NEW ORGANIZATION OF/FOR WRITERS & ARTISTS

By Debbie Tuma

Since East Hampton has one of the country's largest aggregation of working artists, writers, and other creative types, it only makes sense that they should have their own group to help network and support their endeavors. And they do. A new organization is now being formed, aptly called, "The Artists and Writers of East Hampton" (AWEH).

AWEH is an advocacy group of professional and advanced artists, writers and other creative people who often make their living at their craft. Last Sunday afternoon, about 35 artists and writers met at the Wainscott home of writer Libby Hummer to find out more about this new organization. Rich MacDonald, a playwright of Wainscott and President of AWEH, said in these hard economic times it's important for creative people to network and support each other - to share information and ideas for the benefit of all.

"The art community in East Hampton is one of the largest economic boons to the town, and it is also the reason that many people choose to come out here to live or to visit," he said. "We're all in this together, and we want to work within our community to make things better for our future."

MacDonald said that about a year ago, a few people split from the East Hampton Artists Alliance, and some of them decided to join this new group.

One of the first things the new AWEH is doing is organizing an upcoming conference, called, "In It Together: Art and the Economic Crisis," at the John Drew Theater of Guild Hall, on Wednesday June 17. WLIU Music Director and Program Host Bonnie Grice will moderate this conference.

Panelists and speakers will include artists Ralph Carpentier, one of the creators of this group, Audrey Flack, April Gornick, and Eric Ernst; writer Tom Clavin; gallery owners Pam Williams and Karen Boltax, representatives from local businesses and real estate, as Prudential Douglas Elliman's Paul Brennan; and museum directors including Helen Harrison of the Pollack-Krasner House, Terri Sultan of the Parrish Art Museum, Sherry Dobbin of the Robert Wilson Center, and Ruth Apelhof and Christina Strassfield of Guild Hall. At 5 p.m, Suffolk County Poet Laureate Tammy Nuzzo-Morgan, of the North Fork Poetry Scene, will read from her poetry collection.

There will be two panels - one that focuses on how to survive the current downturn in the economy, and another on how to rebuild the arts once the economy has improved.

Katy Gurley, a freelance writer of East Hampton who attended the meeting last Sunday, said, "This conference is a major step forward for us, in helping the community to understand who we are and what our purpose is. We hope to have more conferences like this in the future."

Christina Strassfield, Museum Director and Chief Curator at Guild Hall (a sponsor of the event) said she is also excited about this new group and conference.

"Guild Hall has been a vital part of the East End artistic community for the last 77 years - a major gathering place for artists of all levels. We felt it was imperative during these difficult times to join forces, create a dialogue and be a source of information for the artists of our community."

Gurley said AWEH also has plans for a writer's group that will host monthly readings featuring various local writers, to be held at the Springs General Store at 5 p.m. on Sundays during the summer. AWEH is also planning to have a "meet the candidates" night with the two East Hampton Supervisor contenders, Ben Zwirn and Bill Wilkinson.

The next monthly meeting of the AWEH will be held after the conference. "We want to see what kind of energy we get out of the conference," said MacDonald. "In the meantime, artists, writers and other creative people are welcome to join our group. All they need is one sponsor from someone already in the group."

The "In It Together: Art and the Economic Crisis" conference is at the John Drew Theater, Guild Hall, June 17, from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Suggested donation is $5.00. WLIU will broadcast the conference live and stream it on its website at wliu.org. For more information on the group: AWEH.org

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