Sylvester Manor Joins East End Arts Scene with Call to Local Artists

The East End arts scene is vast, with centers dedicated to the arts firmly planted in every corner of the region — well, almost. East Hampton has Guild Hall and the LongHouse Reserve. Water Mill has the Parrish Art Museum and the Watermill Center. Sag Harbor and Southampton have several arts institutions each. On the North Fork, there’s East End Arts in Riverhead, and the North Fork Arts Center will soon open inside Greenport Theatre. But what of Shelter Island?

Built on Native American land in 1651, Sylvester Manor operated as a slave-dependent plantation, then Enlightenment-era farm, then estate to the founding family’s 11th generation before being converted into a place of education and reflection. Today, the Sylvester Manor Educational Farm has transitioned from a private estate to a community site of conscience that offers programming focused on Shelter Island’s history, diversity and agriculture. This summer, that focus will widen to include art among the institution’s pillars with the debut of Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor, their inaugural outdoor exhibition of sculptures, installations and artistic expressions.

“Sylvester Manor is delighted to join the growing number of cultural institutions on the East End offering visual arts programming,” states Stephen Searl, executive director of Sylvester Manor. “Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor will add yet another creative dimension to our array of historical, educational and agricultural initiatives through cultural engagement with local artists and the community. We look forward to welcoming the public to experience site-specific sculptures and installations across the manor’s grounds.”

The inaugural exhibition will be on view throughout Sylvester Manor’s woodlands, parklands, coastal shorelines, meadows and formal gardens from June 21 until September 7, 2024. Of greater importance to local artists is the date March 1, the deadline to submit art proposals for this milestone exhibition.

In order to cultivate a dialogue between the contemporary visual imagination and Sylvester Manor’s historical identity, artists with a standing connection to or originating from one of the East End’s five towns (Shelter Island, Riverhead, Southold, Southampton, East Hampton) are invited to interpret and reflect on the manor’s heritage as it pertains to the Indigenous, European and African individuals who lived, worked and died on the land. Artists should submit a current CV with a visual portfolio of relevant works, and a detailed plan for the proposed art design, outdoor installation and maintenance to Tom Cugliani at tcugliani@sylvestermanor.org. Both pre-existing artworks and concepts for new creations will be considered by the selection committee. Up to 24 installation proposals will be chosen based on artistic merit, site integration and the depth of representation of Sylvester Manor’s history, and the final selection announcement will be made by March 29.

“Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor presents a singular opportunity for artists to reinterpret Sylvester Manor’s position in local culture and the larger community. The aim of this exhibition is to show how this unique locality inspires the creative imagination and to bring deeper understanding of connectivity to the visual artists working here on the East End of Long Island,” states Cugliani, the exhibition organizer and curator, as well as the founder of the Tom Cugliani Gallery.

As exciting as the inaugural Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor is, it’s only one piece of the manor’s greater ongoing evolution. Alongside the exhibition announcement came news that Sylvester Manor recently hired their first capital projects coordinator, full-time Shelter Islander Julia Brennan, known within the community for her “Life Between the Ferries” newsletter and “Shelter Island Gazette” blog. In addition to other capital initiatives, she’ll be responsible for coordinating the big 1737 Manor House rehabilitation project — including improvements to entranceways, circulation and parking; adaptive reuse of existing historic structures; and plans for future development of new facilities on the 236-acre campus.

“We’re thrilled to have Julia Brennan join the Sylvester Manor team,” Stephen Searl states. “Her experience and background in historic preservation, communication and project facilitation, as well as her deep knowledge of and connection to Sylvester Manor, makes her the ideal candidate for this position. As Sylvester Manor continues to grow, we need experienced staff like Julia to help oversee the ongoing transformation from private estate to public nonprofit that is welcoming and accessible to all. We look forward to working with Julia in this new capacity and to ushering in a new era for the organization.”

Sylvester Manor Educational Farm is located at 80 North Ferry Road, Shelter Island. To learn more about the manor, call 631-749-0626 or visit sylvestermanor.org. For further details about Sculpture @ Sylvester Manor and submission guidelines, go to sylvestermanor.org/sculpture.