Art Walk / First Thursdays in Downtown Oyster Bay! 7-9pm

Note: For the most up-to-date information, please visit the official Oyster Bay Art Walk website.

Welcome to the 2010 Oyster Bay Art Walk! Please join us the 1st Thursday of each month from 7-9pm in Historic Oyster Bay. Our walk features an international spectrum of contemporary artists, displaying their work at several downtown locations. Many businesses and sites throughout the town will be displaying artwork. Many restaurants also will be exhibiting art and offering a percentage off on meals, wine tastings, and more. Live entertainment will take place, and restaurants and cafes will be open for coffee and dessert.

Art Walk Map, click to enlarge

These galleries and arts-related venues all will be open:
1. Chase Edwards Gallery, 15 East Main Street, chaseedwardsgallery.com
2. Atelier Fine Arts/Studio, 9 East Main Street, jerelynhanrahan.com
3. Art That Matters, 55 West Main Street, artthatmatters.com
4. the Teaching Studios of Art, 115 Audrey Avenue, teachingstudios.com
* 5. Peter Charles Designs, 17 East Main Street, petercharlesdesigns.com
* 5a. Maison Verte - Organic Green Products, 17A East Main Street, maisonverteny.com
* 6. Oyster Bay Frame Shop, 3 East Main Street, oysterbayframe.com
7. Chrison & Bellina, 24 Audrey Avenue
8. BayKery Cafe, 124 South Street
* 9. Teri's Color Creations, 5 East Main Street
* 10. Bens Garden, 95 Audrey Avenue, bensgarden.com

* Art Venues and Specialty Shops

Also, please be sure to patronize the following restaurants:
a. Canterbury's Oyster Bay, 46 Audrey Avenue, canterburyalesrestaurant.com/
b. Wild Honey, 1 East Main Street, wildhoneyrestaurant.com
c. Fiddleheads, 62 South Street, fiddleheadsnewyork.com
d. Cafe al Dente, 2 Spring Street, cafealdenteny.com
e. The Homestead, 107 South Street, homesteadoysterbay.com
f. The BayKery Cafe, 124 South Street,

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Not a member of Oyster Bay Main Street already? Make an online donation and receive a free 1 year membership to the National Trust for Historic Preservation, 6 issues of Preservation magazine, and reduced price admission to several historic sites. Join OBMSA Today!

Study Finds Long Island's Downtowns Are Good to Grow

By Nancy Rauch Douzinas

A team of researchers went looking for land in all the right places-and found oodles of it. Enough to start building a new, more vibrant and prosperous Long Island.

That's the news contained in a study just released by the Long Island Index.

The researchers, from the Regional Plan Association, explored for usable land located within ½-mile of downtowns or railroad stations.

Those are the places where it's smart to build the townhouses and apartments Long Island desperately needs to staunch the brain drain that is crippling our economy.

Downtown and transit-centered development stimulates the local economies. Expands opportunities for jobseekers and employee pools for business. Eases traffic, cuts pollution, and helps preserve open space. And most of the time, this type of development is tax positive, meaning that if you build it, taxes will go down for everyone.

That's why regions across the country are focusing their growth on downtown areas. It's happening even in places that essentially have to create their downtowns from scratch.

By contrast, Long Island is blessed with great and historic town centers. Some have become frayed in the past decades, but yet are rich in infrastructure and potential. But some have questioned whether these existing areas have the capacity to absorb significant new growth.

The answer, in turns out, is a resounding YES.

Counting only vacant land, land used for surface parking, and unprotected open space, located within ½-mile of downtowns or rail stations, the RPA researchers found some 8,300 acres.

To put that number in perspective: if we were to build single-family homes on all of the available open space left on Long Island, it would get us 90,000 units of housing. We could get those same 90,000 units with a mix of townhouses, garden apartments, and apartment buildings-on just half of those 8,300 downtown acres.

The land is to be found in 156 places, large and small. Twenty-nine downtowns were identified as having high potential for redevelopment. These range from large town centers such as Mineola, Freeport, and Hicksville, to small and mid-sized downtowns like Bay Shore, Port Jefferson Station, and Wyandanch. (The complete list is contained in the report, available on the Index website. Interactive maps identify the specific parcels and provide detailed information on every Long Island downtown.)

The study emphasizes that planning must be done case-by-case, based on numerous factors. Not the least of which is compatibility with the town's existing character.

Many of the high-potential places have been previously identified by counties, towns and others as good targets for redevelopment. Some of the places have already begun.

Mineola based its 2004 Master Plan on expanding residential and mixed-use development around its rail station while preserving the integrity of single-family neighborhoods. Patchogue moved to replace five acres of rundown properties near its railroad station with a new mixed-income, two-bedroom townhouse development.

Patchogue's stunning progress over the past decade shows what smart growth can do for a village. Better still, the new report reveals, if you put Long Island's villages together, it's enough to remake the region.

Nancy Rauch Douzinas is president of the Rauch Foundation and convener of the Long Island Index. The Index provides data about the Long Island region, in order to promote informed public debate and sound policy making. For more information visit http://www.longislandindex.org/.

Kristin Künc Classes at the Teaching Studios of Art, March 8 - May 1

The Portrait: Instruction by Demonstration

Tuesdays 6:00pm - 9:00pm

This unique class is built around a simple concept: Watch a great artist at work, and try to emulate what she does.

Kristin Künc excels at working from the live model. While serious in her approach, she tries to cultivate an enthusiastic atmosphere that is welcoming for the beginner. She demonstrates, in a very slow and methodical manner, a traditional approach to portrait painting. At variously scheduled intervals, she breaks from working and critiques student's attempts to work in a similar manner. It takes a special talent to instruct students individually and execute a beautiful portrait painting simultaneously. Künc has grown a loyal following because she that unique ability.

$340 for 8 weeks, with a discount for taking more than one class. Kristin did this painting of Kate, as well as the portrait above, during class as a demonstration for her students.


Classical Drawing and Painting
still lifes and plaster casts

Tuesdays, 2:00pm - 5:00pm

This class represents the very core of what we try to achieve at the Teaching Studios of Art. Künc teaches the foundations of great Realism by helping students become better draftsmen and painters. It is meant for beginners, or for artists who have had some training, but would like to brush up on technique with a professional.

Künc patiently guides students through the fundamentals of drawing by utilizing plaster casts and a method of drawing that she learned from Jacob Collins at the Water Street Atelier.

For still life painting, Künc encourages students to bring in objects they love and find beauty in. Students then carefully plan out a composition that is aesthetically pleasing, and begin to paint with a full palette, using both earth and prismatic colors.

This class is offered for a special price this session:
$275 for 8 weeks, a phenomenal bargain for an opportunity to study with an artist of Künc's caliber.

We are offering the following discounts for taking multiple classes this session:
2 classes - 10% off
3 or more classes - 15% off
20% off for any faculty of CUNY school or public high school. To learn more, click here.