Guild Hall's 2025 Student Art Festival, 'Rauschenberg 100,' Celebrates Local Artists, Students, and the Legacy of a Legendary Painter

Guild Hall’s Student Art Festival, an annual tradition since 1938, returns on November 15 with this year’s exhibition, “Rauschenberg 100,” on view until early 2026.

Every year, Guild Hall’s staff works alongside local artists, school districts and their students, from kindergarten to 12th grade, to facilitate creativity and collaboration through workshops which culminate in an exhibition of the students’ work at Guild Hall.

This year’s participating schools include Amagansett School, Bridgehampton School, East Hampton High School, East Hampton Middle School, John Marshall Elementary School, Shelter Island School, Springs School and Pierson Middle-High School.

Students from each school are mentored by participating professional artists, including Linda K. Alpern, Scott Bluedorn, Peter Dayton, Eva Faye, Margaret Garrett, Candace Hill-Montgomery, Laurie Lambrecht, Bastienne Schmidt, Kevin Teare and Evan Yee.

In addition, each year’s festival has a special theme. For 2025, the theme is “Rauschenberg 100,” celebrating the centennial birth year of the late painter Robert Rauschenberg, who died in 2008. Rauschenberg’s artistic vision to explore “the gap between art and life,” provided the inspiration for the more than 100 workshops that were held between students and artists.

In a recent interview, Guild Hall’s Theater Director and Curator of Performing Arts, Anthony Madonna, shared enthusiasm for the upcoming exhibition, and explained the process and reasoning behind choosing Rauschenberg as the show’s inspiration.

“The idea for ‘Rauschenberg 100’ came out of a great conversation between me and Melanie Crader [Guild Hall’s museum director and curator of visual arts] after hearing about the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation’s open call to celebrate his centennial,” he explained.

“We wanted to do something that not only highlighted the Rauschenberg works in Guild Hall’s collection, but also showed how his spirit of experimentation still inspires artists and creatives today. The Student Art Festival felt like the perfect way to bring all of that together.”

Each school, Madonna said, had its own unique ideas about how to use Rauschenberg as a theme.

As you walk through the galleries, you’ll see pieces that directly reference specific works, alongside projects that dive into Rauschenberg’s experimental, process-driven way of making art,” he said.

“It’s been so exciting to see what the students created in collaboration with their teachers and guest artists,” Madonna continued. “The results really capture what we’d hoped for, showing just how strongly Rauschenberg’s spirit continues to inspire artists and students today.”

The student work on view in this year's exhibition is co-curated by Guild Hall’s Teen Arts Council, which is now run by Guild Hall’s Programs Manager, Kayla Matters. In addition to working on the technical parts of installing the art, several members of TAC, Matters said, created pieces for the festival themselves.

Matters spoke particularly to the importance of involving children in the arts in this digital age.

“As children and teens today have seemingly endless options for entertainment through technology and social media, I have seen firsthand the impact and importance of art-making in their social and emotional lives,” she said. “I have watched students of all ages light up when they enter their school’s art rooms, thrilled by the creative possibilities that await them, allowing themselves a short reprieve from the stress of a busy school day.”

“In both school and extracurricular arts, students are able to express their emotions, work collaboratively, share common goals and interests, experiment and play,” she continued. “It is a true joy watching students explore and experiment artistically, and one of my greatest sources of pride through my work at Guild Hall.”

In a recent press release, participating artists Bastienne Schmidt, Peter Dayton and Margaret Garrett spoke about the festival and their direct work with the students.

Schmidt worked with Bridgehampton School’s third- and fourth-graders, and noted the kids’ “openness to ideas and process, that was very appealing.” When speaking about Rauschenberg, she explained that he “was always open and interested in taking in new materials and unexpected forms and objects into his artwork. The kids loved the freedom of process.”

Peter Dayton worked with older students at East Hampton High School, and facilitated experimentation at all levels.

“I let them control the situation,” he said. “We are surrounded by water in East Hampton, so it was interesting how many students went in that direction.”

Margaret Garrett worked with students from Shelter Island School, and focused on mixed-media artwork.

“They made some really great unique pieces,” she said. “It was exciting to see the clarity of each person’s vision.”

The pairings between artist and school district are not random. Madonna explained that pairing the artist with the school is a process that takes a lot of thought.

“As a program team, we first think of artists whose practices reflect the theme of the festival, and then speak with teachers to learn more about the class structure, curriculum and student interest to suggest pairings that we believe may work well,” he said. We are very lucky to live in an area with so many incredible artists, making the process exciting for all.”

Though the Student Art Festival has been a tradition since 1938, Madonna said that the 2025 edition has brought with it two new aspects that haven’t been seen before; facilitating school field trips to artist studios, and showing work from Guild Hall’s permanent collection.

“Both of these experiences place student artists alongside professional artists, giving them inspiration while also showcasing their work just like any other exhibiting artist at Guild Hall,” he said.

Madonna’s hope for the students coming out of this experience is two-fold, but centered around a common theme: appreciation. Not just an appreciation for the arts, but for the process, and for their dedicated and talented teachers.

“Many of these projects unfolded over two academic years, demanding patience, experimentation and a willingness to explore and refine ideas along the way,” he said. “It’s been amazing to see those connections form and to feel that spirit of the East End’s artist community continuing to thrive in the next generation.”

Guild Hall’s 2025 Student Art Festival, “Rauschenberg 100,” opens on November 15 and remains on view through January 4, 2026. To view the exhibition, visit Guild Hall at 158 Main Street in East Hampton. For more information, visit guildhall.org.