LongHouse Reserve Will Open For 2023 Season

In the coming season, LongHouse Reserve, East Hampton's beloved 16-acre sculpture garden and nature reserve, will display significant new works of art including two large scale sculptures by Maren Hassinger and three by Wyatt Kahn, plus a special exhibition curated by Glenn Adamson and designed by Colin King. Popular permanent collection pieces by Buckminster Fuller, Sol Lewitt, Yoko Ono, Toshiko Takaezu and many others remain on view, along with the renewed loan of sculptures from Cheng Tsung Feng and William and Steven Ladd.

As is its longtime tradition, the LongHouse Reserve season opens with the Rites of Spring celebration on April 1st, with nearly one million daffodils and rare bulb plants in bloom. Refreshments will be served, and families are invited to weave branches from the garden with Maren Hassinger to create her site-specific Monuments, or join in a fabric puppet making workshop with Kim Profaci. Wyatt Kahn's three sculptures (Parade, Painting the Painter, Umbrella) most recently on view in City Hall Park, come to LongHouse in a new partnership with the Public Art Fund. Two sculptures from the same collection, Life in the Abstract, will be on view at Art Basel, Switzerland.

Before the season opens, LongHouse launches a new winter tradition, entitled Larsen Lecture, to take place in New York City. The inaugural Larsen Lecture with keynote speaker, architect and designer Kulapat Yantrasast, will be on March 15th at Christie's New York. Tickets are available at www.longhouse.org.

2023 marks changes in the management of Longhouse. Carrie Rebora Barratt, PhD becomes the permanent Director, a natural evolution from her previous role as Interim Director, and Glenn Adamson, PhD becomes Curator-at-Large. With these two appointments, LongHouse enters the 2023 season with its first significant museum-trained staff. Dr. Barratt has chosen to make East Hampton her permanent home. Dr. Adamson, the nation's acknowledged foremost expert on craft, will explore the LongHouse Reserve collection and present an exhibition of contemporary makers' work alongside masterpieces collected by Jack Lenor Larsen. Entitled Then and Now/Object & Thing, the exhibition is designed by star stylist Colin King, opens on Memorial Day Weekend and remains on view through the summer. Esperanza Leon joins LongHouse as Head of Education and Community Engagement. Leon's past experience includes Guild Hall, The Victor D'Amico Institute of Art, El Museo Del Barrio, and Director of Fundación Teatro Ateneo de Maracay in Venezuela.

After 15 years as Board President and more recently Co President, the much-loved Dianne Benson will move to President Emerita status, while also becoming Chair of the Arts Committee. "I have cherished LongHouse since 2000, when Jack invited me to join his Trustees and have been proud of my contributions to LongHouse as it has grown in stature here and around the world. I am confident that LongHouse will prosper and have complete trust in our new leadership which has renewed my excitement for our future." Board President Nina Gillman spoke for the entire board saying, "Dianne has been our tireless leader for 15 years. Her friendship with Jack and dedication to the high standards and style of LongHouse are irreplaceable. Dianne continues to be a champion of art and nature both at LongHouse and in East Hampton generally."

The Board of LongHouse has welcomed six new members within the last six months, including Linda Willett as Treasurer, Anne Erni, who will head the People and Practices committee, as well as Ahmed Akkad, Louis Bradbury, Emma Clurman, and Gael Towey. They join Deborah Nevins (Vice President), James Zajac (Secretary), Sherri Donghia, Dr. Derick George, Mark Levine, Alexandra Munroe, Peter Olsen, and Suzanne Slesin. Since the death of founder Jack Lenor Larsen, the Board has smoothed the transition with a series of some of the largest board-gifts in the institution's history. East End philanthropist Barbara Slifka, a longtime friend of LongHouse Reserve and Jack Lenor Larsen gave the first million-dollar gift in our history. Another friend of Jack Lenor Larsen, Mrs. Barbara Tober, has also continued to donate generously.

LongHouse welcomed over 15,800 visitors last season, compared to 13,300 pre-pandemic. In 2022, memberships grew 35% with a focus on higher-giving levels. LongHouse has added value to those memberships by offering new programs and events such as Artist Talks and Workshops, LongHouse Illuminated, Canines in Costume, and Twilight Tours, and increased its presence in the wellness space, adding Forest Bathing, Tai Chi, Sound and Silence Meditation.

For the first time, LongHouse Reserve is open five days a week from opening through December, providing greater accessibility and equity. LongHouse management has formalized its first Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Plan, applying it to all programs and practices. LongHouse Reserve has expanded its entry policy to include reduced admission for persons with disabilities and their caregivers. LongHouse joined Museums for All, offering admission for only $2 to those receiving food assistance (SNAP benefits). The National Trust for Historic Preservation has named LongHouse Reserve to their Historic Artists' Homes and Studios (HAHS) program. LongHouse is an active member of Hamptons Arts Network, the East Hampton Cultural Network, as well as the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons.

Dr. Barratt is proud to share, "LongHouse has made a nature-based pledge to its plants and people; a commitment to earth equity in partnership with Edwina von Gal's Perfect Earth Project, aimed at removing all chemicals from the garden to create a healthy, resilient, and sustainable landscape. Our grounds are now chemical free!" The renowned landscape designer, Deborah Nevins, is now chair of the LongHouse Reserve Garden Committee.

Like all homes that have been lived in and enjoyed for 30 years, Jack Lenor Larsen's house needs a full revitalization as it changes from private to public. Architect Lee H. Skolnick believes "If we've done our job correctly, it will seem as if nothing has changed, remaining as mysterious and wondrous as one's first visit". That difference, however, will be felt in the cold fall and winter months when the boiler and heating are updated, and in the humid summer months when an air conditioning system (the building's first) provides sanctuary. Infrastructure such as windows, flooring, roof tiles, plumbing including an overhaul of the septic system, electricity, and installation of fire protection systems are all needed for the preservation of the building and in anticipation of public visitation.

Before his passing, Jack Lenor Larsen decided that "When the house is no longer a residence, it will be available to visitors. Then the whole house will be a museum full of broad collections of modern furnishings that we can all learn from - and that can buoy our own individuality." For Jack's 100th birthday in 2027, LongHouse hopes to accomplish these renovations and display Jack's collection. LongHouse's vision for the collection is for it to be cataloged and recorded, studied for conservation needs and cleaned, and stored or displayed properly.

LongHouse Reserve, with an enthusiastic Board and staff, look forward to a 2023 season centered on Land - a nature reserve with thousands of living species; Place - an institution to learn, explore, and grow; and Spirit - a relaxing sanctuary for creativity, wellness, and respite.

LongHouse's mission of living with art in all its forms can be experienced by visiting our new Hassinger and Kahn art in the garden, as well as returning favorites, including Cheng Tsung Feng's Fish Trap House VII, Moko Fukuyama's Hell Gate Keepers, Buckminster Fuller's Fly's Eye Dome, Steven Ladd and William Ladd's Right Here, Right Now, Yoko Ono's Play It By Trust, Alexander Polzin's Parthenope, Sol LeWitt's Irregular Progression, and many more.

Programs encompassing design, music, and dance this summer include Glenn Adamson's first exhibition at LongHouse, Then and Now, opening May 27th; LongHouse Reserve's Summer Benefit, this year themed A Midsummer Night's Dream, on July 22nd; a recital under the stars with pianist Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner planned again for Jack Lenor Larsen's birthday on August 5th; a Puppet Show by Kim Profaci on August 13th, Hamptons Music Festival from August 19 - 20th; Opera al Fresco on September 3rd; and the Landscape Luncheon on September 10th.

LongHouse enters this season with a renewed focus on education by offering summer camp programming and school visits, as well as offering scholarships and robust internships in the arts and horticulture. The Student Annual - this year on June 17th - will be transformed into a day of fun and activities for students of all ages and their families.