Guild Hall’s Artist Members Exhibition is celebrating 83 years. It’s the oldest non-juried show on Long Island.
The exhibition, which requires the artists to be members of Guild Hall in East Hampton in order to submit their works and be accepted, has grown over the years. About 400 artists participate annually.
“We will be celebrating our 90th anniversary in 2021, so we are excited that this year we will celebrate Guild Hall’s long-standing commitment to the artists who are the core of the museum’s mission,” said Christina Mossaides Strassfield, the museum’s director and chief curator.
In the early years of the exhibit you could pick up a Jackson Pollock or a Franz Kline for $250. Other early participants in the show, which was launched seven years after Guild Hall’s inception in 1931, included Lee Krasner, Alfonso Ossorio, Perle Fine, Bill King, James Brooks, Charlotte Park, John Little, and many more.
The exhibit attracts remarkable art world professionals as awards jurors who select winners in the categories of Top Honors, Best Abstract, Best Representational, Best Photograph, Best Work on Paper, Best Sculpture, Best Mixed Media, Catherine and Theo Hios Best Landscape Award, Best New Artist and up to 10 Honorable Mentions. The Top Honors winner is also awarded a solo exhibition in the museum at a later date.
For the 2021 exhibit, things look a little different. “Last year we had an opening reception, and a week later we had lockdown,” Strassfield said.
Curatorial Assistant Casey Dalene went into action mode the day after the museum was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “She photographed all 430 works and created the website so work could be viewed and purchased,” Strassfield continued. “This is something we had discussed, but COVID pushed us to actually do it. This year we will again have an online website component. This will be available so that in case we are in lockdown, we will be able to even have the judging online if needed.”
While Guild Hall has instituted COVID-19 safety measures for visitors, Strassfield added that she expects that the annual “Directors Choice” and “Meet the Winners” tour will most likely be online.
There will be the new tradition of an e-commerce website in conjunction with the exhibition, in addition to virtual gallery tours and artist talks.
The requirement for entry in the exhibition is that the artist must be an active member of Guild Hall through April 12. Deadline for online registrations is February 1. The exhibition will be up from March 6 through April 10.
“I have a profound appreciation for the 400-plus artists that participate in the Artist Members Exhibition every year,” said Dalene. “This gratitude grew even stronger last year when the exhibition was quarantined in our galleries for three months. At times we didn’t know when or how we would re-open, and the patience and support that we received from everyone in the show was heartwarming, to say the least. I felt like I was not only quarantining with my family, but with 435 artists.”
For more information on submitting a work, visit www.guildhall.org.