Performance on the Pond by Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company. Shown: dancers Shayla Vie Jenkins and Leah Cox.
On
Saturday, July 19, LongHouse Reserve hosted a Summer
Gala on their 16-acre East Hampton grounds honoring two distinguished
contributors to the arts, Post-Minimalist artist Martin Puryear and
Storm King Art Center chairman, president and co-founder H.
Peter Stern. Martin Puryear will receive the LongHouse Medal
of 2008 and H. Peter Stern received the first LongHouse Art Leadership
Award. The sold out gala was attended by 350 guests. Notable attendees
included: Edward Albee, Dianne Benson, Tina-Maria Birch,
Barbara Lee Diamonstein-Spielvogel, Richard and Linda
Donnelly, Simon Doonan, Roberto and Fabiana Dutesco,
Pamela Fiori, Manana Freyre, Michèle Gerber Klein,
Bryan Hunt, Patricia Kluge and Bill Moses, Dorothy
Lichtenstein, Jack Lenor Larsen, Barbara Slifka, Mark and Elizabeth
Levine, Cynthia and Leon Polsky, Martin Puryear and Jeanne
Gordon Puryear, Annaliese Soros, Helen W. Drutt English and H.
Peter Stern, Terrie Sultan, Eve and Wyatt Suter,
Fern and Lenard Tessler, and Robert
Wilson.
LongHouse was pleased to highlight Puryear’s work, following
The Modern Museum of Art’s (MoMA) recent major exhibition of
his sculptures, which chronicled the evolution of the acclaimed artist’s
30-year-to-date career. Puryear’s work celebrated the
Post-Minimalist generation and his unique influences, which range
from his interest in Native American history to Scandinavian woodcarving. Primarily
through wood, Puryear exemplifies the beauty of manual skill and
traditional building methods. His fellow honoree, H. Peter
Stern, is a true “Renaissance individual,” who has been
a great supporter of countless sculptors through the Storm King Art
Center in the Hudson Valley, which he co-founded in 1960. The
Center now features an internationally-acclaimed permanent collection
of American and European modern sculpture; focused on large abstract
welded steel works from the 1960’s to the present.
Guests who attended had a chance to celebrate and support the LongHouse
Reserve tradition of aesthetic beauty in its most natural forms.
This year’s theme was focused on organic beauty, which translated
into art installations without bounds, a feast of earthy American
flavors and décor that stems largely from the LongHouse’s
own natural resources. Throughout the evening guests enjoyed wines
from Kluge Estate and were introduced to Vineyard Estates at Kluge
Winery by owners Patricia Kluge and Bill
Moses. Benefit committee members who made the evening possible
included: Edward Albee, Jan Cowles, Adelaide de
Menil, Helen W. Drutt English, Bill T. Jones, Mark and Elizabeth
Levine, Dorothy Lichtenstein, David and Renee McKee,
Robert Menschel, Stephanie Odegard, Cynthia Hazen Polsky and Leon
B. Polsky, and Robert Wilson.
A notable new art installation of Wild Horses of Sable Island by
Roberto Dutesco dazzled guests who arrived at 6:00 p.m. for cocktails
and had a chance to wander the LongHouse Reserve’s impressive
grounds, which also featured permanent works executed by such
artists as Yoko Ono, Miquel Barceló and Dale
Chihuly. During cocktails guests’ interest was directed
to the LongHouse pond where Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company
performed a special dance.
All proceeds from the Summer Gala support the LongHouse Reserve,
whose gallery, arboretum, sculpture gardens, and educational programs,
unite art and nature, aesthetics and spirit. LongHouse strives
to build upon its strong belief that the arts are central to living
wholly and creatively.
Matko Tomicic, Jeanne Puryear, honoree Martin Puryear, Renee and David McKee.
Honoree H. Peter Stern, Helen W. Drutt English and Peter Bienstock.
Jeanne Collins, LongHouse Reserve founder Jack Lenor Larsen, Barbara Slifka.
Lysbeth Marigold, Dianne Benson, and Robert Wilson.
Edward Albee, Terrie Sultan, Christopher French.
Dorothy Lichtenstein.
Fabiana Dutesco and Roberto Dutesco.
Bill Moses and Patricia Kluge.
Eve Suter and Sheila Cobb.
Lucas Schoormans and Marla Sabo.
Lisa Lori, Ennius Bergsna, Linda Donnelly and Richard Donnelly.
Matko Tomicic, Manana Freyre, Dianne Benson.
Michele Gerber Klein, Marcia Gyglia King.
Roberto Dutesco whose notable new art installation of Wild Horses of Sable Island dazzled guests.
