By Annette Hinkle
So, what does summer on the East End mean to you? Beaches, barbecues, galas?
All these are worthy warm weather pursuits to be sure, but for many creative types in our neck of the woods, summer is a time for serious learning — with a liberal does of humor and fun, of course. It is, after all, summer.
For the past 36 years, summer has meant the Southampton Writers Conference, initially offered on the Southampton campus under the auspices of Long Island University and is now by Stony Brook University which purchased the campus in 2006. This year’s conference has been renamed Southampton Arts Summer and it runs in two sessions at Stony Brook Southampton — from July 11 to 15 and July 18 to 29. The program has expanded substantially since its inception all those years ago, and the 2012 brochure reveals that participants can enroll in workshops for creative writing, theater, filmmaking (new last year) and visual arts, this season’s inaugural offering.
Associate Provost Robert Reeves helms the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton. Though the name of the summer program has changed, the real focal point remains and the emphasis is on building a creative community in which everyone, from legendary authors, actors and artists, to those with just a kernel of a potent idea, work alongside and are inspired by one another.
As in years past, students will have a chance to rub elbows with some heavy hitters in their field. On the docket this year are workshops taught by poet Billy Collins, actress Julie Andrews, playwrights Marsha Norman and Jon Robin Baitz, and novelist Meg Wolitzer, among others.
Reeves expects some 250 graduate students will take part in this summer’s program, many of them staying in six campus dorms for the duration. He explains that because the instructors and even many of the students are experienced in their field, the MFA program at Stony Brook Southampton takes a unique approach to pursing art.
“I think this is an unique model, and part of the reason we can do it is we have a program based in Southampton with a location in Manhattan,” says Reeves. “We have many students who match the role of our basic student. A lot of them are accomplished professionals who have figured out how to live here, and for them, it’s not about getting somewhere else.”
“We also have talented students and artists who want to be part of the teaching program,” he adds. “It’s not the tenure model, where you teach full time. They want to teach one course a year and otherwise be working artists. We want them to do their work.”
Among them is Sag Harbor artist Scott Sandell who is heading up the new visual arts MFA component and is offering five workshops during the two sessions to kick-off the year round program. Sandell explains studio space for the visual arts department will be in the state of the art building which Stony Brook University constructed as a library, but never fully occupied after eliminating a majority of the campus’ offerings (with the exception of the MFA program and marine sciences). The library occupies a portion of the building’s atrium space, leaving plenty of room to make art.
“There’s lots of light on the main floor, high ceilings, and everything is wired – you can plug in anywhere,” says Sandell.
For his inaugural summer programming, Sandell felt it was important to draw on local resources — and for that reason has created workshops that will be led, as are many of the MFA program offerings, by renowned local talent.
“We’re going to have a business of art class,” he explains. “Nobody offers that. We have Kathryn Markel, a dealer in Chelsea with a gallery in Bridgehampton, who will teach you how to put your work together.”
Sandell is also bringing in Library of Congress curator (and occasional Sag Harbor resident) Daniel DeSimone and his wife, bookbinder Angela Scott, for a five-day intensive on the book arts, both in the historical handmade sense and virtual forms. Along those lines is a workshop on portraiture in the 21st century, which will be led by Southampton artist Paton Miller and examines the pursuit of portraiture via a range of mediums, from oil paint to Facebook.
“Think about how many portraits are posted on Facebook every day,” posits Sandell. “Are we just in love with ourselves, or is this the digital camera that allows this to happen? Or is it something else? Eric Fischl is coming to give a talk on that one.”
Perhaps the most theatrical of Sandell’s programming will be “Sculpture is Difficult” a workshop led by artist Paul Chojnowski. Using 4’ x 8’ sheets of plywood, and a range of devices — from power tools to scalpels — students will carve a large (very large) format wood block. The images will be printed using ink, giant rolls of paper and — get this — a steam roller brought in just for this purpose — in the campus parking lot, naturally.
“I know a steam roller driver who is an artist,” explains Sandell. “He’s got a ‘53 Buffalo Springfield which is immense, and a mini one, which he takes on tours. He goes to schools and prints kids work. It’s so cool. I saw that as a blending of theater and the visual arts. We’re going to rent our own steamroller.”
Finally Sandell himself will teach “The New Printmaking” alongside artist Steve Miller. The course will challenge preconceived notions of what a print is by delving into the history of printmaking. The workshop will also provide students with access to the university’s newly christened “Almost Beachfront Digital Print Studio” and four new huge Epson printers.
“The idea is to create original work, expand on the idea of the digital print and take it other places,” says Sandell. “I’m looking forward to it.”
With the print shop, Sandell also sees an opportunity for a bit of “artistic entrepreneurialship” as well. Not only will the visual arts department now produce the TSR The Southampton Review, the MFA program’s literary publication, but artists and students will also be encourage to print, publish and market their own work.
“Scholarships are available. I’m looking for people to come and do good work,” adds Sandell. “We’ll also have an interesting elective which is a road trip. There are so many blue chip artists around here, we’ll just go to their studios and hang out – and talk about the practice of being an artist.”
Collaboration is key in this program on many levels. While the summer workshops can serve as a jump-starter for artists, writers and filmmakers pursuing a specific project or those considering signing on for the full MFA program, Reeves explains it also offers MFA students intensive experiences completely unlike those found in typical 15-week class schedules during the academic year.
“Courses scheduled in the standard method engage the work and fellow students regularly in a productive way over time,” he says. “But workshops are intensive from morning to night. They get people energized.”
Reeves feels this non-traditional approach is not only unique, but ideal for spurring artistic expression. And with a goal of growing the program to 300 core MFA students in five years (with 1,000 students participating in a variety of ways throughout the year), flexibility, he believes, is the future.
“We have the opportunity to design a curriculum that matches the creative process,” says Reeves. “People want to finish their novel, their film, the art project they have underway. They are driven by projects.”
“As we say here, ‘You can just date us. You don’t have to marry us,’” he adds. “You can take a course without being matriculated in the MFA program just to be part of the community and receive the best writing instruction available. We want people to accomplish what they want to accomplish in the arts. There are a lot of ways to do it.”
To learn more about Southampton Arts Summer, pick up a program brochure or visit www.southamptonarts.org. Students are strongly encouraged to register by May 12, 2012. In addition to poetry, children’s literature, fiction and non-fiction writing and screenwriting with writers like Matt Klam, Roger Rosenblatt and Ursula Hegi, some of the other workshops this summer include “Sitcoms to Webisodes: Development and Creation” offered by director and producer Mitchell Kriegman, digital filmmaking with James Strzelinski, playwrighting with Jon Robin Baitz, John Patrick Shanley and Stephen Adly Gurigis, an acting workshop with Mercedes Ruehl, a master acting class with Joanna Merline (using the Michal Chekhov technique) and musical theatre workshops led by Julie Andrews, Marsha Norman, Jason Robert Brown and Anne Runolfsson.
Top: Poet Billy Collins in front of a Jules Feiffer caricature. (Star Black photo).
