“IT’S EVERYBODY’S RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE THE INSTITUTIONS SUCCESSFUL AND GUIDE THEM.”
to be here. Their intuition of art is very prevalent in their lives. Getting clients to realize what’s here isn’t as hard as it appears to be. Getting them to leave their house is a different story. DS: The more they can realize how the art relates to their life, they can be moved much further by it. It’s everybody’s responsibility to make the institutions successful and guide them. To just expect institutions to stand on their own and mount a show or organize artists— it’s unfair, but it’s also not going to work.
Let’s expand on that: How do we actually support nonprofit arts institutions? They are also the community centers, now more than ever. RA: Artists pave the road for the interests and the content, so to speak, of the area. The more accessibility you create for the community, the more you can engage it. Exposure is a key factor in both selling a home and building a following for the arts. AL: The Student Arts Festival at the Parrish is a perfect example of engaging the community. People forget to come to an exhibit, but when their children’s art is in a curated environment, they all come in with their families. It’s that buy-in that happens at a young age, when you start to feel, “This isn’t just a museum; this is something I want to be part of.”
AK: For the past two years, I’ve served on the planning committee for the Parrish. It means a lot to me to help support the education programs for children. AL: Another good example of people coming together is the Sag Harbor Movie Theater, which, as everyone knows, burned down. A group of artists got together and is leading the charge to try to rebuild. Silas Marder: It’s about keeping art relevant and giving people a place and a reason to come together. We looked at the legacy of the organizations we support, people who really have been part of the community. But in the simplest sense, it’s up to all of us to get after the person next to us to show up and be at that show or that thing. AL: What you did [with the Silas Marder Gallery] was much more than a gallery. It was a wonderful community center with the film [series]. SM: The fantastic thing about the film screenings was the consistency. It was every Friday night, something people could count on. You had confidence that it wasn’t fly-by-night but something that was really part of the community. The biggest challenge is how to make [programs] sustainable and keep a sense of enthusiasm. CP: The challenge is “Oh my gosh, there’s so much!” Where else in such a small number of miles do you have access to every level of art—from the kids to the outdoor programming to the museums? We can buy wonderful art; you can come upon a piece of outdoor art in the middle of a field. Your senses are constantly being stimulated. But how do you sustain something wonderful when there are only so many people? Art is competing against your just wanting to sit in your backyard and appreciate your house!
That’s a challenge… CP: We certainly can never be bored!