The Art Carnival Offers A Vibrant East End Experience

Art you ready to have some fun? The Art Carnival will be running from Monday, June 3 through Friday, June 14 at The Art Barge, one of the two sites in Amagansett that comprise The Victor D’Amico Institute of Art.

“We are thrilled to bring back The Art Carnival this year at The Art Barge and delighted with the response we’ve had from the local schools that have booked their field trips to experience it,” Esperanza Leon, Administrative Coordinator, The Victor D’Amico Institute of Art / The Art Barge, shared.

Visits from several groups of students have already been booked as a free program offered to elementary-age children of East Hampton School District. Children from Kindergarten to 3rd grade will attend from the Montauk and Wainscott Schools as well as all of the Kindergarten classes from John M. Marshall Elementary and Springs Schools.

The program will also be open to the public at large and welcoming groups of up to 12 people to experience The Art Carnival during a Motivational Happy Hour, between 4 and 7 p.m. weekdays in those first two weeks of June. The cost of participation in the program will be $15 per person with a minimum of six people needed to reserve a spot. All ages are welcome and light refreshments are included.

Participants will be given a brief history and tour of The Art Barge and The Art Carnival before being led into the Motivational Gallery where they will interact with “art toys” that are based on the various basic elements of art – line, color, form, texture, etc. From the Motivational Gallery they will be ushered to the Upper Deck Studio for a hands-on art making experience.

“The Art Carnival is a significant art education program that we look forward to offering regularly to the community for years to come,” Leon added.

The Victor D’Amico Institute of Art has been a centerpiece of arts education on the South Fork of Long Island since the creation of The Art Barge in 1960 by Victor D’Amico, who was the founding director of Education at The Museum of Modern Art from 1937 to 1969. Based on Victor D’Amico’s teaching philosophies, the emphasis of The Art Carnival is on freedom of choice, problem-solving, and learning through all the senses. Individuals are encouraged to discover their power to create through this experience because, as D’Amico stated, “The principal aim of the teaching is to develop in each individual sensitivity to the fundamentals of art and thus increase the creative power and awareness of the vast heritage of contemporary art and that of the past.”

The Art Barge is located at 110 Napeague Meadow Road in Amagansett. For more information, call 631-267-3172 or visit theartbarge.org.