The Artist Study Brings Together Creative Types In Southampton Village

In addition to the many art galleries on the East End, now there is a place where artists of all types—painters, sculptors, writers, musicians and actors—can gather to share ideas, and to explore the creative process.

Cynthia Neuendorf of Quogue has opened The Artist Study, Gallery and Studio at 25 Hampton Road in Southampton Village. She said her mission is “to educate, inspire and foster an art community through professional programs of study, and art exhibitions that promote the creative process as an important role in growth and progress.”

As an art dealer and collector, Ms. Neuendorf, 37, has developed an art gallery, academy, and studio of thinkers.

“I believe that art and the creative process is vital to one’s life force as well as an important tool for training specific, visual and perceptual ways of thinking,” she said, sitting in her gallery, surrounded by her two children—Augustin, 5, and Eloise, 3—and curious artists coming in to check out the new space.

One of these artists was painter Michelle Murphy of Amagansett, former host of an arts interview show at LTV Studios in Wainscott.

“I wanted to see what this was all about, and I am happy to see there is a place like this where I can mingle with artists of all types, and also meet new ones,” Ms. Murphy said.

Ms. Neuendorf grew up in St. Mary’s, Kansas, where she studied fashion design at Johnson County Community College. At 19, she won a contest while working for Coach and came to work in the leather company’s East Hampton store in 1999. Following that, she worked as an independent stylist, before landing a job selling art at the Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor for four years.

“I found that many young people, like me, were making a living out of their passions, and that appealed to me,” she said. “I was meeting other artists, and wanted to open a place where they could also teach and take workshops to study the creative process.”

In 2012, Ms. Neuendorf partnered in opening The Sag Harbor Fine Arts Center on Rose Street in Sag Harbor Village. Here, she exhibited the works of local, national and international artists, and also provided art education programs for all ages, and paid teaching positions to artists.

“After a few years, I decided to look for another location where I could expand into a bigger space and incorporate other arts, including the healing arts,” she said. With her third child due this July, Neuendorf joked that she is “expanding in every direction,” but very excited about all these new experiences.

She said all her artists are also instructors, and will be teaching workshops and classes in drawing, painting and sculpture at her gallery. This summer, she is organizing a retreat to Tuscany, Italy, where a group of artists will stay in a farmhouse and practice plein air painting in the hillsides and vineyards.

At the opening reception of her new Southampton location on April 15, about 100 people filtered in and out of the 1,750-square-foot gallery, which was formerly a Collette furniture store. Along one long wall are classical realism-style landscapes, portraits and still life paintings by Southampton artist Megan Kathleen Euell, 28, who studied at the Florence Academy of Art.

“Megan is 12th generation in Southampton,” said her mother, Linda Euell, who lives in the Foster family’s 1760 house in Water Mill. “My grandfather, Charles Benjamin Foster, was a town trustee and tax collector.”

On the opposite wall were other representational paintings by artist Timothy McGuire of Buffalo, who now lives in Florence, Italy. He painted landscapes, seascapes, and figures of Sag Harbor, Shelter Island, Nova Scotia, Buffalo and Canada.

“I used to teach kindergarten, and I now teach kids to draw in Florence,” he said.

At the opening, many guests were gathered around the stunning display of custom-made leather shoes by shoemaker Francis Waplinger, 29, from Seattle, who now resides in Southampton, where he has a studio.

“All the shoes I make are made to measure, for men and women,” he said. “People tell me what shape and style they want—casual, dress shoe, everyday shoe … and I adjust them to fit their feet.” At the exhibition, Mr. Waplinger displayed samples of Oxfords, loafers, and Derbys, with leather or rubber soles, and also sample swatches of his fine leathers.

Being influenced by Italian designers, Mr. Waplinger studied under a master shoemaker in Florence for three years, before coming to Southampton and opening his own studio, where he makes every part of the shoe, from start to finish.

A guest asked him how much his custom-made shoes cost, to which he said they start at $3,000 in the United States, and about $6,000 in Europe.

“Do you get two for that price?,” joked pianist Andrew Wargo, a retired executive of Pierre Cardin for the U.S., Canada and Mexico, who lives in Riverhead. He added that, “The shoes are the highest quality couture.”

Mr. Waplinger explained that his shoes are “labor intensive, and the entire process can take up to 140 hours. But my shoes last 10 to 20 years.”

In addition to the art education offered at The Artist Study, there will also be lessons on creative expression and healing arts. Bernard Corrigan, a transpersonal psychotherapist of Water Mill, will be giving ongoing presentations called, “Wake Up Now,” on the first and third Thursdays of the month, from 7 to 8:30 p.m.

“My art is the use of my words, and how we use our words allows us to appreciate the world through the perspective of art and beauty,” he said. “It’s about making more of the world visible to each of us … increasing our consciousness increases our awareness.”

His son, Dhruva Corrigan, will be giving yoga presentations and lectures.

Mr. Corrigan added that, for him, establishing his presence on Hampton Road in Southampton is also “coming back” to his hometown where his grandfather, Ed Corrigan, and his brother built the beach club, the Catholic Church on Hill Street, and several buildings on Main Street. His family farm and homestead is on Corrigan Street, and he started his psychotherapy practice on Jobs Lane in 1978.

He said The Artist Study is long-awaited for the Southampton community.

“It’s a unique blend of artists that are represented by the gallery, along with events and programs that help us see the world more clearly and creatively, and from a new sense of awareness about ourselves. Creating is an essential part of living a joyful life.”

On Wednesday, May 17, The Artist Study will host a talk by painter Karen Kaapcke on her upcoming exhibition, “Beyond Reflection: Drawings, Paintings, Shards,” on view from May 8 to June 4, with a reception on Saturday, May 27, at 5 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/TheArtistStudy/ or call 631-603-5514.