A jubilant crowd elegantly snaked around the 16-acre sculpture garden and nature sanctuary, sipping Hampton Water bubbly rosé impishly served through a pop-up green façade by a gilded gloved hand, marching with a New Orleans-style band, dancing with masked “tree spirits” on stilts, and raisng over $900 million.
LongHouse Reserve, some 100-plus miles from Manahttan in East Hampton, transported guests to another sphere last Saturday, as the garden and sanctuary lit up with vibrant lights to fete this year’s theme, LUMINOSITY, where light emanated in myriad senses. There are many efforts to draw fine art into nature, but few have flawlessly used natural spaces to create otherworldly places.
Creative intuition and curiosity led revelers along the paths, looking up to Daniel Arsham’s Bronze Eroded Venus de Milo upon arrival, and marveling at the all-white chess pieces on Yoko Ono’s Play it By Trust, and how Dale Chihuly’s Cobalt Reeds play along with the verdant landscape and reflect on a pool of water. The exceptional artworks by world-renowned masters interact with the lush environment, inlcluding the organic beauty of wildflowers.
“Tonight is our most successful benefit ever!” exclaimed LongHouse Reserve Board President Louis Bradbury. “We’re grateful for our co-chairs Gael Towey and Raisa Lopez-Rhoden, for their incredible leadership in bringing tonight to life.”
The benefit – featuring performances arranged by honoree Mary Jane Brock including juggler Thom Wall and Tree Spirits throughout the garden, magician Mark Mitton, the John Ludlow Marching Band and DJ Mister Williams – raised over $900,000 with more gifts continuing to flow to celebrate beauty and sustainability around the historic house and garden at the largest open air cultural center in Long Island. Guests feasted on decadent passed canapés and a farm-to-table dinner under the stars catered by Hamptons Aristocrat, and later indulged in desserts by Carissa’s Bakery. Cocktail hour included an imperial tray of Altima caviar exquisitely served by a woman holding a party tray harkening back to the quintessential cigarette girl.
The live auction, led by Jacqueline Towers-Perkins and online bidding for the Annual Artsy Auction, featured an array of exceptional artworks, such as the seduction of Maryam Eisler’s You Drag, I Light (2024), drawing viewers back to a flirtatious bygone era, and Robert Wilson’s Pessoa (2024), inviting fine art lovers into his experimental theater universe, paying homage to Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa with a pithy watercolor and ink on paper.
The 2025 LongHouse Luminosity Honorees are: Vija Celmins, whose meticulous paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints depict natural imagery, including ocean waves, desert floors, and night skies; and philanthropists Mary Jane and Charles Brock, who generously support LongHouse, as well as Guild Hall, the East Hampton Historical Society and the Ladies’ Village Improvement Society of East Hampton (LVIS).
“We may be tonight’s honorees, but we’re really here to celebrate LongHouse”, said Charles Brock.
Mary Jane Brock continued: “Mother Nature and (LongHouse founder) Jack Lenor Larson gave us this masterpiece of a place, so let’s all do what we can to be sure it continues to flourish!”
LongHouse Reserve was designed and built by Lenor Larsen (1927-2020), an artist, collector, and world-renowned textile designer and weaver, as a case study to exemplify a creative approach to contemporary life. He believed visitors experiencing art in living spaces have a unique learning experience, and his mission continues to grow and amaze new audiences.
“We are excited that LongHouse will soon be ready to open Jack’s house to the public!” announced LongHouse Director Carrie Rebora Barratt. “Thanks to the support of the Town of East Hampton – which voted to give LongHouse $170,000 for repairs – and to a group of our trustees who have matched that number, creating the start of a capital campaign to continue this work.”
The 2025 season opened with a Spring Awakening celebration on April 5.
“This season will be our most welcoming ever. We have art, performances, conversations, craft workshops, and well-being activities for all”, said Rebora Barratt. “At LongHouse, we live with art in all forms, in a space between art and nature that brings joy into our lives. Our new installations are in harmony with the garden, and our highest priority is bringing friends together in places of peace.”
Most of the new works are by women artists (Hangama Amiri, Alice Hope, Jill Platner, and Vadis Turner), making the season an ode to the feminine spirit. They join permanent favorites by Buckminster Fuller, Sol LeWitt, Grace Knowlton, Barbara Shawcroft, Toshiko Takaezu, and Ono, and renewed loans by Arsham, Maren Hassinger, Fitzhugh Karol, Mark Mennin, and Kenny Scharf. Visitors may rest and gaze as they sit on furniture designed by Paola Lenti. Lenor Larsen’s friednm, textile artist Barbara Shawcroft (1930 – 2023) spent three years working in his studio and her estate gifted LongHouse Cosmos (1996) to be displayed for the first time this season.
“How many of you have come to LongHouse more than once in a year? Have you seen the four seasons here?” Bradbury asked Saturday night. “Daffodils, cherry blossoms, and azaleas in spring; lush green of summer; brilliant autumn leaves, and spectacular snowdrops and witch hazel in winter. Tonight, we come together in gratitude for all of it.”