LongHouse Reserve

LongHouse Reserve LongHouse Reserve is a 16-acre sculpture garden and public arts venue founded by textile designer Jack Lenor Larsen in East Hampton, New York. It serves as a nexus for landscape art, contemporary sculpture, textile arts, and site-specific installations, attracting curators, collectors, and scholars from institutions such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Museum of Modern Art, Guggenheim Museum and international biennials. The Reserve is renowned for commissions by artists connected to movements represented in collections at the Smithsonian Institution, Tate Modern, and Victoria and Albert Museum.

History

Founded in 1992 by Jack Lenor Larsen, a textile designer who worked with firms including Warner Bros., Knoll, and collaborators from Hayden Gallery and the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, the site grew from Larsen's personal collection and experimental fabric studios. Early partnerships involved curators and patrons affiliated with the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Walker Art Center, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Over time, the Reserve hosted exhibitions featuring artists linked to movements documented by the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the National Gallery of Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago. The estate’s programming attracted grants and support from foundations associated with the Guggenheim Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Grounds and Gardens

The grounds feature landscaping influenced by designers and gardeners represented in archives at institutions like the New York Botanical Garden, the Royal Horticultural Society, and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. Plantings and pathways reference concepts used in installations at the Getty Center, the Kravis Center, and the Cloisters. Sculpture sitings draw on precedents set at the Storm King Art Center, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and Gibbs Farm, integrating large-scale works by artists whose careers intersect with collections at Centre Pompidou, Fondation Beyeler, and the Nasher Sculpture Center. Garden seminars have featured practitioners from the New York Botanical Garden, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

Art Exhibitions and Programs

LongHouse Reserve curates seasonal exhibitions and commissions that involve artists represented by galleries such as Gagosian Gallery, Pace Gallery, David Zwirner Gallery, Hauser & Wirth, and Gladstone Gallery. Exhibitions have included work by sculptors and installation artists with histories at the Venice Biennale, the Documenta exhibition, and the Whitney Biennial. The Reserve’s programmatic roster intersects with curators and critics from the Andy Warhol Museum, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, and the Morgan Library & Museum. Collaborative initiatives have been organized with the New Museum, the Carnegie Museum of Art, and the Denver Art Museum. LongHouse has hosted panels featuring figures connected to the Getty Research Institute, the Institute of Contemporary Arts, and the Kunsthalle Basel.

Collections and Architecture

The collection emphasizes sculpture, textiles, and designed objects sourced from artists and makers represented in the inventories of the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Textile Museum, and the Museum of Arts and Design. Architectural features reflect exchanges with architects whose work appears at the Museum of Modern Art, the American Institute of Architects, and the Library of Congress archives. Buildings and pavilions on site echo dialogues with projects by designers included in exhibitions at the Cooper-Hewitt, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and the National Building Museum. The Reserve’s holdings include site-specific commissions by artists whose work is in the holdings of the Tate Modern, the Centre Pompidou, the Met Breuer, and the Nasher Sculpture Center.

Education and Community Engagement

Educational programming at the Reserve includes workshops, lectures, and residencies developed with partners from academic and cultural institutions such as Princeton University, Yale University School of Art, Columbia University, Barnard College, and the New School. Community engagement initiatives collaborate with organizations like the East Hampton Historical Society, the Guild Hall, and the Southampton Arts Center. Internships and fellowships connect students to archives and curatorial practices used at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Chicago Architecture Center. The Reserve’s outreach models are comparable to public programs offered by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Frick Collection, and the Brooklyn Museum.

Category:Gardens in New York (state) Category:Sculpture gardens, trails and parks in the United States