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INSIGHT SUNDAY WITH ARTIST
MICHAEL A. BUTLER
SUNDAY, APRIL 30TH, 2023 | 10:30 AM
TICKETS:
Members: FREE, RSVP required
Non-Members: $10
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L-R: Melting Pot, Michael A. Butler; Out of the Mists, Michael A. Butler
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Michael A. Butler is The Church’s Insight Sunday artist for the month of April. A painter, historian, and humanitarian, Butler will speak about his work and the rich history of our region, including his deep personal connections to Sag Harbor and his longstanding community involvement. His ancestral ties to the village date from the 1920s and he was a consistent vacationer here during his adolescence. He has also served on the board of the Eastville Community Historical Society for 20 years.
Butler’s work depicts the shimmering glory of our world – a quiet beauty that too many of us rush past. Referencing religion, legend, and myth, his compositions are precise and colorful. The region of the East End is a central theme: its landscapes, light, history, industries, flora and fauna as well as the lives of its inhabitants both contemporary and historic, including whalers, factory workers, village folk, farmers, and indigenous and enslaved peoples. Don’t let their compact size and meticulous facture fool you: Butler’s paintings punch well above their weight.
Insight Sundays, held the last Sunday of each month, provide individual artists with the opportunity to talk in depth about their processes, techniques, and concepts in the presence of their work. The event foregrounds the maker’s unique point of view and allows the audience to see through the artist’s eye. It is a monthly program open to the public and free to our members. Stop by prior to Insight Sunday to view Butler’s work, which will be on display for the entirety of April 5 – 30. Our open hours are Wednesday – Sunday, 12 pm-5 pm.
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MICHAEL BUTLER (Photo by Julie Froelich) The imagined realities shown in Michael A. Butler’s work draw upon the magical, dream-like state that exists within and around us. Sources of inspiration for his pictorial stories are derive from mythology, biblical/religious references, and, more recently, the forgotten history of the East End’s indigenous and enslaved population.
A self-taught artist, Butler’s preferred medium is acrylic on canvas, although at times he incorporates various other media. He prefers that his work be described as “narrative folk” or “intuitive.”
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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 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
www.thechurchsagharbor.org
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AAQ / Resource: Riverhead Bay Motors
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