Guild Hall Executive Director Andrea Grover & Board Chairman Marty Cohen on Entering Phase 2

With great pride and fanfare, they greeted invited members of the press and selected others to tour several newly renovated indoor spaces along with the gardens of the Marty and Michele Cohen Arts Building. The John Drew Theater renovation is now in Phase Two, and Andrea Grover said its reopening will happen in early 2024. Members of the renovation team, including Ed Hollander, Graham Rice, and Moataz Bashir of Peter Pennoyer Architects, also spoke.

Initially promoted as a “Plan of for 21st Century Renewal,” the historic architecture plan has created new capabilities for the 1930s-era performance space. The John Drew Theater hosts up to 150 presentations annually, including theatrical productions, dance, concerts, screenings, comedy, talks, and emerging forms. The modernizing of the systems and technologies that support this volume and variety of programs will now make Guild Hall an emerging leader in all aspects of the educational and performing arts.

The John Drew Theater, when it opens, will no longer have a center aisle, and the seat rows will gradually rise to prevent heads from blocking views. The booths at the back have been eliminated, with the tech switchboard, once located next to those booths, now being located elsewhere to be less of a distraction to those sitting around it. A new sophisticated multi-camera system will be installed in the theater for filming events.

Ms. Grover, with great zeal, gave a brief talk on the history of the Hall. She mentioned it opened in 1931 as one of the first multidisciplinary centers in the country, stressing the efforts, vision, and generosity of the founder Mary Woodhouse. Grover also stressed the importance of the actual East Hampton community that also contributed individuality financially to the fund-raising at the height of the depression. Guild Hall thus became the jewel of the town, providing a space for community communication along with cultural enrichment.

The gathering sampled the new convenient handicapped entrances to the building, gardens, and lobbies. There is now a more direct less door configuration to get from the entrance into the John Drew Theater as well as the newly lighted exhibition spaces that now have access via much-widened doors. Both Chairman Cohen and Ms. Grover stressed the “miracle of gaining more space” while maintaining the integrity of the original footprint of Guild Hall.

Guild Hall will now move forward with all the trappings of the latest technological advantages available at this time with new lighting and acoustical design. The walk-through seemed to give the impression that the learning and exhibition centers had somehow grown, and in some cases, they had, yet in the same dimensions the Hall has always had.

As well as a viewing of the educational centers and gardens, including a walk around, next was the inaugural exhibition. The attendees had a preview of the first exhibit to be presented in the renovated hall. It is a presentation titled: “Renèe Cox: A Proof of Being.” Renèe Cox and exhibition organizer Monique Long were in attendance. The award-winning Ms. Cox, whose life-sized photos are dramatic and detailed, exhibit a combination of power, light, and composition. Both in black and white and color. Ms. Cox’s works will mesmerize you and provoke emotion, conversation, and admiration.

There is now a second garden area right off the newly paved parking lot on the east end of the building. The plantings were done with the local types of plants one sees throughout East Hampton, with some phenomenal brickwork that, although new, seems like it has always been there.

Although some areas of the building were, in fact, still missing minor elements, work crews were there politely still on the job detailing the facility; however, the truth is Guild Hall feels ready and poised to continue its mission. Once again, the mission statement is painted over the entrance in gold leaf to be viewed by everyone who will walk through the three traditional arches that still make up the entrance to Guild Hall. It reads, “We invite everyone to experience the endless possibilities of the arts: to open minds to what art can be; inspire creativity and conversation; and have fun.”