Sculpture at East Hampton Art Studio May Need to Move

The East Hampton Village Design Review Board will decide on Wednesday whether or not a silver sculpture situated outside a recently opened art studio on Gingerbread Lane will have to come down.

Shortly after the sculpture was erected outside the new Mannix Studio of Art, code enforcement officials informed Karyn Mannix, an East Hampton artist and gallerist, that if she did not remove it she would face a fine.

"They were very nice to me," Ms. Mannix said of village officials. The kinetic sculpture, created by Steve Zaluski, "is for the kids. It's fun, fits the studio, and it's not an eyesore. The building looks very nice and clean, because it's an art studio." She discussed the sculpture with owners of neighboring properties before installing it, she said, and none had objected.

Nonetheless, "anything that goes outside of any commercial building in the village, or any changes to the exterior, needs to be approved by the design review board prior, which it wasn't," Dan Reichl, a code enforcement officer and building inspector, said on Monday. "It's up to them whether or not she can keep it there." The design review board meets at Village Hall at 5 p.m. on Wednesday.

Ms. Mannix has been allowed to keep the sculpture in its current place for now, pending the design review board's decision. Should the board allow the sculpture to remain, it will still have to be moved because a portion of it lies on village property.

The studio, which opened last month, offers classes for children 6 and up and adults, including life drawing, color theory, study of artists ranging from Michelangelo to Bansky, photography, magic, and the circus arts. A grand opening on May 28 will feature a photographic exhibition of rock 'n' roll musicians including the late David Bowie and Mack Bolan, as well as Elton John.