Arts & Leisure

In August 1931, Guild Hall in East Hampton opened its doors for the first time. With its jewel-box proscenium theater and fine art galleries, the much-loved institution has been a cultural cornerstone of the Hamptons ever since. Now, Guild Hall is poised to celebrate its 90th season with a full summer lineup of events or fine arts and performing arts talent.

Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor has named theater professional Hope Villanueva to its newly created literary manager position. In the new role, Villanueva will work closely with Artistic Director Scott Schwartz and Associate Artistic Director Will Pomerantz to shape the development of new work and new artists at Bay Street.

Bay Street Theater’s “Story Time,” a series of children’s books read aloud on Zoom by the authors themselves, continues with Dan Sadlowski reading “Finding Brooklyn — And The Next Great Superhero,” at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 10.

Southampton Artists Association (SAA) presents its spring art exhibit “Hope Blooms” at the Southampton Cultural Center’s Levitas Center for the Arts. The show features work by over 30 member participants and will be on view through Sunday, May 2.

In a new exhibition at Guild Hall Woodhouse Gallery, Argentinian multidisciplinary artist Karin Waisman will present “The Horizon Is Not a Straight Line,” a site specific, 250-inch long cast resin and ceramic wall relief that investigates the notion of the border, conceiving it not as a straight line but a complex contact point between two elements that push and pull while continuing to support one another. Also on view in the Moran and Spiga Galleries will be “Paradise,” featuring the work of Enoc Perez, a  contemporary  Puerto Rican-born multimedia  artist best known for his paintings and oil stick drawings. Both shows will run Saturday, April 24, to Monday, May 31.

The building will be constructed on the site of the Water Street Shops complex, which is best known for its tenant, 7-Eleven. Renderings show the parking lot transformed into a tree-lined lawn opening up to John Steinbeck Waterfront Park behind the theater.

Bay Street Theater’s proposal to hold its Summer Stage series outdoors continues to draw pushback from Sag Harbor Village officials, who have yet to rule on the request.

Friends of Bay Street Theater will raise the curtain on their vision for a new home for the Sag Harbor cultural institution at a public webinar on Tuesday, April 6, at 11:30 a.m.

Since he began working as a civil rights activist in his native Alabama in the early 1960s, Bob Zellner, the son and grandson of Ku Klux Klan members, has remained vigilant and on the front lines in the fight against racism. As a result, over the course of the last half century, he has been beaten or arrested more times than he can count. And now, there's a feature film that tells the story of his early life as an activist.

Starting Saturday evening, East Hampton’s Guild Hall will revive its beloved, long-running opera series through “Met Under Moonlight,” a slate of past Met performances — starting with “Carmen — Live in HD Encore” — screened in a drive-in movie theater format at Main Beach.

HamptonsFilm, home of Hamptons International Film Festival, has selected fellows, screenplays and mentors for the 21st edition of its annual Screenwriters Lab, which will take place April 9 to 11. The lab pairs rising screenwriters with established screenwriters, directors and creative-producers for a weekend of one-on-one mentoring sessions. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, this year's lab will take place virtually.

In honor of Women’s Month, Grenning Gallery in Sag Harbor is currently presenting a formidable new painting from the gifted Italian artist Daniela Astone, virtually on exhibit through April 15.

On Friday, April 9, the Parrish Art Museum in Water Mill will present two screenings of HBO’s newly released documentary “Black Art: In the Absence of Light,” an illuminating introduction to the work of some of the foremost Black visual artists working today.

Under the curatorial leadership of artist April Gornik, along with art dealer Tripoli Patterson and artist Dan Rizzie, the Sag Harbor Partnership is hosting a virtual art sale featuring works by both well-known artists and emerging talent to commemorate the 175th anniversary of Sag Harbor Village.

On Saturday, April 17, Southampton Arts Center will open its new exhibition, “EARTH — Artists as Activists.” The exhibition is a timely, actionable multidisciplinary exhibition featuring artists who use their talents to focus on environmental conservation and activism.