Guests at the opening of the 85th Artist Members Exhibition. Photo: Jessica Dalene
Join Guild Hall’s Director of Visual Arts, Melanie Crader and Honorable Mention artists for an artist-led gallery tour of Guild Hall’s 85th Artist Members Exhibition.
Awards Juror Storm Ascher, founder of Superposition Gallery and The Hamptons Black Arts Council, selected Michael A. Butler of Sag Harbor as the Top Honors recipient for his work Lilies of the Field.
In addition to the Top Honors prize, Ascher awarded Honorable Mentions to Lilah Yektai, Ross Watts, Anita Giraldo, Raphael Ogoe, and Kenneth Jackson.
The Artist Members Exhibition began in 1938, and Guild Hall continues this long-standing democratic tradition by hosting the oldest non-juried museum exhibition on Long Island. This lively presentation features more than three hundred works and showcases a variety of mediums. As in the traditional salon exhibition, works by established artists are exhibited alongside those of emerging talents and first-time exhibitors, offering a sampling of artistic practices within our community. This initiative provides an opportunity for audiences to support and celebrate the artists who live and work in our immediate region and for artists to sell their works. In turn, artists show their commitment to and support of Guild Hall. Early participants included James Brooks, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Alfonso Ossorio, Charlotte Park, Jackson Pollock, and many more.
Guild Hall invites nationally and internationally recognized art professionals to select the Top Honors Award and Honorable Mentions. The recipient of the Top Honors Award is given a future solo exhibition at Guild Hall.
AME 2024 Awards Juror: Storm Ascher
Storm Ascher is an independent curator, writer, and founder of Superposition Gallery and The Hamptons Black Arts Council.
Galleries will be open Thursday to Sunday, 12-5 PM. Museum admission is always free.
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Melanie Crader
Melanie Crader joined Guild Hall in Summer of 2023 as the inaugural director of visual arts as Guild Hall opened its newly renovated galleries. Recently, she served as deputy director at the Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY, where she also served as interim director. For 8 years prior, Melanie held the role of Director of Exhibitions and Publication Management at the Hammer Museum, UCLA, Los Angeles, where she was responsible for financial and administrative oversight of all curatorial initiatives, exhibitions, and publications. Managing the institution’s renowned exhibition program, she collaborated with local, national, and international institutional partners including The Met, Museum of Modern Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, Brooklyn Museum, MCA Chicago; Walker Art Center, Stedelijk Museum, and Pinacoteca de São Paulo.
During six years at the Menil Collection in Houston, she managed the operating budget and exhibition program, led a variety of special projects including institutional publications, oversaw major digital infrastructure initiatives, and implemented long-term budget planning for building projects and a capital campaign. Before entering the non-profit sector, Melanie worked in the marketing and communications department of an international investment company.
Originally from Louisiana, Melanie Crader, an artist and educator who taught at the university level, holds MFA from Ohio University, Athens; BA from McNeese State University, Lake Charles, LA; and attended the Banco Santander W30 Program, UCLA Anderson School of Management. She is a member of the American Exhibition Organizers and served on the Steering Committee from 2017 to 2021. For several years, she served on the Board of Directors and was an Artist Board Member of DiverseWorks Art Space, Houston.
Photo: Lori Hawkins
Sponsors
The Artist Members Exhibition is supported, in part, by the Giuppy Nantista Fund and the Helen Hoie Fund.
Visual Arts programs are supported by funding from The Michael Lynne Museum Endowment and The Melville Straus Family Endowment.
Additional support provided by Friends of the Museum: Sara Amani and Timothy Ward, Danielle Anderman, Shari and Jeff Aronson, The Artist Profile Archive, Amalia Dayan and Adam Lindemann, Cara and John Fry, Susan Lacy, Robert Longo and Sophie Chahinian, Onna House, Lisa and Richard Perry, Laurie and Martin Scheinman, Jeff and Audrey Spiegel, Hillary and Jeff Suchman, Barbara Tober, Jane Wesman and Don Savelson, Neda Young, and an anonymous donor.
Free gallery admission is sponsored, in part, by Landscape Details.
Guild Hall’s Learning + New Works programs are made possible through The Patti Kenner Arts Education Fellowship, Vital Projects Fund, the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Endowment Fund, and The Melville Straus Family Endowment.
Additional support provided by Friends of Learning + New Works: Julie Raynor Gross, Stephanie Joyce and Jim Vos, S. Kutler Foundation, N. Glickberg, D. Glickberg, and J. Abrahams, Peter Marino, and Stephen Meringoff.