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After a year off due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Arts on Terry has returned to Patchogue this Sunday.
A poetry tent, a canopied stage for live music, and two large main tents for arts and cultural organizations lined the block on the sunny and windy afternoon. A few hundred people walked Terry Street to soak in the dozens of painters, photographers, poets, musicians and artisans who set up private stations to promote their passions with the Patchogue community.
Among them was former New York Daily News photographer Clarence Sheppard, who despite having lost his tent to the wind, said he was enjoying the event.
A lifelong educator who runs an elementary level photography program through the Sag Harbor School District, Sheppard was accompanied by his wife, Natalie Byfield and a wide variety of his work, which included photos from an exhibition to Ghana, family portraits and snapshots of icons like Michael Jordan and Keith Richards.
“Hopefully young people are gonna come out and check it out and talk to some of the artists who have been around,” he said of Sunday’s event. “I’m just hoping young kids get off their phones for a minute and walk around and see what’s going on in the area.”
As the afternoon went on, small crowds routinely gathered around and snapped photos of the 17 live painters scattered throughout the area. One of them, Murani Holmes, who “answered a call to art” five years ago, said she traveled from Brooklyn to support Patchogue’s art scene.
“Every time I go into Patchogue there’s always art and fun times,” Holmes said as she painted a frog on a large canvas that would be auctioned off in a few hours. “I just came out on a whim one day and it’s been a blast every time.”
“These live painters, they spend the entire time working on a piece that’s of their own conception, whatever they want to paint they’re more than welcome,” said Barbara Giacummo, the executive director of the Patchogue Arts Council, which runs the outing. “We have artists working with acrylics, we have artists working with collage then they paint over it, we also have a couple of people working in airbrush. They’re paid a small stipend and the artwork is then owned by PAC and we auction it off to raise money for the organization.”
Scroll down to explore 25 photos taken at the event. Click the 2, 3, 4 and 5 boxes to view them all.
