DIRECTOR’S CORNER

May 2023

We are officially into the throes of spring and as I type, I find myself bewildered that the first third of the year has come and gone!

We are busy, busy, busy preparing for our Art in the Park festivities on June 3rd and 4th at Heckscher Park, returning this beloved event back to the community.  This year, we have the support of Legislator Stephanie Bontempi and of Supervisor Ed Smyth – please take a moment to thank them and the rest of the Town of Huntington Parks Department staff for assisting us with this event.  Please join us on both days and support our exhibiting artists who will be selling their handmade fine art.

We continue to be just as busy in the Jeanie Tengelsen Gallery.  You have just a few more days to enter your artwork into our Big Picture exhibition!  This exhibition will be on view next month.  I am looking forward to seeing all of your submissions and the final exhibition, jurored by Simon Levenson.

We’ve added more classes to our roster, including some on Wednesdays for the summer!  Check out our class catalogue here.  And, we have added more programs to our Summer Art Adventure Program too, bringing it back to five weeks this summer!  Registration is open for SAA and our Summer Pre-College Portfolio Program.

While we continue to rebuild from our losses incurred from the pandemic, we are looking to the future to bring you exciting new classes, challenging workshops, and stimulating exhibitions.  We can’t do it without your support. Please fuel your creativity, expand our programs, give to our future, and push the button. . . Donate to the Art League today!

Thank you, as always.

Marianne Della Croce
Executive Director

April 2023

Happy April!

The Art League continues to move forward!  And while we are busy planning your favorite programs and events, there is also one immediate need that continues to remain in the forefront, and that is our Annual Appeal.  We need to raise $100,000 by the end of the year.  These funds are necessary for the Art League to have in our coffers as we continue to look to refinance our mortgage next spring.  We absolutely need to refinance; the quarantine and its lingering effects on our finances are still being felt, and will continue to be felt for the next few years.

And so, I ask you, to please remember to continue to support the Art League over and above your tuition.  There are several ways to do so.  The first, and easiest, is by renewing your membership.  Your membership will give you various perks and benefits including discounts to your favorite classes.
You can also make a donation, to continue to support our wonderful programs for artists of all ages and backgrounds.  Your donation will help us to underwrite building expenses, studio expenses, and our other general operating needs.  Your donation enables us to continue to move forward, and will boost our balance sheet for the refinance.  I cannot stress this enough.  While I know there was intense concern around losing the building during quarantine, we aren’t out of danger yet.  We still are continuing to pull ourselves up from the financial challenges of the pandemic.  And so, every dollar makes a difference!

Thank you – for continuing to support The Art League of Long Island and by making it the premier, THE BEST, visual arts education school on Long Island.  Hope to see you soon!

Sincerely,
Marianne Della Croce
Executive Director