For 82 years Guild Hall has reserved space in its exhibition schedule for the annual Guild Hall Artist Members Exhibition. The first installment took place in 1938, shortly after Guild Hall’s inception in 1931. It is the oldest non-juried show on Long Island and one of the few non-juried exhibitions still running. Deeply rooted in the history of the East End artist colony, early participants included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Alfonso Ossorio, Perle Fine, Bill King, James Brooks, Charlotte Park, John Little and many more, showing their support of Guild Hall and its role as their community museum, theater, and education center.
Due to the popularity of this exhibition, around 400 artists participate each year. This year’s awards juror is Susan Thompson, Associate Curator at the Guggenheim Museum. Thompson is one of the organizing curators for the Guggenheim’s Young Collectors Council which acquires the work of emerging artists for the museum’s permanent collection, and for the Photography Council, which expands the museum’s holdings in the medium of photography through acquisitions.
Thompson will review the entire exhibition and award up to 17 artists in the categories of Best Photography, Best Representational Work, Best Sculpture, Best Abstract, Best Mixed Media, Best Work on Paper, Best New Artist, Catherine & Theo Hios Best Landscape Award, up to eight honorable mentions and a Top Honors award winner which will be given a solo exhibition in the museum’s Spiga Gallery.
For details visit guildhall.org. Guild Hall is at 158 Main Street in East Hampton.