The Heckscher Museum of Art looks towards a bright future under the new leadership of Executive Director & CEO Heather Arnet with a continuing schedule of spectacular exhibitions and programs. The support of art-lovers like you is critical to the Museum’s ability to bring inspirational educational initiatives to visitors of all ages – we couldn’t achieve this mission without you!
The 2023 Museum calendar has so much in store. A highlight of the year will be the first retrospective of artist Courtney M. Leonard’s work.
Courtney M. Leonard, an enrolled member of Long Island’s Shinnecock Indian Nation, is among the most original and compelling voices in American contemporary ceramics. Her work amplifies Indigenous cultural traditions and expresses a reverence for the earth and sea while advocating for its protection. Leonard’s immersive installations encompass ceramic sculpture, painting, and video. They draw on cross-cultural decorative art traditions including wampum beadwork, scrimshaw, textiles, and blue and white Delftware. 
Opening on June 10, 2023, this 22-week exhibition includes loans from private collections, public institutions, the artist’s own collection, and will debut a new commission created specifically for The Heckscher Museum’s galleries. Titled Contact 2,023, this monumental work maps the contours of Long Island with thousands of individual porcelain “shells” made of clay thumbprints sewn onto canvas. Contact 2,023 will be a sister piece to two other artworks in Leonard’s Contact series, one owned by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the other co-owned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and The Autry Museum of The American West.
Through this exhibition and accompanying education programs, the Museum will bring inspiring and insightful content to new and current audiences. The Heckscher Museum looks forward to recognizing the work of a renowned Long Island artist whose transformative vision is enriching the Indigenous presence in American culture and art.
Please contribute to the Museum’s Annual Appeal and support this Long Island cultural treasure.
Donate online, call 631.380.3229 ext. 710 to give over the phone, or mail your check made payable to “Heckscher Museum” to:
Attn: Development Department
The Heckscher Museum of Art
2 Prime Avenue
Huntington, NY 11743
Thank you to the following generous donors to the 2022 Annual Appeal:
List as of 12.31.22
