Windows of Wonder, a new initiative to use artwork to brighten downtown Montauk and its shuttered storefronts through the winter, will be celebrated on Saturday with the hamlet’s first Art Walk, a tour of works that will conclude at the Lucore Art Gallery, where a year-end show is opening.
The window displays and the walk are a collaboration of the Montauk Chamber of Commerce, the Montauk Artists Association, Lucore Art, and hamlet businesses. It was conceived earlier this year, Donna Corvi of the artists association said, in a conversation she had with Leo Daunt, the chamber’s president and an owner of the participating Bird on the Roof restaurant, who proposed an art walk. “I said, ‘It’s funny you said that, I was just talking to somebody in Connecticut, where they do an art walk in town. This has been on my mind, too.’ ”
The idea was taken up after the summer, and Chris Lucore of Lucore Art, which opened at 87 South Euclid Avenue in 2021, joined the collaboration. “The chamber did an amazing job reaching out to businesses that were going to be shuttered for the winter,” Ms. Corvi said. Mr. Lucore “is a breath of fresh air. I’m happy to call him my dear friend.”
Around 30 works are featured in Windows of Wonder, and on Saturday the public has been invited to meet at 3:30 p.m. outside the Montauk Visitor Center, at 742 Montauk Highway. From there, Ms. Corvi will lead a tour of the displayed works and discuss the artists behind them.
Those include Lindsay Bardwil, Connie Cortese, Mary Daunt, Haim Mizrahi, Alicia Suarez, Bob Sullivan, Carl Scorza, Juliana P. Sheehan, Dalton Portella, Anna Watt, Kenneth B. Walsh (1922-1980), Ms. Corvi, and Mr. Lucore. In addition to Bird on the Roof, works are displayed at the visitor center, Bambi Cafe, Hello Cando, the Montauk T-Shirt Co., Below the Blue, Sand Shack, Wyld Blue, James Katsipis Photography, the 8th Drifter, the former White’s Drug and Department Store building, Winick Fine Jewelry, and Montauk Vintage.
The group will then proceed to Lucore Art, where an opening reception for its year-end show, which Mr. Lucore has described as “a warm, bustling holiday group exhibition featuring over 100 beloved East End artists, each presenting one unique work,” starts at 4 and continues until 7. The show, with paintings, photography, and mixed media, will be on view through Jan. 28. “Think of it as a celebration of everything our artists have been quietly working on all year,” Mr. Lucore wrote, “and a chance to support them with holiday collecting.”
Rachael Corsi of the chamber has made a map of the hamlet’s downtown depicting the participating business locations. Each business, she said, has a QR code posted that links to the corresponding artwork and the artist’s contact information.
“We’re really happy to have started an art walk, and already have ideas for next year,” Ms. Corvi said. “Hopefully there will be more stores involved.”
