VICTOR D'AMICO AND THE ART BARGE'S BARGE

What he wanted was a facility that would bring students into the midst of the elements, as close as possible to both the land and the water. His hope was to find a structure that was "either a boat, or resembling one."

CHRISTOPHER KOHAN

As director of education at the Museum of Modern Art from 1937 to 1970, Victor D'Amico long wanted to create a summer studio art school in the country. In 1955, under the auspices of MoMA, he began classes for children and adults in the bucolic surroundings of Springs, just 100 miles from New York City, a place that had drawn artists from the time of the Civil War.

The first class, landscape painting, was held outdoors. Its basis was not to teach technique, but rather to bring people (amateurs, children, adults, artists, and teachers) together in a stimulating and unique environment. Afterward, the students would go back to their home base, Ashawagh Hall, for discussion and critique.

What Mr. D'Amico really wanted, however, was a facility that would bring students both indoors and out at the same time, into the midst of the elements, as close as possible to both the land and the water. Some place reflecting the character of the environment, he said - sky, sea, and salt air. His hope was to find a structure that was "either a boat, or resembling one."

In the late '50s, he located just such a boat - a surplus oceangoing Navy barge - in Jersey City, N.J. With the help of the East Hampton Baymen's Association, barge number 348 was inspected and "found [to be] in excellent condition."

By March 1960, arrangements had been made to tow the covered barge to Napeague at a cost of $500.

A tugboat, the M.B. Westcoat, started the journey from the Jersey City harbor through Hell's Gate, up the East River and east through Long Island Sound into Napeague Harbor. Mabel D'Amico and Mr. D'Amico's secretary, Elinor Weis, followed on the mainland in an Army Jeep.

Preparing the site for mooring the barge required bulldozing and grading, a parking area, and a driveway. Thomas H. Bennett, a neighbor of Mr. D'Amico's in Lazy Point, was hired as the supervisor of the project. He provided the site plan that angled the 275-ton barge slightly to the north.

Originally, the barge was to have been pulled to shore by bulldozers and cables. However, the steel cables snapped under the extreme weight. (Mr. D'Amico thought all would be lost and the project would be called "Victor's Folly.")

The remedy was to use nature's high tide, together with bulldozers pushing and winches pulling, to float the barge onto the pre-leveled site. After the tide receded the building was anchored, using 16-foot-deep pilings to hold it in place.

Mr. D'Amico's vision of a building-boat was fully realized the following year, when a second story, which he himself designed to resemble an upper deck, was added to the structure. In 1963 the 110-foot vessel was christened the Kearsarge, a Native American word chosen by the art students for its meaning: "heaven."

It was called that for a decade or so, until, in 1972, the Museum of Modern Art closed its art center. Some of those involved with Mr. D'Amico throughout his years at MoMA (students, teachers, colleagues) then reorganized the summer art school under its own board of trustees. It was initially named the Napeague Institute of Art and later the name was changed to commemorate its founder.

From where it is situated, almost isolated at the edge of the harbor, the Victor D'Amico Institute of Art commands a view of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and Napeague Bay on the other. It has seen its students return summer after summer, enriched by the ever-present philosophy of its creator and inspired by the serenity of the landscape.

Victor D'Amico had an impact on anyone who ever met or worked with him. Just as significant is the experience of making art in any space he created.

Today, the Victor D'Amico Institute of Art is dedicated to fostering the philosophies engendered by a man whose pioneering visions gave us this wonderful place to create art amidst the "sea, sky, and salt air," and to combine art instruction with adventure, excitement, and group dynamics, motivating the creative spirit in every individual.

It is now 38 years since the Art Barge was founded. It is the only remaining forum that bears Mr. D'Amico's name, but it is far from the only legacy of his enormous contribution to art education all over the world.

Christopher Kohan is president of the Victor D'Amico Institute of Art.