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As 2025 draws to a close, and with 41,000 visitors, including 10,000 participants in our bespoke education programs, I want to thank you for your support of the Parrish Art Museum. Each year, your generosity allows us to grow as a vibrant home for art, learning, engagement, and creativity.
The contributions we receive from our members, donors, and the local tax levy make everything we do possible, including serving the 1,500 patrons who participate in ACCESS PARRISH, our program dedicated to individuals with physical and mental disabilities. The Parrish truly is a museum for you and for our East End community.
With your help, we presented acclaimed exhibitions featuring dynamic East End artists including Audrey Flack, Ralph Gibson, James Howell, Charlotte Park, and Nina Yankowitz, alongside international figures such as Sean Scully, Hiroshi Sugimoto, Shirin Neshat, Bertrand Meniel, and Rafael Lozano-Hemmer. This vibrant mix drew new audiences, garnered critical acclaim, and attracted high-profile media attention. It also reaffirmed our commitment to presenting both iconic and underrecognized artists.We continued our FRESH PAINT series with The FLAG Art Foundation; and celebrated more than 1,000 student artists from 52 schools in our beloved annual Student Exhibition. This 72-year tradition remains one of our most joyful and deeply rooted community celebrations. We are also expanding our partnership with The FLAG Art Foundation through a continued collaboration that includes our Teen Council ARTscope and a forthcoming exhibition on the eight-decade career of Ellsworth Kelly.
Looking ahead, 2026 marks the 250th anniversary of the United States and a milestone year for the Parrish. We will present a yearlong Calendar of Exhibitions and Programs unlike anything we’ve done before. Through art, we’ll explore the core ideals of the Declaration of Independence: Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness, and the East End’s enduring role in shaping American creativity and identity.
We begin with Life in Regeneration: Long Island’s History of Ecological Art and Care, celebrating the region’s agricultural, fishing, and winemaking legacy while exploring how artists express the deep connection among art, community, and nature.Liberty follows with Abstract Expressionism: The East End, 1940 to Today, spotlighting legends like Elaine de Kooning, Lee Krasner, and Jackson Pollock, alongside lesser-known but equally vital women artists Mary Abbott, Perle Fine, and Gertrude Greene who helped shape this revolutionary movement right here on Long Island.
Finally, The Pursuit of Happiness is explored through three exhibitions: Sanford Biggers: Drift, Puerto Rican artist Tony Bechara: Bi-Cultural and Across Disciplines, and American Impressionists William Merritt Chase and Walter Granville-Smith, each exploring freedom, self-determination, and heritage across generations.
These exhibitions celebrate the region’s creative legacy and contributions to a broader American story.
The Parrish is for all, for local students discovering art for the first time, for artists shaping our culture, for ACCESS PARRISH participants engaging through inclusive programs, and for community members like you, who make it all possible.
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