The Year in Arts 2024

With 2024 coming to a close, and 2025 arriving, we have taken a look back at 2024 and selected images from our  Arts and Living pages to tell the story of the year past.
Check out The Express’s Year In Review editions, available on newsstands this week.

Revolutionary Role Models: Art Show Highlights Heroes of Color

January 18 – Over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, the Southampton African American Museum opened “The Black Power Exhibit: The Revolutionaries.” The show, which ran through March 30, included artwork by professional artists Mayowa Nwadike, Jackson Georges, Chet Gold, Naderson Saint Pierre, Youvaline Joseph and five students from Innovation High School in East Harlem.

Deconstructed Views: Artist Sabina Streeter Makes the Case for Preservation

January 25 – In “Port + Harbor: Preservation, Not Speculation,” an exhibition at the Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport, Sag Harbor artist Sabina Streeter displayed portraits of Greenport’s historic residents alongside starker works of Sag Harbor that offered a comparative architectural and historic profile of two maritime villages with a similar history that are possibly on the same — and not entirely optimistic — trajectory for the future.

It’s Mission Accomplished for Helen A. Harrison

February 1 – The year 2024 was one of transition for Helen A. Harrison, who, on January 17, officially retired as the director of Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center in Springs after 34 years. “It’s a little strange,” said Harrison as she was winding down at the job. She added that one of her most important early successes at PK House came in 1994 with the property being designated a National Historic Landmark. “We’re up there with the Statue of Liberty and USS Arizona.”

Porter’s Cityscapes in Focus in ‘Across the Avenues’

February 15 – Fairfield Porter’s abstracted depictions of New York City were on view in “Across the Avenues.” The show ran from February 18 to June 16 at the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill and included 27 of Porter’s works dating from the 1940s to the early 1970s.

Take a Literary Trip in ‘Look at the Book’

February 20 – The artistic side of words were in focus at Southampton arts Center in “Look at the Book,” an exhibition that highlighted artists who use books, the written word or literary elements in their artwork. The show ran from February 24 to May 4.

It’s a Mystery in Quogue

March 7 – The Hampton Theatre Company (HTC) captivated audiences in March with its production of “Strictly Murder,” a World War II-era thriller by playwright Brian Clemens. The play was presented at the Quogue Community Hall as part of HTC’s 39th season, which was dedicated to village residents Don and Judy Gruhn who are staunch supporters of the theater company.

Lindsay Morris Revisits the Kids of Camp I Am: They still Have a Lot To Say

March 21 – From 2010 to 2014, photojournalist Lindsay Morris photographed the children of Camp I Am, a safe space where kids ages 6 to 13 — nearly all assigned male at birth — were free to express their feminine tendencies without fear of judgment or reprisal. The New York Times picked up on the story and in 2012, ran a cover piece in its Sunday magazine. In 2015, Morris published “You Are You,” a book of photographs of the children at the camp. In 2024, she spent the month of March in residence at The Watermill Center working on a new book project to highlight where those original campers — all young adults — are now.

Art That Elevates the Conversation: ‘Beyond The Streets: Post Graffiti’

May 16 – Roger Gastman, a longtime champion of the graffiti art movement, is the founder of Beyond The Streets, a Los Angeles-based organization that showcases work by contemporary and emerging artists, particularly graffiti and street artists. In 2021, Gastman curated “Beyond The Streets on Paper” at Southampton Arts Center. This past May, he returned to SAC to present “Beyond The Streets: Post Graffiti,” which ran through July 20.

Hampton Theatre Company Brings Back the Musical

May 23 – From May 23 to June 9, the Hampton Theatre Company (HTC) presented its first musical production in years at Quogue Community Hall — “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum,” a classic, timeless farce with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by Burt Shevelove and Larry Gelbart. The HTC production was directed by Rosemary Cline and co-produced by Cline and Andrew Botsford. Cline said the board decided to do the musical after the smashing success of “Man of La Mancha” in 2019, and high demand from audiences for another HTC musical.

Setting Out on a Voyage With Steinbeck and Charley

May 30 – In 1960, author John Steinbeck left his Sag Harbor home and traveled America with his poodle, Charley. On the road, he lived in Rocinante, a camper van named for Don Quixote’s horse. Based on this journey, he wrote the novel “Travels With Charley: In Search of America,” published in 1962, the same year Steinbeck won the Nobel Prize for Literature. On June 7 and 8, Canio’s Books sponsored a marathon reading of “Travels With Charley,” not far from the author’s newly preserved home, which now hosts literary residencies and public tours.

Sips of Summer Took a Dive Into Sake

May 30 – As a certified sake sommelier, Jesse Matsuoka, owner of Sen Restaurant in Sag Harbor, shared insights into the subtleties and complexities of sake in “Exploring the World of Sake.” The tasting event on June 5 was the first offering in the 2024 “Sips of Summer” series hosted by The Express Magazine which celebrates the wineries, breweries and distilleries of the East End.

Dysfunction in Focus in ‘The Subject Was Roses’

June 6 – Bay Street Theater’s 2024 season opener explored the difficult dynamics of a family in transition. “The Subject Was Roses,” Frank D. Gilroy’s 1964 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, is a reflection on post-WWII America. It ran on Broadway just as the country was heading into Vietnam, yet another war. This Bay Street production, which was directed by Scott Wittman, ran May 28 to June 16 and starred a real-life family of actors — John Slattery, his wife Talia Balsam and their son, Harry Slattery.

You Must Be Joking

June 20 – Opening at The Church in Sag Harbor in late June was “Are You Joking? Women & Humor,” an art exhibition that shared quirkiness and comedic relief for today’s times. Curated by Sara Cochran, the show ran through early September and highlighted the work of 40 female artists — some locally recognized and others well-known on the national scale.

Cumming and Shapiro in ‘Och & Oy!’

July 4 – The unlikely pair of Ari Shapiro, host of the NPR news show “All Things Considered,” and Alan Cumming, star of Broadway, film and TV have teamed up for cabaret and in 2024, took to the road. On July 7, they brought their musical show “Och & Oy!: A Considered Cabaret,” an evening of song and storytelling, to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center.

SummerDocs Series Opened With ‘Skywalkers’

July 4 – HamptonsFilm’s SummerDocs opened its season at Guild Hall on July 5 with a screening of “Skywalkers: A Love Story.” The film by Emmy-winning director Jeff Zimbalist and co-director Maria Bukhonina tells the story of Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus and their high altitude love affair.

Billy Porter Christens Guild Hall’s Theater

July 4 – After an extensive renovation, Guild Hall celebrated the reopening of its theater on July 12 with “An Evening With Billy Porter,” a benefit concert. The renewed theater was part of Guild Hall’s facility-wide capital improvements project first announced in 2021. Porter, a Grammy, Emmy and two-time Tony Award-winning actor and singer, is widely known for his performance in Broadway’s “Kinky Boots” and his portrayal of Pray Tell in the FX series, “Pose.”

Let’s Dance: The Sweet Sounds of Outdoor Music on the East End

July 11 – One of the staple features of the East End during the summer are the numerous free weekly concerts from Westhampton to Montauk. Local bands can perform on village greens, in gazebos and on the beach and many feature full-time musicians who rely solely on gigs for their income.

Ballet by the Bay

August 1 – In 2019, Jose Sebastian, a young dancer with American Ballet Theatre (ABT), brought a dream to life with the Hamptons Dance Project (HDP). As a child, Sebastian had spent summers on the East End and wanted to bring dance to the area. HDP pairs dancers with master choreographers to present the classical repertoire reimagined alongside innovative new works. Each year, Sebastian and his team produce a weekend of dance performances in partnership with Guild Hall. This year’s show, from August 9 to 11, was presented outdoors at Fireplace Lodge, a scenic 20-acre farm overlooking Gardiner’s Bay in East Hampton.

It’s Alive! ‘Puttin’ On the Ritz’ at Bay Street Theater

August 8 – Transylvania was reborn in August when “Mel Brooks’ Young Frankenstein — The Musical” hit the stage as the final Bay Street Theater production of the summer. The years 2024 marked the 50th anniversary of the film “Young Frankenstein,” and like the movie, the theatrical production told the story of Dr. Frederick Frankenstein, an American professor who, despite his attempts to distance himself from his family’s gruesome reputation, travels back to the homeland and is soon inspired to resume his late grandfather’s monstrous legacy. But this time, there were boot-tapping musical numbers to add to the frightening fun. Can you say “Frau Blücher”?

Star Power at WHBPAC

August 8 – The multi-faceted Leslie Odom Jr., who won a Tony in 2016 for his portrayal of Aaron Burr in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton” and a Grammy for the cast album, brought his talents to the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center on August 11 to perform “An Evening With Leslie Odom, Jr.” Needless to say, he had a wealth of material to draw on from his vast stage, screen and recording career, including his most recent album “When a Crooner Dies,” which was released in 2023 and he describes as a very personal and heartfelt project.

‘Julian Schnabel: Selected Works From Home’

August 22 – Back in 1998, artist Julian Schnabel had a solo show at Guild Hall. In 2024, the museum welcomed Schnabel back for an exhibition celebrating over 40 years of his work. “Julian Schnabel: Selected Works From Home” opened in early August and remained on view through October 27. It featured works that Schnabel had created over the last 45 years and kept for his personal collection.

Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s ‘StarTalk Live’ Comes to Guild Hall

August 29 – On August 18, Guild Hall hosted astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson for “StarTalk Live” in its newly renovated theater. The stage version of Tyson’s popular “StarTalk” radio show bridges science, pop culture and comedy. Joining him were his co-host, comedian Chuck Nice, and Kimberly K. Arcand, an expert in astronomy visualization who works with NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory. She talked about her work in the sonification of astrophysics data sets — that is, using sound to depict imagery collected from deep space telescopes like the Hubble and the James Webb so the data can be interpreted by the blind.

Philippe Petit Walks the Wire at LongHouse Reserve

August 29 – In August 1974, a 24-year-old Frenchman named Philippe Petit pulled off a high altitude coup by illegally walking a tightrope between the top of the World Trade Center’s twin towers, still under construction at the time. This past August, Petit performed “Towering!!” at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in Manhattan in which he reenacted the event. Then on September 1, Petit commemorated the 50th anniversary of his famous walk at LongHouse Reserve in East Hampton. Called a ‘Garden Stroll: A Duet for Clarinet & High Wire,’ Petit walked the wire at the preserve to music performed by clarinetist Anat Cohen.

A Field of Dreams in Sagaponack

September 19 – This past summer, Sagaponack art collectors Louis K. Meisel and Susan Pear Meisel (who is also an artist), donated their Sagaponack Sculpture Field on Wilkes Lane to the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill. The nearly two-acre property contains an eclectic collection of large sculptures by artists such as Audrey Flack, Joel Perlman and Hans Van de Bovenkamp (whom Meisel represents). The sculpture field is open to the public and the gift is structured so that in five years time, the museum, which now operates the site, will be able to either keep the field and the sculpture as is, or sell the property and bring a selection of sculptures to the Parrish grounds.

‘Wow Is the One To Aim For’

October 10 – In October, The Church in Sag Harbor opened “Yes, No, and WOW: the Push Pin Studios Revolution.” The show, which was curated by April Gornik and Myrna Davis, ran through the end of the year. It highlighted work by a like-minded group of six graphic artists who came together in the mid-20th century to form Push Pin Studios, a graphic design firm that had a profound and lasting cultural impact. Among the design firm’s artists were Reynold Ruffins, Paul Davis and James McMullan, all three of whom lived in Sag Harbor at some point in their lives.

Martin Scorsese Talks Film at Sag Harbor Cinema

November 21 – On November 10, famed director Martin Scorsese made an appearance at the fourth annual “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Sag Harbor Cinema Festival of Preservation.” Scorsese talked to the audience about films that have influenced him throughout his career and his dedication to film preservation. He then introduced a screening of “Leave Her to Heaven,” John M. Stahl’s 1945 Technicolor film noir starring Gene Tierney. The film was one of many that have been restored by The Film Foundation, the nonprofit established by Scorsese in 1990 with the goal of preserving and exhibiting restored and classic cinema.

Steve Hamilton Directs ‘Streetcar’ for Bay Street

November 14 – The 2024 Literature Live! production at Bay Street Theater was Tennessee Williams’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Geared toward high school audiences, the play, which ran November 12 to December 1, was directed by Stephen Hamilton. In 1991, Hamilton co-founded the Bay Street Theater with his wife, Emma Walton Hamilton, and the late Sybil Christopher. This production marks the first time he has directed a Literature Live! play, and it was also the first show he had directed at Bay Street Theater since leaving the organization in 2006.

A Cosmic Message in Light

November 21 - In mid-October, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill installed “Collider,” a public artwork by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, as part of its annual façade installation series. Made up of hundreds of small LED spotlights that create a calm, rippling curtain of light along the museum’s exterior south wall, the lights react in real-time to invisible cosmic radiation from outer space, originating from stars and black holes, detected by a custom-made muon detector installed at the museum. “Collider” will be visible from Montauk Highway (and up close from the museum’s meadow) on the south-facing façade of the Parrish every day from 4 p.m. to midnight through January 1, 2026.

BCM Goes for Baroque To Celebrate the Holidays

December 12 – Bridgehampton Chamber Music presented three concerts as part of its BCM Autumn series, concluding with “Baroque Bounty,” a December 7 program to mark the holidays in which BCM artistic director, flutist Marya Martin, was joined by Michael Stephen Brown on the harpsichord and three young artists making their BCM debuts —violinist Kevin Zhu, cellist James Baik and flutist Brandon Patrick George. George, who studied with Martin at Manhattan School of Music, is also a member of the Grammy Award-winning quintet Imani Winds. At the December concert, George and the other musicians performed works by members of the Bach family, Telemann and more.

Hampton Doc Fest Honors Michael Moore

December 12 – On December 7, Hamptons Doc Fest presented filmmaker Michael Moore with the 2024 Pennebaker Career Achievement Award for his long career which includes 13 films, three television series and eight books. The award is named for the late documentary filmmaker D.A. Pennebaker, a longtime Sag Harbor resident and pioneer in nonfiction film. The awards gala took place at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, and included a screening of Moore’s first documentary, “Roger & Me,” which debuted in 1989 and chronicled the economic impact of General Motors’ auto plant closures in Flint, Michigan, the city where Moore was born and raised.