How To Still Enjoy The East End Arts Scene – From The Comfort Of Your Own Home

As we practice social distancing in an effort to “flatten the curve,” many East End arts centers are offering virtual ways to enjoy works of beauty, entertaining chats, and other fascinating programming.

While Southampton Arts Center’s (SAC) galleries are not open to the public at the moment, you can still take a tour of their current exhibition. “Our galleries may be temporarily closed, but we are still working to keep you inspired and entertained. We invite you to visit our YouTube channel to take a virtual tour of our current exhibition TAKEOVER! 2020 Artists in Residence, watch interviews with the artists, and view/listen to other past programs. And make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram!” Southampton Arts Center said in an email.

SAC also encouraged all to use their time at home to tap into their creative side. “Be part of our Community Art Share – a Virtual Exhibition. Paint, draw, take photographs – whatever inspires and excites you. Then email photos of your completed work to [email protected] with your name, social media handle (if you have one), and the titles of your work. You can also post on social media, tag Southampton Arts Center and use #SACArtShare. We will feature the photos on Instagram and Facebook as they come in,” the email continued.

TAKEOVER 2020! artists include Jodi Bentivegna, Michael Butler, Isadora Capraro, Franco Cuttica, Esly Escobar, Melinda Hackett, Erica-Lynn Huberty, Dinah Maxwell Smith, Miles Partington, and Kerry Sharkey-Miller. For the exhibition, each artist was given their own space for a “pop-up” studio.

To view TAKEOVER! 2020 Artists in Residence, visit southamptonartscenter.org or visit YouTube.com.

Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill closed to the public on Friday, March 13 and cancelled programs until further notice.

“We care deeply for our community, and the health and safety of all our members and friends is of utmost importance to us,” said Director Terrie Sultan. “We firmly believe that the arts provide the opportunities for inspiration, contemplation, and connection that feed our souls and raise our spirits. In challenging times, the arts are even more important.”

In that regard, Parrish is presenting several ways for the community to virtually engage with art and artists. Parrish’s Artist Stories (parrishart.org/artist-stories) explores the life and work of East End artists, Parrish Podcasts (parrishart.org/media), a new podcast series, will focus on emerging trends, artist projects, and cultural issues, the popular Pechakucha program featuring rapid-fire chats led by East End creatives is now accessible to all on the Pechakucha website (www.pechakucha.com), and there will also be nearly 400 videos of Parrish programs – from the Museum’s Water Mill opening in 2012 through today – available on Vimeo (vimeo.com/parrishartmuseum).

If you need a dose of animal cuteness, tune into QWR Nature News! on Quogue Wildlife Refuge’s Facebook page. (Photo: Kevin Ferris)

Guild Hall in East Hampton has a LIVE from Guild Hall section on their website (www.guildhall.org), which features program highlights throughout the years. Videos include Gallery Talks with Hiroyuki Hamada and Tony Oursler, Collector’s Speak: Sotheby’s presents Treasures from Chatsworth with The Duke of Devonshire and­­ award-winning creative director and designer David Korins, Stirring the Pot with Katie Lee and Tom Colicchio, a Gallery Tour of the 82nd Artist Members Exhibition, and more. A spectacular performance from Melissa Errico will be added soon. “In this disconcerting and confusing time, on Sunday, March 22 at 4pm Guild Hall is delighted to offer a special live-streaming treat on the YouTube Channel to premiere one of the most clarifying and crystalline concerts presented in recent years with Tony- nominee Melissa Errico’s in-concert performance of her beautiful album Sondheim Sublime,” Guild Hall said in an email. “During this livestream premiere on Sunday which will also celebrate the 90th birthday of Stephen Sondheim, Errico will be joining Guild Hall’s YouTube Channel to answer questions from viewers in real time about the concert and Sondheim. The concert can be viewed here: www.guildhall.org or YouTube.com.”

The video was originally going to be used as an archival record, but Errico has allowed Guild Hall to share the concert with all by adding the footage to Guild Hall’s YouTube Channel. “Accompanied by the great jazz pianist Tedd Firth, last summer Melissa Errico performed at Guild Hall, where she has been appearing steadily in concert since she was in her twenties, to ‘sing down’ her album, which includes such Sondheim classics as Send In The Clowns, Children and Art and Goodbye, For Now,” Guild Hall noted. “The album was called “the best all-Sondheim album ever recorded” by The Wall Street Journal and the concert was co-written with Adam Gopnik, staff writer for The New Yorker.”

“Apart from the unchanging beauty of Errico’s voice and the mischievous glamour of her style, it was the unique emphasis of her Sondheim program that made us think it was especially suited to this troubling time. Instead of singing the familiar sly, satiric Sondheim songs, she reached us all in that room by presciently choosing instead those songs of Sondheim that seem to speak to our most profound needs for comfort and reassurance, songs that are about confusion, protection, danger, and redemption – with some delight thrown in along the way,” the email continued. “The anthem of selfless love, Not While I’m Around, the great song of friendship in uncertain times, With So Little To Be Sure Of — she calls those songs ‘sublime,’ referencing the tradition of art that both frightens and inspires us.”

HamptonsFilm (hamptonsfilmfest.org) has introduced Friday Flashback. “We’ve enjoyed sharing movies with our community for the past 27 years, and while we wish we could continue to do so in person, for now we offer you Friday Flashback – weekly links to films and the post screening talks with filmmakers and actors that we recorded over the years,” HamptonsFilm Co-Chair Alec Baldwin said in a video about the programming.

The first movie + conversation celebrates Julie Andrews, who was honored at the 25th annual Hamptons International Film Festival with a Lifetime Achievement Award, in partnership with The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. The debut Friday Flashback features a special conversation with Ms. Andrews hosted by Baldwin that followed a screening of Victor/Victoria (1982), directed by Ms. Andrews’s husband Blake Edwards.

Bay Street Theater (www.baystreet.org) is launching Bay Street To-Go, a virtual entertainment and education program. The platform will debut with a Sip ‘n’ Sing virtual sing-along series on Friday, March 27 led by East End cabaret artist and singer Valerie dilorenzo. The live event will be held on Fridays at 5 p.m. It will stream via Zoom.

Quogue Wildlife Refuge (quoguewildliferefuge.org) debuted a virtual lecture series for all ages, QWR Nature News!, on Thursday, March 19. The first installment highlights the Great Horned Owl. “We thought that during this time of social distancing, we’d bring the programs to you. Over the next few weeks, on Tuesdays and Thursdays at one o’clock we will be live on Facebook with our animals and staff to bring you a short segment of fun and education. We call it #qwrnaturenews !! Join us to take a look inside Quogue Wildlife; meet the passionate individuals who care for the refuge and the animals who call it home. During the last half of our program we urge you to take part: ask questions and answer trivia to test your skills!” Quogue Wildlife Refuge said in an email.

The programs will highlight resident animals and they plan to base many of the lessons off of suggestions from fans on Facebook – so be sure to comment on Quogue Wildlife Refuge’s page with your ideas. Potential guests of honor include turtles and tortoises, groundhogs, bats, wild turkeys and more.

To watch the video, visit YouTube.com. The series will air on Facebook Live (www.facebook.com) on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 1 p.m.

East End Arts (www.eastendarts.org) is offering remote private music lessons for piano, violin, cello, guitar, trumpet, sax, and vocals – for both children and adults.