Since Roman times, it has been considered auspicious to get married in June. The month of June is named for Juno, the Roman goddess of marriage. Couples married this month are thought to be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and prosperity.
Wedding traditions are as numerous and varied as the couples marrying, and one for many Jewish couples is the huppah, a canopy meant to represent the home soon to be shared by the couple. A huppah can be as simple as a prayer shawl hung from poles or as elaborate as a hand-crafted trellis covered in flowers or handmade decorations.
At the Jewish Center of the Hamptons, the huppah is not merely a temporary structure for weddings, but rather a permanent outdoor art installation. In 1991, at the bequest of the estate of Ruth Emmet, it was commissioned from William Tarr (1925-2006), a Springs artist.
Tarr is best known for his massive steel sculptures, including his memorial to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. One of the largest steel sculptures in the country, it can be seen on the Martin Luther King Jr. Educational Campus in Manhattan. Tarr’s work is also in the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C.
For his wedding huppah, Tarr departed from his usual towering steel structures and turned instead to wood, using four locally available varieties: oak, maple, walnut, and cherry. According to the artist, the huppah was partially inspired by a sculpture series he was working on at the time called “Trees.” Each stanchion features a slightly different carving, and the canopy is formed with a frame of dry branches.
May the huppah at the Jewish Center of the Hamptons shelter couples for many happy years to come.
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Julia Tyson is a librarian and archivist in the East Hampton Library’s Long Island Collection.
