A new exhibition, “Signs of Springs: The Springs Artists’ Exhibition Posters,” opens on January 24 at the East Hampton Historical Society’s Clinton Academy Gallery. Curated by Stacy Myers and Aimee Lusty, the exhibition features over 50 years of posters publicizing the Springs Improvement Society’s annual Artists’ Invitational, which are on loan from the collections of the Springs Historical Society and the Springs Improvement Society. An opening reception will be held on January 24 from 4 to 6 PM.
“I enjoyed going through the poster archive at Ashawagh Hall to select works for this show,” said Aimee Lusty, Board Member of the Springs Improvement Society and exhibit co-curator. “The posters are artworks in themselves. It was humbling to see the continued support from major figures in modern art to local faces for our historic community space.”
“The posters we selected demonstrate a range of artists, printing processes, and styles from 1971 to 2024 while highlighting the contribution of women artists to the Springs community,” said Stacy Myers, exhibit co-curator and Director of Education at the East Hampton Historical Society.
The Springs Improvement Society held its first “Artists of the Springs” invitational exhibition in 1968 on the grounds of Ashawagh Hall, coinciding with the annual Fisherman’s Fair. It started as an outdoor exhibit to raise money for local scholarships and the construction of a gallery wing. Works were contributed by “just about every well-known artist in the Springs,” reported the East Hampton Star that opening year.
The first exhibit was kindled by a decades-long relationship between The Springs Improvement Society and artists that flocked to the area in the mid-1940s and 1950s, most notably Lee Krasner, James Brooks, Willem de Kooning, and John Little.
In 1972, artist Arnold Hoffman suggested that the Society produce a poster to announce and promote the show, starting a lively tradition that continues today. The posters, featuring a single artwork reproduced in various printing processes, including silkscreen and lithograph, have become collectible artworks. The Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Exhibitions Abroad requested a portfolio of the first five posters for an international traveling exhibit called “Images of an Era: The American Poster, 1945-75.”
The exhibition runs through February 28 at Clinton Academy at 151 Main Street in East Hampton. For more information about visiting hours or school tours of the exhibit, visit EastHamptonHistory.org.