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ET WILLIAMS AND THE CELEBRATING CREATIVES OF COLOR COMMITTEE,
IN COLLABORATION WITH THE CHURCH,
PRESENT AN AFTERNOON CELEBRATING THE ARTS
OF SAG HARBOR’S HISTORIC BLACK BEACH FRONT COMMUNITIES
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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2023
4:00 PM – Panel On the Present and Future of Art in the Historic Black Beach Front Communities of Sag Harbor
4:30 PM – Exhibition Walk Through with Co-Curators Sara Cochran & April Gornik
5:00-6:00 PM Wine & Cheese Reception; hosted by E.T. Williams and the Celebrating Creatives of Color Committee
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TICKETS:
Free with RSVP
Historic Black Beachfront Communities Outdoor Art Sale, 2022, Photos Provided by Celebrating Creatives of Color Committee
Join us in a unique community collaboration that celebrates the past, present, and future of the creative and artistic legacy of Sag Harbor’s storied Historic Black Beachfront Communities. The event will begin with a panel discussion on the present and future of this artistical rich neighborhood, featuring artists Judith Henriques-Adams, Donnamarie Barnes, and Jeremy Dennis, moderated by The Church’s Executive Director Sheri Pasquarella. Following that, guests will be invited to a guided tour of our exhibition Return to A Place By the Sea, which looks back on the works from the 1980s through the present by Nanette Carter, Gregory Coates, Al Loving, and Frank Wimberley, whose relationships flourished in their time spent in Sag Harbor and East Hampton. The event will conclude with a wine & cheese reception co-hosted by E.T. Williams, a visionary supporter of African American art since the early 1960s and currently a Board member of The Church Board, and the Celebrating Creatives of Color Committee, who will announce their plans for a community art show currently being organized as an outdoor fair taking place for the second consecutive year on August 26th.
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Return to A Place By the Sea, was co-curated by The Church’s Co-Founder April Gornik and Chief Curator Sara Cochran. The show will run until May 27th, and we encourage you to visit during our open hours, Wednesday-Sunday 12 PM – 5 PM.
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DONNAMARIE BARNES
Donnamarie Barnes began working at Sylvester Manor in 2014 as a volunteer history docent and joined the staff in 2016 as Curator/Archivist. Her ongoing work as the Director of History & Heritage includes researching the lives and identities of the Enslaved, Free People of Color and Indigenous People of Sylvester Manor and the East End of Long Island and interpreting their stories into the Manor’s narrative. This work is an integral part of the organization’s mission to Preserve, Cultivate and Share the stories of all the people of Sylvester Manor.
Donnamarie worked for over thirty years in the editorial photography field as a Photo Editor for People Magazine and as Photo Editor at the Gamma Liaison photo news agency. She is a resident of Ninevah Beach in the historic SANS Community in Sag Harbor, where she grew up photographing the community and beach landscape. She continues to pursue her photographic work combining the research at Sylvester Manor with capturing the historic memory in the landscape. Donnamarie holds a BFA degree from the Cooper Union School of Art.
(Photo Courtesy of the Artist)
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JEREMY DENNIS
Jeremy Dennis (b. 1990) is a contemporary fine art photographer and a tribal member of the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, NY. In his work, he explores indigenous identity, culture, and assimilation. Dennis was one of 10 recipients of a 2016 Dreamstarter Grant from the national non-profit organization Running Strong for American Indian Youth. He was awarded $10,000 to pursue his project, On This Site, which uses photography and an interactive online map to showcase culturally significant Native American sites on Long Island. Most recently, Dennis received the Creative Bursar Award from Getty Images in 2018 to continue his series Stories. In 2013, Dennis began working on the series, Stories—Indigenous Oral Stories, Dreams and Myths. Inspired by North American indigenous stories, the artist staged supernatural images that transform these myths and legends into depictions of an actual experience in a photograph. Dennis has been part of several group and solo exhibitions, including Stories—Dreams, Myths, and Experiences, for The Parrish Art Museum’s Road Show (2018); Stories, From Where We Came, The Department of Art Gallery, Stony Brook University (2018); Trees Also Speak, Amelie A. Wallace Gallery, SUNY College at Old Westbury, NY (2018); Nothing Happened Here, Flecker Gallery at Suffolk County Community College, Selden, NY (2018); On This Site: Indigenous People of Suffolk County, Suffolk County Historical Society, Riverhead, NY (2017); Pauppukkeewis, Zoller Gallery, State College, PA (2016); and Dreams, Tabler Gallery, Stony Brook, NY (2012). Dennis holds an MFA from Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA, and a BA in Studio Art from Stony Brook University, NY. He currently lives and works in Southampton on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation.
(Photo by Simon Howell)
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JUDITH HENRIQUES-ADAMS
Judith was born in New York City. Her undergraduate work was done at both Howard University School of Fine Arts in Washington DC, and at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. She has an additional graduate degree from the Bank Street School, Parsons School of Design in New York City, and Truro College. Judith began teaching in The Hague in The Netherlands, and she later taught in Teaneck, New Jersey. Her work draws from her experience in teaching calligraphy, a love for the written word, and her interests in shape and graphic design. She and her husband Robert reside in Sag Harbor.
(Photo Courtesy of the Artist)
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ET WILLIAMS (Photo Courtesy of ET Williams)
E.T. Williams, CEO of Elnora, Inc., attended Brooklyn College in 1955. At that time, he served as president of the Brooklyn College Chapter of the NAACP, raised money for sit-ins in the South, and received the Rheingold Good Neighbor Award for his community service. Williams received his B.A. degree in economics in 1960 and received his real estate and insurance license in 1959 to take over his father’s business while his father recovered from an illness.
After teaching at a junior high school in Brooklyn, New York, he went to work for the Peace Corps. In 1963 in Washington, DC, Williams stood behind Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. during his “I Have a Dream” speech. Williams then moved to Washington, DC, where he continued his work with the Peace Corps. In 1969, Williams became the first African American officer of a commercial bank in the State of Maryland. In 1971 when he returned to New York City, he joined Chase Manhattan and began working in institutional banking as a lending officer. Williams left banking in 1982 and returned to real estate as chairman of the board and head of the Fordham Hill Project. He retired in 1992 and began Elnora, Inc., a private family investment company. He serves on the Board of Directors of Fiduciary Trust Co. of New York and served as chair of the audit committee for eight years.
Williams is an avid African American art collector. Included in his collection are works of art by Jacob Lawrence, Romare Bearden, and Aaron Douglas. He sits on several museum boards, including the Brooklyn Museum and the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA). Other boards include the NAACP Legal Defense Fund; the Nature Conservancy (the Long Island Chapter); the Trinity Church Wall Street; the Central Park Conservancy; and the Cathedral Church of St. John The Divine. Williams continues to collect art in New York City, Sag Harbor, Long Island; Dark Harbor, Maine; and Naples, Florida, where he resides with his wife and family.
(Photo Courtesy of ET Williams)
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THE CELEBRATING CREATIVES OF COLOR COMMITTEE
CCC volunteer committee members are art enthusiasts, artists, and long-time Sag Harbor residents of the Sag Harbor Hills, Azurest and Ninevah Beach communities. The members include Andrea Cottman, Beverly Granger, Gwen Hankin, Victoria Pinderhughes, Jennifer Segre, Paula Taylor, and Olivia White. They came together initially in 2021 to revive the tradition of community art shows to showcase local creatives and support institutions that serve the area.
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The Church was established in 2019 by artists Eric Fischl and April Gornik. Housed in a deconsecrated 19th century church, its doors were opened in April 2021. Our mission is to foster creativity and to honor the living history of Sag Harbor as a maker village. The East End represents an exceptional artistic legacy, spanning the practices of indigenous art of several centuries ago, Abstract Expressionists of the mid 20th Century, and the many celebrated writers, makers, musicians, and visual artists of the recent past and current moment. Core programming includes visual art exhibitions, concerts and events, educational programming, workshops, lectures, and an artist’s residency.
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The Church
48 Madison Street
Sag Harbor, NY 11963
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AAQ / Resource: Riverhead Buick | GMC
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