and travel writer, the residency is housed in a three-story 4,200-square-foot home in the Georgica neighborhood and offers space for sleeping, cooking, working and relaxing. Four art collectives are expected to be in residence each year.

Bringing a Love of Theater Back Home

February 17 – Justin Harris grew up in Riverhead and has memories of attending performances at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center (WHBPAC) as a kid. Now, with a degree from Brown University, Harris is back at WHBPAC where he is the Arts Academy Manager and works with young actors in the theater’s educational programs. He is also involved with WHBPAC’s Cultural Equity Council, an initiative designed to build diverse audiences for the theater and develop programming that caters to underserved members of the community.

Winter Jazz to Warm the Soul

February 24 – On a cold, moonlit winter night, what warms up a crowd better than an intimate evening of jazz? That’s the idea behind the Hamptons Jazz Fest’s Winter Series. The organization, which brought a summer slate of jazz concerts to the East End for the first time in 2021 extended its programming in early 2022 with the winter series featuring more world-renowned musicians performing in concert at the Parrish Art Museum and the Southampton Arts Center.

Ancestral Art

March 3 – When Jeremy Dennis, an artist and a member of the Shinnecock Nation, was asked to curate an exhibition for Southampton Arts Center (SAC), he eagerly accepted the challenge. That show, “Outcropping — Indigenous Art Now,” ran at SAC from February 4 to April 10 and it featured work by more than 50 contemporary artists from an array of sovereign nations throughout the United States, including the Shinnecock Nation. Among the local artists taking part were Dennis’s mother, Denise Silva-Dennis, and Lisa Bowen. In addition, Shinnecock artist and curatorial associate Shane Weeks designed a full slate of programs around the exhibition, including a birthing workshop led by Amira Nation and Ahna Red Fox.

The Art of the Steal: Watch Your Wallet

March 10 – From March 24 to April 3, Bay Street Theater offered “The Grift,” an immersive, interactive theatrical experience created by Tom Salamon that took place at various locations throughout Sag Harbor. Part theater, part game, in “The Grift,” actors posed as confidence men and women who taught audience members the art of the steal at stops along the way. While scams like “Pig In The Poke,” “Round-The-Corner” and “The Money Swap” were featured, in “The Grift,” the goal was not to rip you off, but rather teach you how these schemes work and provide the skills to recognize them in action so you can avoid being victimized.

Fireside Sessions Back at Bay Street!

April 7 – After a hiatus of exactly two years and three months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rocker Nancy Atlas returned to Bay Street Theater for the beloved Fireside Sessions, which have been a winter staple at the theater since 2014. On April 8 and 9, the Nancy Atlas Project was back in the Bay Street house and nobody was happier about that than Atlas herself. In addition to Johnny Blood on lead guitar, Brett King on bass, Joe Delia on keys and Phil Bloom on drums, Atlas was joined by special guests Randi Fishenfeld on violin, Danny Kean on keys and vocals, and Clark Gayton on trombone.

‘All For Ukraine’ at Suffolk Theater

April 14 – After Russia launched an unprovoked attack on Ukraine in February, Gary Hygom wanted to do something to help. So Hygom, artistic director at Riverhead’s Suffolk Theater, called some of the best-known musicians in the area —Joe Lauro, Gene Casey, G.E. Smith and Bryan Gallo to name a few — and asked if they would come together for a night of music to benefit the people of Ukraine. They did, and “All For Ukraine” was held at Suffolk Theater on March 27. The concert raised $35,000, all of which went to three nonprofit organizations conducting relief efforts in the country. The final song of the evening featured a sing-along with the audience to John Lennon’s “Give Peace A Chance.”

Women Set Off the Season

June 2 – On May 22, the Parrish Art Museum opened its summer season with “Set It Off,” an exhibition curated by Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas — collectively known as Deux Femmes Noires. Created specifically for the Parrish, from sculpture, painting, ceramics and site-specific pieces, the show featured a wide range of work by an international roster of six artists, all of whom are women of color — Leilah Babirye, Torkwase Dyson, February James, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, Karyn Olivier and Kennedy Yanko.

Leadership Change at SAC

June 2 – In early June, Southampton Art Center’s (SAC) board of directors announced that executive director Tom Dunn would step down at the end of July. Dunn served as SAC’s executive director for four years. On November 10, SAC’s board announced that it had appointed a new executive director — Christina Mossaides Strassfield who comes to SAC with 29 years of experience at Guild Hall, 20 as museum director and chief curator. Strassfield will officially step down from her Guild Hall position on January 6, 2023.

Life After The Senate: Al Franken On Tour With Lots to Say

July 21 – Al Franken, an original writer for Saturday Night Live, served as a U.S. Senator from Minnesota from 2009 until 2018, when he was pressured to resign after an accusation of inappropriate sexual behavior. But Franken still has lots to say about that episode and lots more, and in early June, he came to the Sag Harbor Cinema for a special screening of “Al Franken: God Spoke,” a 2006 documentary that maps his path from comedian to politician. On July 24, Franken appeared before a packed house at Riverhead’s Suffolk Theater where he performed his one-man show, “The Only Former U.S. Senator Currently On Tour Tour.”

He’s Ready To Write the Next Chapter

August 4 – As a columnist, journalist, editor and author, Roger Rosenblatt has written for newspapers (Washington Post), magazines (Time), television (MacNeil Lehrer NewsHour) and books. But Rosenblatt says that one of his proudest achievements came in the 1990s when he helped create the MFA in writing program at the Southampton campus of Long Island University (now Stony Brook Southampton). For years, Rosenblatt served as a professor of English and writing for the program, but on July 31, at age 81, he officially put down his pen and closed his notebook — at least when it comes to teaching — and retired from Stony Brook Southampton. After living in Quogue for 24 years, Rosenblatt and his wife, Ginny, packed up and left the East End for an apartment in Manhattan.

‘Ragtime’ Rules the Stage

August 11 – In August, Bay Street Theater capped off its summer season with a highly lauded production of “Ragtime.” Directed by Will Pomerantz, Bay Street’s associate artistic director, the show was the largest musical production ever presented on the theater’s stage in its 31-year history. Although “Ragtime” is set in New York City a century ago, local ties to the East End abound. The musical is based on the 1975 novel “Ragtime” by E.L. Doctorow, who lived in Sag Harbor until his death in 2015. In addition, the late Terrence McNally, who wrote the Tony-winning libretto for “Ragtime,” lived in Water Mill with his husband, Tom Kirdahy, and spent plenty of time at Bay Street Theater.

Norm Lewis and a Life in Theater

August 25 – On August 26, Norm Lewis appeared in concert at Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center where he performed songs from Broadway and beyond. As an entertainer, Lewis has built an impressive resume for himself, both on stage and on screen. But perhaps the most defining moment of Lewis’s career came back in 2014, when he made theater history by becoming the first African American actor to land the title role in Andrew Lloyd Weber’s “Phantom of the Opera” on Broadway.

The Hamptons Festival of Music Offers Classical Concerts

September 8 – A new venue for classical compositions arrived in early September when The Hamptons Festival of Music offered its inaugural concert series at LTV Studios in Wainscott. Founded by conductor Michael Palmer, who also serves as the organization’s artistic director, TH·FM, as it is called, presented a trio of concerts over three consecutive days highlighting the major modes of classical music expression — orchestra, chamber music and solo recital. The festival featured The New American Sinfonietta, the resident orchestra of TH·FM which is made up of musicians from across the US, Canada and abroad. Joining the orchestra as featured soloist was world-renowned classical guitarist Pepe Romero.

Getting ‘Swept Away’ With Guild Hall

September 22 – On the evening of September 10, a group of art aficionados gathered at East Hampton’s Main Beach under the light of the Harvest Moon with a desire to be swept away — not by the sea, but by the creative impulses of several East End artists who, over the course of four consecutive Saturdays, responded to prompts from artists based on the West Coast. “Swept Away: Love Letter To A Surrogate(s),” was offered by Guild Hall as part of its offsite series and was the brainchild of Warren Neidich, an artist and writer who had a vision to start a dialogue between two artistic communities separated by several thousand miles. Next year, the West Coast artists will gather on a beach in California to respond to prompts given to them by the East End artists.

Striking a Vocal Chord

September 29 – Opera lover Lena Kaplan long harbored a dream — to create a musical event on the East End built around the vocal talents of rising stars in the field. That dream was realized in the inaugural Sag Harbor Song Festival, which was offered September 29 through October 2, at The Church in Sag Harbor. The festival’s four concerts highlighted various aspects of vocal performance — from opera and operetta to musical theater and lieder — presented by six young singers. Brad Woolbright, recently retired from Santa Fe Opera, was enlisted to serve as the new festival’s artistic director and he brought Robert Tweten, his Santa Fe associate, to act as musical director.

A Celebration of Trees at SAC

October 6 – On October 1, Southampton Arts Center (SAC) opened “A Celebration of Trees,” an ecological multi-media art exhibition created to educate and expand thought about trees from all over the world. The show included work by more than 80 artists from over 20 countries sharing their unique stories and perspective on the world of trees.

Closing of an Artistic Career

October 13 – It was the end of an era this past fall at the Parrish Art Museum. On October 10, Alicia G. Longwell, Ph.D., officially retired from her position as the museum’s Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Chief Curator after 38 years with the Parrish.

‘Hand Made’ at The Church

October 20 – On October 6, The Church in Sag Harbor opened an exhibition featuring 16 rare and classic guitars, most of them owned by the renowned guitarist, G.E. Smith, dating from 1810 to 1992. The show, “Hand Made: Guitars According to G.E. Smith & The American Artists’ Hand Archive,” ran through December 22 and also featured a collection of 31 bronze cast sculptures depicting the hands of visual artists.

Finding Justice on Her Own Terms

November 3 – In November, Bay Street Theater presented “All Things Equal: The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg,” a one-woman play written by Tony Award-winning playwright Rupert Holmes. Produced as part of its Literature Live! programming of theatrical offerings geared toward high school students, “All Things Equal” starred Michelle Azar as the late Supreme Court and was directed by Laley Lippard.