The Year In Photos: Arts & Living

When Ducks Ruled The Roost March 28 -- Susan Van Scoy, Ph.D., a professor of art history at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue, admits that she didn’t come to her latest book project knowing a lot about ducks, other than the fact that she enjoyed ordering them in restaurants. But in writing “The Big Duck and Eastern Long Island’s Duck Farming Industry,” an Images of America book by Arcadia Publishing that came out last spring, she came to possess a depth of knowledge that extends far beyond the palate pleasing characteristics of her subject when served on a plate. “They trample each other in the dark, especially during a storm, so they always have to have a light on,” said Dr. Van Scoy when asked to share a favorite bit of duck lore during an interview in March. As the title suggests, the Big Duck, that perennial roadside attraction on Route 24 in Flanders, had a starring role in the book. But it also took a deeper dive into the history of duck farming on eastern Long Island through dozens of rare images and accompanying captions. Images from the National Archives and the Library of Commerce were treasure troves, as were libraries, museums and various historical societies. But the real riches were found in the attics, garages and basements of the families of former duck farmers. Duck farming on Long Island began in 1873, and peaked in 1959 when Suffolk County farms produced nearly eight million ducks per year.

The Tide Is High—So Are The Stakes July 25 -- Another person’s trash is artist Cynthia Pease Roe’s treasure. Her Southold studio, located at the boatyard at Port of Egypt Marine, is filled with containers of discarded lighters, balloons, straws, fishing tags and anything else that appears to no longer serve any purpose. Most of the items were found in beach cleanups on Long Island. For Ms. Roe, the garbage can be used to make sculptures of anything from mermaids to manta rays. Through her organization, UpSculpt, she has been dedicated to raising awareness about marine debris through art for over 10 years. Little did the person who discarded their soda bottle long ago realize that their trash would be used in one of Ms. Roe’s many sculptures which will be displayed at the Sag Harbor Whaling Museum as part of “Plankton Not Plastic,” an exhibition that opens on Friday, July 26.The idea of turning garbage into art all started when Ms. Roe, who is also a painter, came across an abundance of plastic debris on the North Fork. She said that the experience changed the course of her work and her life. Before that, she had never put much effort into sculpting before. “I think some people would be shocked to find out that what they threw out actually ended up in the ocean,” Ms. Roe said. “That’s pretty shocking. And then it ended up on a beach in Long Island some place.”

Musical Icons And The Power of Pictures February 21 -- Back in the 1970s and 1980s, East Hampton’s Chip Dayton was an avid aficionado of some of the biggest rock bands of the era. He was also an avid photographer and often had the good fortune of being in the right place at the right time, camera in hand. Over the years, among the many bands he photographed on stage — and sometimes backstage — were the Ramones, Kiss and Queen. Last year, Dayton’s wife was cleaning out a drawer when she came across a shot of Freddie Mercury, Queen’s lead singer, which he had taken during the band’s concert at Madison Square Garden in November, 1978. The timing was perfect, as the film “Bohemian Rhapsody” about the life and times of Mercury was just coming out. The movie was nominated for five Academy Awards, including one for Best Actor which Rami Malek, who starred as Mercury, won on February 24, 2019. Dayton still likes to take photos of rock concerts. These days, Greta Van Fleet, a band out of Frankenmuth, Michigan that features twin brothers Josh and Jake Kiszka on vocals and lead guitar, respectively, their younger brother Sam on bass and keyboard, and drummer Danny Wagner. “They really have renewed the feeling I had about rock music when I started to go to big-deal concerts, like Led Zeppelin in ’68 at Carnegie Hall when I was 17,” said Dayton.

Let There Be Light, And Let It Be Neon June 13 -- In 2005, neon artist Clayton Orehek was hired by Sag Harbor resident Brenda Siemer to re-create the 1936 art déco Sag Harbor Cinema sign, which had deteriorated badly after being exposed to the elements for nearly 70 years. At the time, Siemer, who now lives in Vermont, was spearheading a fundraising campaign to create a new, duplicate sign which was mounted on the façade of the theater in October 2005. Then in December 2016, fire destroyed much of the cinema. Orehek was brought in again, this time to repair the sign which had been damaged when the façade came down after the fire. In a May 25 ceremony, the newly-refurbished Sag Harbor sign was illuminated once more. In an interview in June, Orehek talked about the process of building the iconic Sag Harbor sign. “My interest in the Sag Harbor sign comes from when I was a kid and I remember it as a child. I grew up in Center Moriches, but I spent time out there,” he said. “Fast forward to 2005 when Brenda got ahold of me to re-fabricate it. By that time, I had done more sculpture work with neon on the East End and New York. They asked if I was interested in the project and I was, having been out there as a kid — then I got called again after the fire.” In making the sign in 2005, Orehek had to learn some new skills in addition to neon. “I learned to weld aluminum so I could redo that sign in '05, to do neon work and the metal work and spraying,” he said. ‘I was very happy to do the Sag Harbor sign job because it used skills of neon, electrical work and metal fabrication. It was a cool melding of everything.” When asked what would inspire someone like himself to pursue work as a neon artist, Orehek replied, “I went into it for creative aspects. I don’t know if you’d go in as a commercial sign maker. To say I’ll either be a dog catcher or bend neon, you’d definitely want to be a dog catcher.” The rebuilt and redesigned Sag Harbor Cinema is slated to open in spring 2020.

Close Up For The Shinnecock October 10 -- The Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) returned in October, and among the films screened was Treva Wurmfeld’s 75-minute documentary “Conscience Point,” a ground level approach to the nearly two-decade-long Shinnecock battle for preservation — one that encompasses not only questions of land ownership and grave desecration, but also the morality behind the environmental crisis and income inequality in one of America’s wealthiest zip codes. “Conscience Point” had its world premiere as part of HIFF’s “Views from Long Island” program and it challenged those who see the East End as a commodity, to reframe the area as a place that means heritage, community and home. “It’s certainly the most appropriate location we could think of when it came to trying to get the message out,” Wurmfeld said in an interview in September. “As much as we hope to reach a wide audience, it’s very important with this film to also spark dialogue locally and get the message out to the local Hamptons communities. Becky Hill-Genia and her longtime activism on behalf of the Shinnecock Indian Nation and its ancestors was the focus of the film, but “Conscience Point” also branches out as a microcosm of the United States, exploring themes of over-development and the subsequent environmental impact, class struggle, the Latino experience, and the growing resentment between the working class and uberwealthy, who are ultimately dependent upon one another, Wurmfeld said. “There are so many layers of irony,” she said. “There’s this need for the labor, but not wanting the labor class to live in your backyard, but then it causing traffic and complaining about the traffic. It’s all just so blatantly apparent, and yet full of irony. “Conscience Point” was also screened on PBS’s “Independent Lens” in November.

Julie Andrews Shares Her Story: A celebration of ‘Home Work’ November 7 -- In the fall of 2019, Julie Andrews, the Oscar-winning star of stage and screen, published “Home Work: A Memoir of my Hollywood Years,” which she co-wrote with her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton. On November 10, mother and daughter, both Sag Harbor residents, appeared at Bay Street Theater for a screening of “That’s Life,” the 1986 semi-autobiographical film by Andrews’s late husband, director and writer Blake Edwards. The screening was a fundraiser for Bay Street Theater and the Sag Harbor Cinema (Walton Hamilton was a co-founder of Bay Street and sits on the cinema's advisory board, while her mother is an honorary board member of the cinema) and both Andrews and Hamilton star in the film. “We spent two and a half years on this one,” said Walton Hamilton of the new book, noting that the reason it’s titled “Home Work” is because the concept of home has always held powerful meaning for Andrews. “Touring as a child, she always tried to reconcile her need for home with the commitment to work, the responsibilities and genuine passion, but it was a tug of war since the age of 8,” she said. “She wanted to talk in this case about the work, learning on her feet the craft of filmmaking. When she came to L.A. to do ‘Mary Poppins,’ she was 27 and had spent her whole life in theaters, but had never made a film. “It was a totally different craft. She was flying by seat of her pants and learning something new and different from each director.”

Feeling At Home With Pianofest July 31 -- One house, four weeks, 11 pianos, 12 musicians. The result is a limitless level of talent, energy and camaraderie. This is Pianofest in the Hamptons, where, from June to August each year, piano students from conservatories all over the world spend a month eating, sleeping, practicing, performing, relaxing and collaborating side-by-side. In late July, the Pianofest house on Pantigo Road in East Hampton, things were fairly bustling as the newest crop of 12 students were settling into their routine, having arrived on the East End only a week earlier. Though the power was out, there was fresh watermelon to be found in the kitchen while the classical strains of Tchaikovsky performed by an unseen student drifted through the downstairs rooms. Meanwhile, other young pianists relaxed and chatted out front on the home’s large, wrap-around porch. With 11 grand pianos scattered throughout the home, most everyone can be accommodated fairly easily. There’s even a piano in the kitchen and some students say that’s where the most creative exchanges of energy take place. “The piano in the kitchen is really good,” admitted Tian Tang, who is from China but now lives in Chicago where she is a student at Northwestern University. “We have a very clever rotation,” explained Konstantin Soukhovetski, a native of Russia who came to Pianofest as a student in 2000, and since 2001 has served as an artist-in-residence for the program. “There are 11 grand pianos, but also two spinets in two smaller rooms. If everyone needs to practice at the same time, we can do it. “But we also have the beach and the sun is out and people feel like we have to have a good work/life balance.”

Comic Relief For A Legendary Cartoonist October 31 -- Even if you don’t know Gahan Wilson’s name, chances are very good that you’ve laughed at his creations. The legendary cartoonist’s work appeared often in magazines like Playboy, National Lampoon, and The New Yorker. For more than two decades Wilson lived quietly in Sag Harbor, where he was a regular fixture in the village. But last winter, Wilson and his wife, novelist Nancy Winters, relocated to Arizona so his stepson, Paul Winters, could care for them. Wilson was suffering from advanced dementia and other health issues, and when Nancy Winters, who also had dementia, died on March 2, Wilson was moved into a memory care facility. “She was his rock,” Paul Winters said in an August interview. “While we all helped with his care, it was my mother who grounded him … She was his guide at the end.” To help pay for his stepfather’s advanced medical needs, in spring 2019, Winters started a GoFundMe campaign titled “Help Gahan Wilson find his way.” “I talked to Gahan all the time,” Paul Winters said. “He absolutely loved Sag Harbor, the people and the nuance of the place.” Despite his physical ailments, like a primal instinct that refuses to succumb to life’s changes, Winters reported that Wilson was still drawing from time to time in recent months, though his cartoons no longer had words to go with them. “He’ll sit down and draw for about four minutes. But the days of Gahan doing a full-color finish with crosshatch and watercolor are over,” Winters said. “When he first moved out here, I bought him an easel, paints and canvas, and it upset him. It was a challenge. Then I gave him a pad of paper, and that was OK. “He doesn’t draw much, but when he does, it’s very small. He recently drew a monster holding a sign that says: ‘Glad to remain alive.’” Gahan Wilson died on November 21, 2019. He was 89 years old.

July 18 -- Hamptons Dance Project Leaps Into Action In August, Jose Sebastian, a dancer with the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in New York City, brought a troupe of fellow dancers and choreographers to Guild Hall in East Hampton for the inaugural presentation of The Hamptons Dance Project (HDP), a new non-profit initiative to bring professional ballet to the community. Founded by Sebastian, who serves as artistic director, HDP was officially launched in early May and the organization pairs ABT dancers with master choreographers who create dynamic works that explore a range of dance styles, from contemporary to classical. Often, these dances will be new works that audiences rarely have an opportunity to see. Conversely, HDP will allow dancers to collaborate with up-and-coming choreographers whom they normally wouldn’t be exposed to in their professional life. “At ABT we mainly focus on the big classics,” Sebastian explained in an interview. “The difference here is, I’m trying to give these dancers the opportunity to work with choreographers they’d never work with at ABT, but are amazing choreographers — and there are so many.” Sebastian has good reason to start the program on the East End. Born into New York City’s foster care system, at the age of three, he was fostered by Pat Sebastian, a single mother and school teacher, and later, adopted by her. Some of his earliest and best memories are of summers spent on the East End. “With no money, she rented a house and every summer we came out here,” Sebastian said. “Sometimes we stayed with a friend, sometimes we were in a rental house ... Coming here was the best thing ever. We used to do bonfires on the beach. I went to sports and tennis camps, met my friends and my mom connected with their mothers, and they’ve stayed friends throughout their lives.

Angela LaGreca Getting Creative At LTV February 14 -- She’s been a stand-up comedian, a television producer and an actress on “Law & Order,” and early in 2019, Angela LaGreca, a part-time resident of Springs since 2003, became the creative director of LTV in East Hampton. The newly created position is a part-time one for LaGreca, who divides her time between the East End and New York City, where she has several ongoing commitments, including a gig warming up the audience for ABC’s “The View,” where she was once head writer. “I do three days here and I also work remotely,” explained LaGreca back in February as she offered a tour of LTV’s studios in Wainscott. The job may be part-time by description, but it was obvious that LaGreca expected to put full-time thought and energy into what she hopes to accomplish at LTV. “The idea was appealing. It’s new, and it was a challenge because it’s different,” she said of the position. “It’s public access and not-for-profit. What appeals to me is telling stories, giving people a voice and an opportunity to play, educate and learn … and put a spotlight on this community.” Along those lines, among her early goals was to enlist more local residents interested in television production to create their own shows. “Anyone who wants to do a show can do a show here,” LaGreca said. “Sometimes, they take a class to learn and are intimated or don’t follow through. I Googled ‘public access’ and some shows are zany or political. I love the idea of ‘the sky’s the limit,’ and I think we can be covering more.”

At 97, Montauk Sax Player Is Going Strong May 9 -- Montauk nonagenarian Pat DeRosa is a wailing sax man who, after a lifetime of making music, showed no signs of slowing down when interviewed at his home last spring. “I’m now 97 and still playing,” confided DeRosa. “I began playing in Brooklyn when I was 12. I started with the saxophone I got on Dekalb Avenue and I used to take lessons in the Bowery. It was pretty rough at the time and my mother would take me in.” These days, DeRosa lives with his daughter, Patricia DeRosa Padden, and granddaughter Nicole DeRosa Padden, who are also both musically-inclined. Together, they are The Pat DeRosa Jazz Orchestra and the trio performs frequently at venues across the East End. Over the years, DeRosa played with all the jazz greats and making music with legendary musicians, including John Coltrane, has been a way of life for the better part of a century. But still, one goal remains elusive — playing onstage alongside Billy Joel. Last we heard, DeRosa, who recently turned 98, was still hoping to join the Piano Man on stage at some point, and he continues to play regularly, just to stay in fine form. “Saxophone is keeping me young, busy and it’s good for my lungs,” said DeRosa. Billy Joel, we hope you’re listening.

The Monster Mash Up October 24 -- Frankenstein Follies, a Halloween-themed musical revue by the young actors of Stages, A Children’s Theatre Workshop, Inc., is an October tradition at Bay Street Theater. This year, the show turned 25 and in October, Stages founder and director Helene Leonard talked how the show came to be and the many kids who have taken part in it. “I call it our ‘Nutcracker,’” said Leonard. “It’s the same every year and everyone moves into their position and no one forgets it. You’ll hear little kids doing the Little Red Riding Hood song backstage, and as the younger kids move in, the older kids take them under their wing and put them out in front.” Because this was the 25th Follies, Leonard invited back any and all performers from past productions to come perform in the Saturday night show of the weekend run, and 25 alumni did just that. “We did this five years ago and it was hilarious,” she said. “We had two Frankensteins, four Wolf Men and I don’t know how many brides and Draculas.” Leonard credits her late father, Jerry Leonard, as the inspiration for Frankenstein Folles. He had a local youth theater in Cleveland and worked in local television where he created an original musical TV special called “Once Upon a Halloween.” Leonard took a bit of that show, another created by her sister for a theater company in Arizona, and took it from there. “As the cast and talent grew, I added songs that fit their talent,” she said. “Now it’s a show I’m not allowed to change. We’ve taken out a few things that were references that once worked but don’t anymore. We had the Spice Ghouls at one point, but no one knows who they are anymore.”