LongHouse Reserve’s Beautopia Summer Benefit Celebrates Art, Nature, and the Creative Spirit of East Hampton
- Vanessa Gordon
- 3 hours ago
- 6 min read
There are few places on the East End where art, nature, design, and community feel as organically intertwined as they do at LongHouse Reserve.
Set across 16 acres in East Hampton, LongHouse has long served as a sanctuary for creative thought and sensory discovery. Founded by artist, collector, and world-renowned textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen, the reserve was conceived as a living environment where gardens, sculpture, architecture, and daily life could exist in meaningful conversation. Today, its mission continues through its collections, outdoor sculpture, horticultural programming, educational initiatives, and the many artists who find inspiration in its grounds.
This summer, that spirit will come into full bloom with Beautopia, LongHouse Reserve’s upcoming Summer Benefit on June 27th. The evening will honor Sean Scully and Bruce Horten, two figures whose work and commitment reflect the creativity, generosity, and dedication to the arts that define LongHouse.
More than a gala, Beautopia is a celebration of what LongHouse represents: beauty as an ongoing practice, art as a way of living, and nature as a constant collaborator.
A Preview of Beautopia
LongHouse Reserve held its annual Artist’s Cocktail reception, announcing plans for its upcoming Summer Benefit, Beautopia, on June 27th. Hosts Greg McCarthy and Peter Bickford opened their Fifth Avenue residence for over 80 guests.
Now in its third year, the pre-gala reception allows Board members to personally meet and thank the artists participating in the benefit.
“One of the greatest pleasures of recent weeks is getting to know all the different artists that bring so much joy to LongHouse,” said Lara Sweeney, the newly appointed LongHouse Executive Director, “More than 60 artists are contributing to our gala auction.” Louis Bradbury, LongHouse Reserve Board President, said “Lara only started about a month ago, but already she has brought such energy and enthusiasm to LongHouse. As we look ahead to this year’s gala and the future of the gardens and programs, it’s exciting to have her helping lead this next chapter for the organization.”
“‘Utopia’ is the party theme this year,” said Gael Towey, Gala Co-Chair and Board member, “The way that nature and art communicate in the garden. This year’s honorees, both of whom are here tonight; artist Sean Scully, recognized for his contributions to contemporary abstraction and whose sculpture is currently on view at LongHouse; Bruce Horten, recognized for his decades-long commitment to our organization and the arts.”
“Our benefit is our largest fundraiser that we have at LongHouse,” said Raisa Lopez-Rhoden, Gala Co-Chair and Board member, “It’s an important event for the community, helping us reinvest in our gardens.”
For tickets and further information visit https://secure.qgiv.com/event/beautopiasummerbenefit/
Where Art and Nature Meet
Among the participating artists, a shared language begins to emerge: attentiveness, curiosity, patience, and a reverence for the East End’s rare balance of openness and intimacy.
For artist Laurie Lambrecht, LongHouse is “a place of continual discovery.” She describes the gardens and art as “a magnet for artists, gardeners, and creative thinkers,” adding that the conversations and connections that emerge are part of its magic.
Lambrecht, who grew up in Bridgehampton, sees the East End not simply as a place of residence, but as a formative visual and emotional landscape. “The meeting of farmland, wetlands, woods, and ocean has fueled a lifetime of creative exploration,” she shares.
Growing up among artists, writers, farmers, and tradespeople gave her an early appreciation for creativity, craftsmanship, and a strong sense of place.
Her work is deeply rooted in observation. “Nature teaches me to slow down,” Lambrecht says. “Some of my most meaningful ideas emerge through walking, looking, and being alone outdoors.” Photography allows her to pay attention, while stitching and weaving extend that looking into a more meditative process. The word she chooses for her connection to LongHouse is Attention—a fitting description for both her practice and the reserve itself, a place that rewards those willing to slow down and notice.
Beauty as Continuous Inspiration
For Bastienne Schmidt, LongHouse’s magic lies in “the combination of exquisite nature and exquisite art.” She sees the East End as a community bound by a desire “to create something good together,” with nature serving as both material and muse.
“I draw from nature in various forms,” Schmidt shares. “A beach walk to clear my mind is essential, but I incorporate through different natural materials into my work too.”
To Schmidt, Beautopia means “to see beauty in nature as a continuous inspiration.” Her use of malleable materials, some inspired by Jack Lenor Larsen, honors LongHouse’s relationship with nature and reflects the reserve’s lasting influence on artists working across disciplines. She also incorporates imprints of leaves and sea salt into her work, creating a tactile connection between material, memory, and place.
The Charged Space Between Art and Life
Artist Almond Zigmund is drawn to the way LongHouse refuses to separate art from life. “It’s not a white cube - it’s a place where work exists in relationship to the ground it stands on, the light hitting it, the bodies moving around it. That’s what I’m always trying to do — engage the eye and the body at once. LongHouse gets that instinctively. It’s not asking you to stand back and observe. It’s asking you to be inside something.”
That sense of immersion is central to Zigmund’s own work, which often explores the charged space between oppositions: the natural and the built, the wild and the manicured, enclosure and openness.
She describes Beautopia as “the place you’re always building toward but never quite arrive at - and I think that’s the point.” For Zigmund, the idea is less about a fixed destination and more about the moment of artistic discovery, when something unexpected reveals itself.
The word she chooses for her connection to LongHouse is Threshold. “My work has always been about the edge between things - inside and outside, enclosure and openness, tension and release. A threshold is not a wall and it’s not a void; it’s the charged space in between. And LongHouse, with its gardens and sculptures and that particular kind of openness, is itself a threshold - between the cultivated and the wild, between art and living.”
A Peaceful Oasis in East Hampton
For John Haubrich, LongHouse offers serenity and immersion. “I love the serenity and immersive experience of LongHouse Reserve. It’s a peaceful oasis in the heart of East Hampton—a place to relax, explore, and be inspired.”
The East End’s light and natural beauty inform his work, while photographs of flowers, trees, and sky become part of his abstract compositions. “Nature is central to my creative process,” he says. “I incorporate photography of flowers, trees, and the sky into my abstract work, allowing the natural world to guide my artistic vision.”
To Haubrich, Beautopia represents “the celebration of beauty at LongHouse—from its gardens and collections to its educational programs. It’s a space where beauty is honored in every form.”
His word for LongHouse is Committed, reflecting his dedication to art, nature, and the enduring spirit of the reserve.
Curiosity and the Unexpected Moment
Philippe Cheng describes LongHouse as “intentional - unintentionally, often not unsurprising, of created and found beauty.”
For Cheng, the East End’s community and light embody both physical and emotional qualities, shaping the spaces of people and places. Nature, he says, is “an inescapable force in both inspiration and process.”
Beautopia, to him, is “the possibilities of the unexpected moment.”
The word Cheng chooses is Curiosity. It is a quality he learned from Jack Lenor Larsen, one that he describes as “asking and searching for what may not be known allows for all sorts of possibilities.” It is also a quality that feels deeply embedded in LongHouse itself.
About LongHouse Reserve
LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre public sculpture garden and cultural space in East Hampton, New York, founded by artist and textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen as a living example of how art, nature, design, and daily life can coexist. Established in 1975 and shaped around preserved native landscapes, plant collections, and more than 60 outdoor sculptures, LongHouse serves as a center for art, wellness, and education while encouraging visitors to experience art within natural and domestic settings. Larsen later expanded the property with a modernist home inspired by the 7th-century Shinto shrine at Ise, Japan, designed in collaboration with architect Charles Forberg and built by Joe Tufariello, continuing his vision of LongHouse as a space for creativity, contemplation, and community engagement.
A Living Celebration of Beauty
As Beautopia approaches, the benefit feels especially aligned with the essence of LongHouse: a place where beauty is not static, but alive; where gardens and sculpture continue to change with the season; where community gathers not only to celebrate, but to sustain a cultural landmark that has shaped the East End for generations.
For tickets and further information, visit https://secure.qgiv.com/event/beautopiasummerbenefit/