Long Island gets its own art biennial

Look out: Long Island is getting its own art biennial. Patterned after the Whitney Museum of American Art Biennial in New York, the three-week exhibition launching Saturday, October 3 in Patchogue at the Briarcliffe Exhibition Hall will present established artists who live and work on Long Island. An opening reception is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. and an outdoor sculpture exhibition is part of opening day festivities.

The Patchogue Arts Biennial features works by 44 artists invited by a selection committee. On view will be works selected for the exhibition by each of the invited artists. The Biennial is sponsored by the Patchogue Arts Council, and galleries are not part of the mix. Artwork will be exhibited in six separate “gallery” spaces set within the 12,000 square-foot space.

Three East End artists are part of the show: Dan Welden of Sag Harbor will exhibit his solar print etchings; Bruce Lieberman of East Hampton is showing paintings; and Andrea Cote of Flanders is presenting an installation made up of her photographs and films of her performance art.

East Enders may recognize works by artists who reside elsewhere but who have shown in this area, such as figurative wire works by Naomi Grossman, who has exhibited at the Parrish Art Museum. Sandra Benny has exhibited her color pencil drawings at the Parrish and at the Elaine Benson Gallery when Elaine Benson was at the helm.

Photographer Ray Germann has exhibited locally at the Suffolk County Historical Society and Suffolk County Community College in Riverhead. Robert Mielenhausen has taught locally and exhibited at the Water Mill Museum. Light artist Clayton Orehek has collaborated in productions staged at the Vail-Leavitt Music Hall.

Ultimately, the Patchogue Arts Biennial is a Long Island-wide show. Artists have exhibited in museums and gallery exhibitions nationally and internationally. There are prestigious grant and fellowship winners among them.

The Biennial’s primary goal is to give established artists who typically exhibit elsewhere the chance to show their work where they live, according to Biennial promotion chair and committee member Beth Giacummo.

Another aim is to exhibit contemporary art that’s not typically found at Long Island venues, Ms. Giacummo said. This includes installations, conceptual art and art made with non-conventional materials. The art fair is produced by artists, which sets it apart from other biennials and art fairs, she said.

The hope is that the Biennial will bring visitors to Patchogue and will prove that financial benefits can accrue alongside cultural offerings, said John Cino, a Biennial chairperson and sculptor. It is also hoped that the Biennial will help pave the way to establish Patchogue as a place to see art, he said.

The Biennial is a project of the Patchogue Arts Council, formed in February 2008 after the village received approval for an ArtSpace Loft project. The groundbreaking for that project is expected to take place before 2010.

The formation of the Arts Council and now the Biennial—the group’s first large scale project—are part of a push to transform Patchogue into a place for the arts. The Patchogue Arts Biennial is sponsored by the Patchogue Arts Council, Briarcliffe College, St. Joseph’s College and others.

The Patchogue Arts Biennial will be held from October 3 to 24 at Briarcliffe College, 225 West Main Street in Patchogue. An opening reception will be held on Saturday from 2 to 5 p.m. Exhibition hours are from noon to 7 p.m. from Monday to Saturday and from noon to 4 p.m. on Sundays. For information, visit www.patchogueartsbiennial.com.