Fall Into Art Studio Tour Gives A Look Into The Lives Of East End Artists

Art enthusiasts will have the opportunity to get an insider’s look into the studios of East End artists during the Fall into Art Studio Tour on Saturday, September 29.

This will be the first installment of the tour presented by the Westhampton Free Library, and will feature stops at artist studios in Manorville, Mattituck, Jamesport, Eastport, Westhampton, Westhampton Beach, Quogue, East Quogue, Remsenburg and Hampton Bays.

Organizers Candyce Brokaw, a 25-year painter from Quogue whose studio will also be featured on the tour, and Terry McEntee, a librarian at Westhampton Free Library, came up with the idea to host the event when brainstorming ways to support the library.

“We just have so many great local artists,” Ms. Brokaw explained. “It gives the community a chance to see inside the studios and how the artists really work.”

More than 25 local artist studios will be on the tour, including Ranelle Susan Wolf and Galina Melnik of Manorville, Carol Gold of Mattituck, Valerie Zeman of Jamesport, Dee McMeekan of Eastport, Mia Wisnoski, Elsy Escobar and Lance Corey of Westhampton, Fitzgerald Gallery, Marge Gosnell, Amy Hess, Scott Kennedy, Sharon Kesselman and Eileen Serwer of Westhampton Beach, Marissa Bridge and Meryl Spiegel of East Quogue, Ine Wijtvliet and Jean Arena of Remsenburg and Peter Dzakonski of Hampton Bays.

The repertoire of artists is an exciting mix of skill levels and styles, Ms. Brokaw said, and the tour will appeal to a wide range of arts fans.

“We came up with a great cross section,” she said. “We have traditional landscape artists that are trained in a very traditional manner working with watercolors, oils, pastels and acrylics, and then we have untrained artists that are more visionary artists, like myself, that are more surrealistic.”

The tour also includes abstract artists, sculptors, photographers and even a fabric artist.

“We have so many different mediums and so many different styles, and that’s what makes it so interesting,” Ms. Brokaw said. “We kind of cross the gap.”

The library will also host a “Meet the Artist” lunch and learn series on Thursday, September 13, and Thursday, September 20, at 11:30 a.m. as well as Monday, September 17, and Monday, September 24, at noon, where artists featured on the tour will discuss their work, process, and techniques.

During the tour, guests will have the opportunity to view works that can later be purchased during the auction at the annual Friends of the Library Mixer on Sunday, October 7. Tickets to the mixer can be purchased with the ticket to the Fall into Art Studio Tour for just $35, and for those looking to attend only the tour, tickets are $10, a price Ms. Brokaw deemed “ridiculously affordable” compared to similar events on the East End.

With so many home and garden tours offered throughout the summer, Ms. Brokaw said an artist studio tour on the western side of the East End is unlike any she’s seen.

“People are actually really intrigued by art. There’s a lot of art lovers out there,” she said. “To have the opportunity to see an artist’s environment, and to get to speak to the artists and hear about their process … it’s just a great opportunity to bring art to the people.”

The Fall into Art Studio Tour benefiting Westhampton Free Library will take place Saturday, September 29, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $10 for the tour or $35 for the tour and entry to the Friends of the Library Mixer on Sunday, October 7, from 4 to 6 p.m. Call 631-288-3335 or visit westhamptonlibrary.net for tickets and more information.