Student Art Festival: Eco vs Ego explores our symbiotic relationship with nature.

Led by landscape designer and guest Thought-Leader, Edwina von Gal, the Student Art Festival (SAF): Eco vs Ego asks students, school teachers, and artists to delve into topics such as Needs/Survival: Shelter, Food, Water; Infrastructure & Growth; Anthropomorphism & Symbolism; and Biophilia, through the practice of art, design, horticulture, and performance.

Core to the Festival, is the SAF In-School Artist-in-Residence program (SAF AIR). SAF AIR began in 2021 with 6 local artists helping over 150 students in 5 different schools to create work for the 2021 SAF: Past-Present-Future. The program has grown in 2022 to 23 artists working with all 14 participating schools to research, experiment, and produce works throughout the 2022-2023 school years, culminating in a Festival of exhibitions and performances in January and February 2024.

SAF AIRs include: Pamella Allen Interdisciplinary Artist & Educator, Keren Anavy Visual Artist, Cliff Baldwin Musical Artist, Sean Barret Montauk Seaweed Supply Co., Darlene Charneco Visual Artist, Viv Corringham Vocalist & Sound Artist, Andrea Cote Multi-disciplinary Artist, Lionel Cruet Multi-media Installation Artist, Mare Dianora Interdisciplinary Artist, Denise Silva-Dennis Artist & Educator, Jeremy Dennis Fine Art Photographer, Courtney Garneau Surfrider Foundation, Brianna Hernandez Interdisciplinary Artist & Educator, Matthew Jensen Conceptual Landscape Artist & Photographer, Liz Joyce Puppeteer, Laurie Lambrecht Visual Artist, Brett Loving Excavator Artist, Tucker Marder Interdisciplinary Artist & Landscape Designer, Cheryl Molnar Visual Artist, Mamoun Nukumanu Artist & Bio Art Designer, Jody Oberfelder Director, Choreographer & Filmmaker, Beau Bree Rhee Visual Artist & Choreographer, Alexandra Talty Journalist & Reporter, & Rosario Varela Abstract Landscape Artist.

In addition to the SAF AIR, Guild Hall has also partnered with several neighboring non-profits who share and consistently act-upon the values within this year’s theme, Eco vs Ego. Each organization will take part in the SAF AIR program by either working in-school with an SAF AIR, or welcoming the SAF AIR and their assigned schools for a field trip on their site.

Partnering organizations include: Ma’s House & BIPOC Artist Studio, Peconic Land Trust, Montauk Seaweed Supply Company, Cornell Cooperative Extension Marine Program, Surfrider Eastern Long Island, Folly Tree Arboretum, and Project MOST.

As the program develops throughout 2022-2024, Guild Hall’s Learning + Public Engagement department (L+PE) will present several showcases and public programs with Thought-Leader, Edwina von Gal, to platform the creativity and partnership of our students, schoolteachers, and SAF AIRs, all building up to the Festival in January and February 2024.

Through the Student Art Festival, Guild Hall provides opportunity and a platform for all involved to “think like an artist.” By pairing East End artists with local schools, we invest in the local creative economy, encourage the next generation of creative thinkers, and in reference to Guild Hall’s founding mission, to be “a gathering place for community where an appreciation for the arts would serve to encourage greater civic participation,” connect the tenets of creative production to civic action.

Free

Date: Thursday, January 18- February 24, 2024

Location: Guild Hall