New Parrish Art Museum Will Open November 10

The grand opening of the Parrish Art Museum's new facility in Water Mill, a 34,400-square-foot Herzog & de Meuron-designed building, will be Nov. 10, the museum announced this week.

And local residents — of the Southampton and Tuckahoe school districts — and the museum's members and donors will have exclusive access starting Nov. 5. 

Ground was broken July 19, 2010, on the new building, being constructed on a budget of $26.2 million, 95 percent of which has been raised to date, according to a museum statement. The Parrish states that this is the first art museum built on the East End of Long Island in more than a century and guarantees it "will be the cultural centerpiece and most recognizable architectural landmark in the region."

“We could not be prouder of this amazing accomplishment,” Parrish Director Terrie Sultan said. “The new building is a beautiful embodiment of the creative legacy of the East End, and with light-filled galleries, a flexible multi-purpose performance space, and many other public amenities, the Parrish will take its place as a real center for cultural engagement for the entire East End.”

Norman Peck, the treasurer of the Parrish Board of Trustees, said he has been waiting to see a new museum completed since 1998. "This museum stands for warmth and education of an aesthetic nature for future generations,” he said.

The museum will include a multipurpose room for performances and other functions, a cafe, and a terrace for outdoor dining and events. The landscape is designed by landscape architects Reed Hilderbrand, using all native plants. Tree sponsorships are still available for $30 each.

The original Parrish Art Museum, founded in 1897, is located on Jobs Lane in Southampton Village, in a village-owned building.

The new facility will be double the size of the original, big enough for the Parrish to put its permanent collection on display while simultaneously showing rotating exhibitions. The that end, the Parrish from the National Endowment for the Arts. The collection includes 2,600 works, ranging from the 19th century to the present, from William Merritt Chase, Fairfield Porter, Willem de Kooning, Lee Krasner, Roy Lichtenstein, Jackson Pollock, and many others.

The inaugural exhibition will be "Malcolm Morley: On Paper," featuring paintings, screenprints, etching and monotype by the English artist, who had lived and worked in Bellport since 1983.

The public opening lands on Veterans Day weekend, and admission will be free all three days.