Preservation as a Creative Act

“If we are to preserve culture, we must continue to create it.” — Johan Huizinga

From rehabilitation to restoration to public acquisition, the act of preservation requires inspiration and vision. It communicates the values of a culture it looks to preserve, as well as creating standards of culture in the process. It is itself a creative act.

On Sunday, February 23, at 2 p.m., The Church in Sag Harbor will explore architecture and design from this perspective with Jess Frost, executive director and co-founder of the Arts Center at Duck Creek in Springs, Matilde Guidelli, curator and curatorial department head of the Dia Art Foundation, and Lee Skolnick, architect and renovator of The Church. Using their respective institutions as examples, the participants will illuminate the art of preservation.

The conversation is offered in collaboration with Preservation Long Island and the Sag Harbor Historical Museum and will be moderated by Paul Bentel Ph.D., a practicing architect, professor at Columbia University, architectural historian and preservation advocate who will bring a unique and unifying voice to the dynamic discussion. Representing Preservation Long Island, Bentel is a longtime board member and until recently the chair of the Historic Preservation Committee. Following the presentation there will be a Q&A.

Jess Frost spent her childhood summers in a modest cottage across the street from Duck Creek, imagining the creative lives of the artists who lived there. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in painting from SUNY Purchase, she moved to New York City and began working with influential dealer Barbara Gladstone, artist Matthew Barney and musician David Byrne. When she returned to live on the East End full time in 2004, she worked with several art galleries, publications and private collections, eventually taking a position as associate curator of the permanent collection at Guild Hall, where she digitized the museum’s collection between 2015 and 2020. Frost is now manifesting her lifelong advocacy for the arts and love of the East End community at the Arts Center at Duck Creek.

Matilda Guidelli is a curator and curatorial department head at Dia Art Foundation, where she organized exhibitions of work by Leslie Hewitt, Mario Merz, Senga Nengudi, Cameron Rowland, Fred Sandback, Meg Webster, and Jack Whitten, among others, and edited the publications “An Introduction to Dia’s Locations and Sites” (2021), “Jack Whitten: The Greek Alphabet Paintings” (2023) and the upcoming “Populated Air” (2025), a primary-source book on Nengudi. As the organizer of the Artists on Artists Lecture Series, she commissions a growing roster of contemporary artists to respond to their peers and Dia’s institutional history.

Lee H. Skolnick seeks to synthesize art, science, and architecture to create memorable and meaningful experiences. He unlocks each project’s “motivating story” to inspire imagination, curiosity, and understanding. For more than 40 years, Skolnick has passionately developed and pursued his philosophy of “design as interpretation,” wherein he seeks to unearth the unique themes and compelling concepts that characterize each project and to translate them into concrete expression.

His museum, cultural institution, and residential projects have been recognized as works of innovation and inspiration.

Paul Bentel has taught for more than 20 years at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation in a wide range of areas including historic preservation, architectural design, history of architecture and documentation. He has written and lectured extensively on American architectural history and theory including historic preservation.

Tickets are $15 (members $10) at thechurchsagharbor.org. The Church is at 48 Madison Street in Sag Harbor.