Fall 2003 Exhibit Celebrated Oyster Bay's Founding

In keeping with the Town-wide anniversary celebration, the Oyster Bay Historical Society's annual 2003 Fall Exhibit examined 350 Years of Oyster Bay History in Art.

The Historical Society's Exhibition committee, in collaboration with Cove Neck artist Mort Kunstler, worked with local artists to interpret the significant people and events of Oyster Bay's first 350 years. The Exhibit and associated catalog included artwork of the 1653 sale of the Town Spot by the local Matinecocks to the first settlers, Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders, and the Revolutionary War spy Robert Townsend; as well as changing landscapes, village scenes, and harbor views. Both period and contemporary artwork were represented, some created expressly to raise funds at auction for the Society's new library and collections storage facility.

The opening of the Fall Exhibit on Sunday, November 16, 2003 was celebrated with a lecture by Jennifer Goldsborough, Ph.D., followed by a reception at the Earle-Wightman House at 20 Summit Street, Oyster Bay. Dr. Goldberg, the author with Gregory R. Weidman, and Mary Ellen Hayward of Classical Maryland, 1815-1845: Fine and Decorative Arts from the Golden Age, talked about 350 years of Oyster Bay Interiors.

The Exhibit closed on March 21, 2004 with a Champagne Reception to fete the artists who gave so generously of their talents to create The Art of Oyster Bay