When the Patchogue Arts Council celebrated its 18th birthday at Spycoast Kitchen & Cocktails in Patchogue recently, it was a woo-hoo! moment.
“We had about 65 supporters, artists, and members from all over Long Island, including Brooklyn,” said executive director and senior curator Beth Giacummo. “Our music came from Patchogue, Bellport, and Nassau with younger bands. We went classic with Happy Birthday tiaras.”
They even had a cupcake piñata. The nonprofit now known as Patchogue Arts Council MoCa L.I.—Museum of Contemporary Art Long Island began at Keleen Guyer’s dining room table with 20 people.
“We were all looking at her backyard,” said Lori Devlin, PAC chairperson. “I think Keleen got the names of the various artists that included filmmaker Campbell Dalglish from Michelle Stark, director of the Suffolk County Office of Film and Cultural Affairs.”
“Keleen was the glue in the beginning, her and Karen Ferb,” Giacummo added.
Fast forward. PAC now has 250 members and nine board members, with over a thousand art shows, exhibits, events, and lectures, such as February’s “Wining About Art Lecture + Wine Tasting Series,” held with this group, as well as an upcoming building campaign.
We met with Giacummo, Devlin, and the board members who arrived early for the GSBN interview at the 20 Terry Street gallery to better understand how the organization achieved its spirited trajectory. Both were asked to name a few pivotal events that drew attention to their mission.
“It was our Patchogue Arts Biennial in the fall of 2009,” said Giacummo. “We took over the former Briarcliffe College (now Blue Point Brewing Company) on West Main Street.” The four-week Briarcliffe event from Oct 3 – 24 took place in a 12,000-square-foot exhibit hall showcasing 44 Long Island artists from various disciplines; it was also a way to introduce visitors to Patchogue’s downtown.
“The Biennial was simultaneous with our Walking Arts Tour, where we utilized over 20 different vacant spaces on Main Street, showing local and international art. We offered maps that included art on South Ocean Avenue and looped east to Rider, then back to Waverly Avenue, where we painted empty windows with murals,” Giacummo explained.
The opening day culminated in art, poetry, and music offered in the lobby of the Patchogue Theater.
Arts on Terry Street, the percolating area that hosts their gallery, Plaza Cinema, and Art Space, with its main-floor exhibit space, debuted in 2014.
“It’s always been daylong,” said Giacummo. “We used carport tents in the beginning, but now we have professional tents. It’s the only art fair from all over Long Island and now possibly the city and Connecticut. Artists find opportunities here, as it represents more than just exhibiting and selling. We get over 300 artists.”
There’s poetry, music, and over the years, SEPA Mujer, the Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Patchogue Chamber, and the Patchogue-Medford Library have participated. Then MoCA Lights debuted in 2020, a brilliant six-day signature fall event that produced colorful, imaginative projections on Patchogue buildings and in pop-up galleries, providing a free wonderland of evening events to walk to.
“We always show a dozen spots,” Giacummo said, including the Carnegie Library, Patchogue’s Post Office, and the old Patchogue Bank building. Also, the Patchogue Theater marquis stays lit from October to the end of December with a theme.”
Patchogue mayor Paul Pontieri commented on the arts progression, including Artspace, that has graced the village.
“The Patchogue Theater needed a dance partner, and the Patchogue Arts Council became that partner between the theater and Plaza Mac,” he said. “Look at the crosswalk across from the theater, that’s about the arts that connects the theater to the library. They came up with the signs in the village.”
He pointed out the alleyway with its murals, near the crosswalk leading to the parking lot and to Terry Street, which connects the theater to the main street.
“The arts are important to any community and show that you care; you care about today, and you care about tomorrow,” he said.
In addition to an upcoming art show, PAC is launching its fundraising campaign for its $ 12.5 million PAC MoCa L.I. Future Facility at 312 East Main Street, a state-of-the-art venue on nearly an acre of land.
“We have architect H. Randall Goya and La Guardia Design Group Landscape Architecture waiting in the wings,” said Devlin.
Goya has worked on the Neue Galerie and the Oak Room and Bar at the Plaza Hotel in Manhattan. The two proposed buildings, connected by a corridor, have north-facing skylights, a visible storage and study center, and special doors that will open for performances.
