Dan's Papers - May 16, 2008 - A New Generation Of Artists On The East End

They might be cutting your lawn, serving you food, or cleaning your pool. And they might be local artists. Despite the economy and rising housing costs, the Hamptons still manages to attract artists who will do anything to live and work here. Artists are as important to the community here as farmers, fishermen and American Express black cardholders. The East End has a tradition of providing inspiration to world-renowned artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem De Kooning, and it is home to artists in other disciplines such as Edward Albee, Peter Beard, Chuck Close and Julian Schnabel. Without our local art scene, the Hamptons would just be another wealthy resort town where art is defined by paparazzi photos.

Why is there still a next generation of artists, writers, musicians and gallery owners on the East End, even though the cost of living in the Hamptons has changed so dramatically? Can a new artist come into town like he could 40 years ago, buy a house, make a studio all on a small budget? No, he cannot, and yet they are still here and they are for real.

Twenty-something artist Grant Haffner cannot afford a home out here, but he can support his passion. The local painter who grew up in Springs, right down the street Jackson Pollock's house, has a studio in his parents basement and works as a landscaper and at the Dan Flavin Art Institute in Bridgehampton. He is a member of Bonac Tonic, a local art group, and is developing a reputation for his landscapes of streets and telephone poles in the Hamptons. "My goal is to be an artist, that's all I want to do," he said. And he wants to do it here. "Out here if you want to be an artist there is kind of a weird economy where you can afford things doing odd labor jobs. There is a great art scene here. People appreciate art here. As artists, we know we can do it here and we are not gonna stop because it's what we love."

In addition to Haffner, Bonac Tonic has spawned artists Scott Gibbons and Justin Smith who live in the same house doing their art. There is Mica Invisible Marder, of the Marders Landscaping clan on Snake Hollow Road, who grew up in Springs as well and has a reputation for his sculpture and fish paintings. He rents a studio from his father, works for a family in the summer, and finds richness in the earth of the area. He was a sculptor by the age of 20, having traveled to Europe to perfect his craft before returning to join the local art scene.

Mica Invisible created his own art scene with the help of his brother, Silas Marder, who converted a family barn into an art gallery to display his brother's work. Silas has a calm and relaxed demeanor, and had the tenacity to establish his gallery, a kingpin in the local art scene. Instead of going to New York, the Marder boys chose to make it happen here.

Beyond visual artists, the Hamptons is home to dedicated, talented musicians. Homegrown bands perform nearly every week in the summer, and many of them are very young.

Little Head Thinks perform regularly at the Stephen Talkhouse. There's the mother/daughter combo Mama Lee, whose lead singer is a Spanish teacher at East Hampton High School. The owner of Crossroads music store, Michael Clark, keeps bands alive by supplying them with instruments, and a place to jam on the weekends. There is "Telly," a young man who supports his passion for music by selling real estate. Then there is the amazing story of local Sag Harbor band Too Busy Being Bored, who just last weekend raised thousands of dollars in support of a local cancer patient and classmate. The boys in the band are just 14 years old. One member is the son of Spalding Gray. Tim Dalene, a local builder in his 20s who works with his father at Telemark Inc. in Bridgehampton, organizes a music festival at East Hampton Studios on Industrial Road in honor of his cousin who was killed in a car accident. Thousands show up to the festival.

Young local actors get serious here too, active at The Naked Stage play readings at Guild Hall and performing at the Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center and Bay Street Theatre. Actors in Montauk show up in droves to study with local resident and actor Gary Swanson, known for smoking a cigar and teaching students shirtless. There is 24-year-old Isaac Klein, a noted stage director, and Mike McKee and Joey Biondo, both SAG union actors who base themselves out of East Hampton where they grew up. Biondo commuted to the city to work at the Jekyll and Hyde restaurant where he got enough hours racked up to become union. And, with local talent, this writer is co-producing his own musical about his experience as a lifeguard at Main Beach - supported by working in editorial at Dan's Papers.

The artists are here and they stay because, like those before them, they have a love and a passion for the area that feeds their souls and inspires creativity, and our community is better for it.