In 1955, under the auspices of the Museum of Modern Arts education department, the department’s director, Victor D’Amico, brought summer art classes to the East End, first at Ashawagh Hall in Springs and subsequently on a decommissioned Navy barge towed from Jersey City to Napeague Harbor.
Overlooking the harbor and the surrounding meadows, the D’Amico Institute of Art’s mission of making art education accessible to all has, like the barge itself, withstood the forces that have changed so much of the East End.
This summer’s classes will begin on Monday, from 9 till noon, with Open Studio, a weeklong self-directed studio for artists with prior experience or an established practice. Participants work independently in a communal studio, which is equipped with easels, tables, and counter space. Artists are required to bring their own materials; the maximum canvas size is 36 inches. Open Studio will continue weekly through June 29.
Studio Process, which will begin July 6, while similar to Open Studio, also features teachers who will provide individual instruction where requested. July’s instructors are Bill Nagle (July 6) and David Joel (July 20).
Other classes set for June are watercolor with Kirsten Benfield, pit-fire ceramics with Serina Mayer, introduction to weaving with Lee Rywkin, painting on location in Montauk with Aurelio Torres, creative painting for beginners with Chris Kohan, and dimensional stained glass with Lorraine Pepper. Also, paper collage with Perry Burns, painting’s possibilities with Bill Nagle, and glass-fusing surface techniques with Andy Stenerson.
New courses this year include sand casting, mobiles and stabiles, felting, experimental weaving, and mixed-media mosaics. Also debuting are classes geared specifically for beginners, among them encaustic, creative painting, assemblage, and weaving.
Among the 35 new and returning instructors, in addition to those already named, are Jennifer Cross, Sue Ferguson Gussow, Kerry Sharkey-Miller, Kim Norris, Eva Iacono, Daniel Vernola, Kim Gonzalez, Nicole Parcher, Heather Corbett, Darlene Blaurock, Michele Mott, Robin Gianis, Kate Liebman, Jim Bergesen, Sally Richardson, Alia Knowlan, Laura Lyn Stern, Linda Sirow, and Leslie Harris.
The full schedule of classes, as well as more detailed information about each, can be found on the Art Barge’s website.
