The Heckscher Museum of Art is launching a program this summer to lend out some of its artwork to residents on a short-term basis.
The Heckscher@Home program is co-sponsored by the Town of Huntington’s Cultural Affairs Department.
The home program began at the onset of the Covid-19 epidemic when museums, schools and other organizations were shut down. The museum added virtual programming by putting its collection online for people to view.
The six pieces of art include original prints by Jeffrey Lundstedt, Fannie Hillsmith, Jean Sariano and Dimitri Berea. One of these artists, Jeffrey Lundstedt, was a graduate of Walt Whitman High School, artist, athlete, class president who died in the Vietnam War. Veterans will be offered these works first as part of the pliot program.
The museum’s Board of Trustees voted to launch this program sometime in Summer, 2023. Each piece of art will come with its history, a care sheet, as well as fixed period of time it will hang in each household, typically six months.
“The Heckscher Museum of Art is thrilled to partner with the Town of Huntington to launch this dynamic new program.” said CEO of the Heckscher Museum, Heather Arnet, “Heckscher@Home is an exciting way for the Museum to continue to inspire the people of Huntington as members of the community will experience the joy of having fine art in their home.”
“One of the most important reasons we have museums is so that great art, and critical pieces of history, can be preserved and shared with future generations,” Heather Arnet, CEO of the museum, said. “These exquisite prints by Jeffrey Lundstedt can only be included in this program today, due to the enormous care that has been taken, for over fifty years, to conserve these pieces of fine art.”