The South Fork’s Musical Fairs
The ground beneath the Hamptons art fairs is shifting this summer. For the past three years, Art Southampton held its fair at the Elks Lodge on County Road 39 in Southampton and opened two weeks after ArtHamptons and Art Market Hamptons. Nick Korniloff, director of Art Southampton, said last year he liked being on the highway and opening later. Yet he announced recently that his fair will be moving to Nova’s Ark on Millstone Road in Bridgehampton in 2015 and will run from July 9 through 13, two weeks earlier than last year.
Traffic had to be one consideration as the fair’s V.I.P. preview last July shut down County Road 39 in both directions for miles as lines of cars arriving for the event at the Elks Lodge joined in with the late afternoon summer trade parade from the east and early weekend arrivals from the west.
Jennifer Garvey, deputy chief of staff for Southampton Town Supervisor Anne Throne-Holst, said, “Our office received more calls about that event than any other that I can recall.” She said she could not confirm whether Art Southampton was told not to return to the Elks Lodge, but said the town is aware of the traffic concerns and that she believed the fairs were actively looking to find alternate locations.
Not to be left out of the scramble, Art Market Hamptons is also on the move. While it has enjoyed the central location of the Bridgehampton Historical Society for the past four years, it is relocating to Fairview Farm at Mecox, located at 19 Horsemill Lane in Bridgehampton, and will run from July 9 through 12.
According to Ms. Garvey, no permits have been issued yet, so these early announcements of sites cannot be considered final until that approval process is completed.
Where does this leave ArtHamptons, which for the past two summers has pitched its tent at Nova’s Ark? Nowhere as of press time, according to Rick Friedman, president of Hamptons Expo Group. However, he was confident that he will find “a prominent site in the Hamptons, and the opening night will benefit Guild Hall and honor Ruth Appelhof, its executive director.”
There is also a question of when ArtHamptons might take place. Some are speculating that the July 9 date on its website is untenable, as the town will not likely approve three fairs in one weekend. But the speculated alternate date of a week before is July 4 weekend, also a potential traffic problem, no matter where it happens. Will Art Hamptons, the longest-running of the fairs, be the odd man out?
Jeffrey Wainhause, co-founder of Art Market Hamptons, was enthusiastic about the fair’s new venue, even though it is not on the highway. “Our new location, the Mecox farm, is in a beautiful spot on the water and will allow us to have a bigger tent, wider aisles, and larger public spaces.”
Ms. Garvey said, in effect, “not so fast” to these announcements. There have been times when events have been advertised without site approval and had to be cancelled.
It will be interesting to see how at least two fairs fare off the beaten path. Of course, in years past traffic has been snarled not only on County Road 39 during Art Southampton, but also at Nova’s Ark, with parking nightmares reported during the ArtHamptons V.I.P. openings. And how will the residents who live on the bucolic byways of Mecox feel about a four-day traffic influx during July?
Mark Borghi, a long-time veteran of Art Hamptons and Art Miami (Mr. Korniloff’s flagship venture held in December in Miami), will participate in Art Southampton this year. “Nova’s is a great place to have a fair,” he said. Regarding Art Southampton he said, “If there is one place to do a fair, that would be it. They know how to do a fair; they’re very committed to the quality of what they are doing.”
The shifting sands of the art fairs leave many questions unanswered. But with booth rental fees running into the tens of thousands, none of the fair organizers are likely to go down without a fight.
ArtHamptons started its seven-year run at the Bridgehampton Historical Society, a location that looks to be available this summer. Could it be a case of what goes around, comes around?