Womens Art Center of the Hamptons

2023 was our first full year as a nonprofit and it was filled from start to finish with interesting and exciting programming that appealed to people of all backgrounds. In february, wach travels: the Art, craft and cuisine of london, was our inaugural trip in our wach travels program. Through these travels, we explore the Art, design, and cuisine of women artists and makers around the world. In london, we had the unique opportunity to visit private Art studios and homes of distinguished collectors. We also enjoyed private tours of renowned artists dame magdalene odundo and jennifer lee, obe. One of the highlights of our london travels was an exclusive preview of collect, the international Art fair for modern craft and design. Wach welcomed 16 travelers on this memorable trip.our first exhibition, making a mark - the Art of self expression opened on march 11 at bay street theater. This collaboration between two nonprofit organizations highlights our ability to partner with other arts organizations and businesses to benefit the community. the exhibition received an enthusiastic response with over 200 guests in attendance for the opening reception and we estimate an additional 1,000 people saw the show through its closing on may 7. We also hosted an author's event at bay street theater on april 8 featuring local writer randye lordon as she read from her newest book, she's dead who cares followed by a q&a session with an audience of 50 guests.a late summer conversation with embroidery artist karen nicol left guests in absolute awe of her extraordinary creativity and skill. This uk based designer has clients worldwide including chanel couture, givenchy, alexander mcqueen, anthropologie, harrods, harvey nichols, and several royal families. A trunk show followed the conversation that included nicol's one-of-a-kind handbags designed especially for wach, stylish and sustainable fashions from designer mary jaeger, and stunning handcrafted jewelry from mia hebib. These events led to increased exposure for the designers and generated a great of sales for them. Total attendance for this weekend's events was 40.our second wach travels, the jewels of ireland, was an Art filled journey with exhibitions, artist studio visits and fabulous cuisine. the emerald isle showered us not only with green but vibrant colors in every hue in city and country landscapes. We explored the old and new with visits to castles and ancient ruins as well as high style and modern design. A private visit and lunch at killua castle, owned by Art collectors lorena and allen krause, was awe-inspiring as was our participation in making in, a design symposium hosted by joseph walsh and the joseph walsh studio in county cork. We spent a day touring the grounds and gardens at the ballymaloe cookery school owned by darina allen and rory o'connell, early proponents of the slow food movement. Our trip included 20 travelers some of whom have already signed up for tours in 2024.in september wach travelers boarded a chartered hampton jitney for a day-long excursion to brooklyn in celebration of ny textile month. the trip included private tours and receptions at cowtan & tout, the showroom of fashion designer mary jaeger and the headquarters of design studio and irish wool manufacturer rhyme studio. In addition, we toured the brooklyn museum's "africa fashion" exhibition that captivated us with color, texture, and design. Wach welcomed 20 guests for this exciting trip to brooklyn.our second exhibition of 2023 was color code, presented at kathryn markel fine arts in bridgehampton. This show explored the ways in which artists use color in their practice to create a visual language that expresses emotional states. Color code included an opening reception, artist talk, and trunk show all of which were well received. There were over 100 people who saw the exhibition through december 31, 2023.last year wach lived up to its mission of providing a platform for women in the arts for everyone, a mutually beneficial undertaking that we will build upon in 2024.