Sculpture Must Come Down

The East Hampton Village Design Review Board ruled on April 6 that a metal sculpture situated outside a recently opened art studio on Gingerbread Lane must be removed.

Shortly after the sculpture by Steve Zaluski 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.

Dan Reichl, a code enforcement officer and building inspector, said last week that per village code, “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.”

Ms. Mannix was initially allowed to keep the sculpture  in place pending the D.R.B.’s decision, but now has 30 days from the notice of violation to remove it. She said last Thursday that, while she had asked for an explanation as to why the sculpture could not remain, it would be removed over the weekend. It remained in place as of yesterday.

“It’s no big deal,” she said last Thursday. “I wish I went to them first, but I didn’t know. I’m disappointed that it didn’t get okayed, because I’m not in the main ‘walking’ village. Granted, I am in the incorporated village, but I’m shocked. Disappointed and shocked.”

Ms. Mannix said that she will return to the D.R.B. with a rendering of a different sculpture and seek its placement in a different location on the property. Had the D.R.B. allowed the sculpture to remain, it would still have had to be moved, as a portion of it was situated on village property.

The studio, which opened last month, offers classes for adults and children 6 and up.

“There’s a lot coming up,” Ms. Mannix said, “but people need to sign up for it to stay open.”