LongHouse Reserve SAY YES Summer Benefit

LongHouse Reserve, the sprawling 16-acre nature reserve and sculpture garden in East Hampton, hosted its 2021 Summer Benefit gala, SAY YES, on Saturday, July 24, 2021. 

Over 400 guests celebrated under a midsummer sky sipping cocktails from the HMPTNS CBD bar (alcoholic and non) and watching mermaids and synchronized swimmersBrooklyn Peaches in the fountains. They danced until moonrise to live music by Jamaican Reggae band ROYAL KHAOZ by Yoko Ono’s Chess Set and jazz music by Melissa Walker, Chris McBride and their Jazz House Kids on the Willem de Kooning Lawn. After dark, SOUNDWALL presented a music and light show by the Buckminster Fuller Fly’s Eye Dome and there was live movement by dancer Huiwang Zhang. New sculptures by Daniel Arsham, John Giorno, Prune Nourry, and Beverly Pepper grace the art-laden grounds.

“This is what happens when you say YES!” said Dianne Benson, LongHouse Reserve Co-President, as she welcomed friends and supporters, dressed in a Joshua Werber headpiece. The designer created floral headwear based on the LongHouse Reserve gardens for guests including Caroline Baumann, Andrea Karambelas and Essie De Kwiatkowski, Ellie Libby, Lys Marigold, Cati Van Milders, Michael Pollack, Faith Popcorn, Temidra Willock, Tanya Willock, and Victoria Wyman. Other guests included Bill Caleo and Megan LeFauve, Ralph and Cornelia Heins, Sylvia Hemingway, Tony Ingrao and Randy Kempner, Fitzhugh Karol and Lyndsay Caleo, David Neville, Ralph and Ann Pucci with their son Michael Pucci, Cindy Sherman, Lee Skolnick, LongHouse Reserve Executive Director Matko Tomicic, Suzanne Vega, Gucci Westman, and Robert Wilson. 

The night raised over $500,000 to support the reserve, including from the SAY YES Artsy Art Auction, with works by Christo and Jeanne-Claude, Dawn DeDeaux, Shirin Neshat, Kiki Smith, Lucy Villeneuve, and Ai Weiwei. 

LongHouse Reserve’s SAY YES Summer Benefit was catered by Canard Inc, with beverages by Frederick Wildman & Sons, with sponsors including Frost Productions, Frank Alexander NYC, Harbor Market and Kitchen, HMPTNS, Minogue Brothers Swimming Pools inc., MOE Masonry, Ray Smith and Assoc., R.B. Irrigation, Taylor Creative IncWhitmores and media sponsor LUXE Interiors+Design.

About LongHouse Reserve

LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre sculpture garden located in East Hampton, NY, featuring works by Willem de Kooning, Yoko Ono, and Dale Chihuly to name a few. LongHouse was founded by Jack Lenor Larsen (1927-2020), internationally known textile designer, author, and collector. As many as 75 works of art may be viewed in the LongHouse gardens, which are open to the public from April to December with exhibitions that change each year. The gardens serve as a living case study of the interaction between nature and people in the 21st century. LongHouse’s goal is to expand the imagination and appeal to visitors of all ages; with an education program providing students with docent-led school tours, online materials, internship activities, family-activity guides, and the LongHouse Scholarship Award.