On writing, Ernest Hemingway once said, “We are all apprentices in a craft where no one ever becomes a master.” True enough, but this weekend here on the South Fork sees a plethora of masterful author talks scattered around Hamptons hamlets sure to pluck at your bibliophile heartstrings. This particular line-up of featured wordsmiths ain’t nothing to sneeze at: several East End residents, a clinical professor from an Ivy League university, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.
Art, history and music blend together with an early black American folk music concert at Shelter Island’s Sylvester Manor, while a panel discussion on the infamous Spanish schooner La Amistad is at the John Jermain Library in Sag Harbor. Celebrate some of the world’s most rebellious celebrities at Bridgehampton’s White Room Gallery and view “where the garden meets the sea” in Remsenburg.
Ladies: be sure to check out the first of two “shop and sips” at Sunset Beach on “The Rock” tomorrow, filled with plenty of rosé and deals on over 30 designer brands. And don’t miss the Mountainfilm Festival tour as it makes its Hamptons stop at the Southampton Arts Center on Sunday.
Knowledge is power, folks — and we’ve got all that you need to know…
Portrait meets pop art at White Room Gallery
The opening party for artist Russell Young’s “Rebel Rebel” exhibit is tonight from 5 to 7 p.m. at the White Room Gallery in Bridgehampton. Continuing through September 10, “Rebel Rebel” is a collection of intimate portraits chronicling the life and times of some of the world’s most iconic celebrities, capturing the essence of how they lived notoriously troubled, yet undoubtedly intriguing lives. Manipulating printed portraits, Young uses different types of paints and a little bit of diamond dust to bring some of these beloved icons back to life.
Enjoy Black American music at the Manor
This Saturday at 5 p.m., Sylvester Manor on Shelter Island hosts its “Creekside Concert” featuring musician and scholar of Black American music Jake Blount. Based in Providence, Rhode Island, the award-winning Blount will perform his one-man show, specializing in the early folk music of Black Americans, with New York’s New Moon Acoustic Blues as his opening act. The concert is rain or shine and attendees are encouraged to bring a beach chair or blanket. Doors open at 4 p.m.. Tickets are $25 per person, free for kids 10 and under.
Go to a Mountainfilm screening at SAC
Screenings from this past May’s Mountainfilm Festival is at the Southampton Arts Center at 7:30 p.m. this Sunday, August 27. With the aspiration to create a better world, Mountainfilm is a documentary film festival that takes place in Telluride, Colorado, and celebrates adventure, the environment, social activism and the filmmaking community from across the globe. Films slated to screen at SAC include Mink!, Leo & Chester, Apayauq, Walking on Clouds, Nina & Irena, and The Orchestra Chuck Built. Admission is $10, free for members. The screenings will be outdoors, so guests are encouraged to bring a blanket and/or beach chair. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the films start at 8 p.m.. Register here.
Attend an Amistad discussion
This Sunday, August 27, Sag Harbor’s John Jermain Library hosts a screening and forum about the people on board the Spanish-owned, two-masted slave ship La Amistad. As part of “Amistad Weekend,” presented by the Eastville Community Historical Society, the Southampton African American Museum, and the Montauk Historical Society. This free panel discussion, complete with clips from Steven Spielberg’s film Amistad, will be moderated by Eastville’s executive director Dr. Georgette Grier-Key. Event starts at 1 p.m. and you can reserve your spot in advance.
Talk art, for real, at the Parrish
A panel discussion regarding the Parrish Art Museum’s current exhibit “James Brooks: A Painting Is a Real Thing” is at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow night, August 25. Participants will include Dr. Klaus Ottmann, adjunct curator of the collection and artist Mike Solomon. The discussion will focus on the life Brooks shared with Charlotte Park, the studio in Springs that they shared and his common practices as an artist. The talk will be held in the Lichtenstein Theater at the Water Mill-based museum. Admission is $16, $12 for seniors, $5 for members and free for students and children. Pre-registration is required. Do it here.
Take in some art in Remsenburg
“Where the Garden Meets the Sea” is at the Remsenburg Academy through Sunday, August 27. An exhibition featuring works by Eileen Baumiester McIntyre and Laurette Kovary, the academy is located at 130 South Country Rd. in Remsenburg and will be open this Friday, Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m..
Meet a Pulitzer Prize-winning author in Quogue
Quogue Library’s “Authors in Conversations” summer series continues this Sunday, August 27, at 5 p.m. under the tent. This time around, it’s Quogue resident, Stony Brook University teacher and writer Genevieve Crane in conversation with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Paul Harding. Harding’s newest book This Other Eden will be up for discussion. The talk will be followed by a Q&A, along with a wine and cheese reception and book signing. $10 per person. Click here to register or call 631-653-4224.
Hear free music across the Hamptons
Kidd Squid Brewing Co. hosts a couple of live performances this weekend, starting with Rob Europe from 7 to 9 p.m. tonight. On Saturday, Chris Klein starts at 7 p.m.. Real East End Brass plays Gosman’s dock as part of the Montauk locale’s summer concert series this Sunday, August 27, at 6 p.m. Paul Fried performs tonight beginning at 8 p.m. at The Green Room in the Sag Harbor movie theater. Concerts on the lawn of East Hampton’s Club House continue with Gene Casey and The Lonesharks performing tonight starting at 6 p.m. and Pink Mirror playing tomorrow, August 25, also at 6 p.m.. Reggae Sundays continue at the Daniels Hole Road location with Dan Bailey Tribe performing at 6 p.m. August 27. Tonight at 7:30, Westhampton Beach’s 34th annual gazebo concert series continues with Soul of Motown slated to be performed on the village green (at the corner of Main Street and Mill Road). Rain date is on Sunday.
See two authors discuss their work in East Hampton
A couple of free author talks are at East Hampton Library today and Saturday, August 26. Tonight beginning at 5 p.m. Fishing the Morning with author and East Hampton resident Lenny Ackerman will be up for discussion. Co-presented by BookHampton, Ackerman revisits some familiar and explores some new landscapes along the Northeast coast, all the while keeping that fisherman’s paradox in mind — that torturous feeling of not getting a single bite while in a paradise-like setting. Click here to register. On Saturday afternoon, Columbia University clinical professor Richard Brockman will be on hand to discuss his autobiography Life After Death: Surviving Suicide from 1 to 3 p.m.. Yeah, we know it’s not the nicest topic, but it happens and should be talked about. And hey, it could save someone’s life. Register here.
Gain some insight, hear a quintet at The Church
Hamptons Jazz Fest presents vocalist Mafalda Minnozi and guitarist Paul Ricci, along with their quintet, at The Church in Sag Harbor tonight at 6:30 p.m.. Tickets are $30, $25 for members. “Insight Sunday” is at The Church in Sag Harbor on August 27 from 10:30 a.m. to noon. This Sunday’s speaker features Joe Zucker, an artist who’s spent decades developing his signature technique: canvases composed with cotton balls rolled in paint. Zucker will talk about his work, “Boxing Painting #8,” currently on display at the Sag Harbor locale as well as his years as a volunteer basketball coach at Bridgehampton High School. Tickets are $10 per person, free for members. Get yours here.
Shop & Sip on Shelter Island
The first of two ladies’ night “Shop & Sip” events is at the boutique at Sunset Beach on Shelter Island tomorrow, August 25. Starting at 6 p.m., attendees can experience glamour and style under the stars with deals ranging up to 50 percent off on select must-haves with over 30 different brands represented. There’ll be complimentary rosé and crafted cocktails. The next sale is Friday, September 1. Same time, same place.