Guild Hall Announces Its 2025 Museum Schedule

Guild Hall’s 2025 exhibition schedule opens on Sunday, May 4, with a dynamic group exhibition, “Functional Relationships: Artist Made Furniture,” and a site-specific environment titled “Wading Room” by Almond Zigmund.

Summer exhibitions will feature Mary Heilmann’s “Water Way,” the artist’s first large-scale solo presentation with a museum on the East End, and an installation and program series by Joel Mesler. The season will close with the return of the Student Art Festival, inspired by the works of Robert Rauschenberg.

“We are thrilled to present work by over 30 artists through a variety of group and solo exhibitions and site-specific installations, which include opportunities for public participatory programs,” said Melanie Crader, Guild Hall’s museum director and curator of visual arts. “Guild Hall’s 2025 season exemplifies the truly interdisciplinary nature of artists across all generations.”

Guild Hall’s 2025 Exhibition Schedule:

“Functional Relationships: Artist-Made Furniture” - May 4 through July 13, with a member’s preview on Saturday, May 3.

Utilizing Donald Judd as a historical reference, this group exhibition features East End artists who make functional furniture as an extension of their creative practice — as a means of problem-solving, to create an element of designed living, and to form social spaces — thereby incorporating art into many aspects of their daily lives. Artists include Scott Bluedorn, John Chamberlain, Liz Collins, Quentin Curry, Peter Dayton, Connie Fox, Kurt Gumaer, Mary Heilmann, Yung Jake, Donald Judd, Mark Wilson, Robert Wilson, Evan Yee, Nico Yektai and Almond Zigmund.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Almond Zigmund, artist and founder of the Almond Artist and Writers series, will lead the creation of a site-specific environment and a series of participatory public programs in the Marks Family Gallery South. The installation, titled “Wading Room,” will include functional, artist-made furniture for public use. The space will encourage visitors to linger, lounge, and interact, creating a dynamic gathering space that engages with the idea of how art can be an essential part of community building.

“Mary Heilmann: Water Way” - August 3 through October 26, with a members preview on Saturday, August 2, and celebrated at Guild Hall’s Summer Gala on Friday, August 1.

This will be the artist’s first large-scale solo presentation with an institution on the East End, where she has been an integral part of the region’s creative community for decades. From California to New York City to Bridgehampton, Heilmann has prioritized living in close proximity to water, which has had a profound influence on her life and work. Whether as a direct image or referential title, water has long been a recurring theme throughout her practice. Guild Hall is pleased to realize an exhibition that Heilmann has had a strong desire to stage — one that brings together over 40 works of a focused area of her output. The exhibition includes works on paper, ceramics, and paintings spanning from the 1980s through the present.

In conjunction with Heilmann’s show, Guild Hall will present “Joel Mesler: Miles of Smiles,” the artist’s first exhibition and program at Guild Hall. Mesler’s practice sheds light on universal themes by filtering them through autobiography, humor, self-deprecation, and surprising compositional juxtapositions. Mesler has explored the power of acceptance, allowing emotions — as well as the cultural forms in which they become entangled — to exist at the center of his projects. With “Miles of Smiles,” Mesler, an artist and former art dealer, will create an installation that mimics his studio, office, and exhibition space — including work by a select group of his contemporaries — providing a gathering and meeting place where the artist will host office hours. Mesler’s office hours create a simultaneous performance and public program.

“The 2025 Student Art Festival: Rauschenberg 100” - November 16, through January 4.

This year’s festival honors the centennial of Robert Rauschenberg’s birth by joining an international museum initiative organized by the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation. Guild Hall will partner with 10 public schools and 10 East End artists to collaboratively delve into what Rauschenberg called the “gap between art and life,” valuing chance and collaboration in a wide range of materials, subjects, styles, and creative techniques.

The festival will conclude with an exhibition of new works and creative presentations by the schools and artists, and a special presentation of Rauschenberg’s work held in Guild Hall’s permanent collection.

Guild Hall is located at 158 Main Street, East Hampton. For more information, visit guildhall.org. Museum admission is free and galleries are open during exhibitions, Thursday to Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. (Wednesday to Sunday from July through Labor Day).