Opening Celebration: Charlotte Park and James Brooks ~ Of This Place

Charlotte Park and James Brooks ~ Of This Place

Opening Celebration: Saturday, August 2, from 4 to 5:30 pm

An exhibition celebrating the influence of Springs on two Abstract Expressionist pioneers

East Hampton, NY: The Leiber Collection is thrilled to present Charlotte Park and James Brooks ~ Of This Place, an exhibition exploring the profound connection between two of the East End’s most celebrated abstract artists and the unique natural beauty surrounding their home and studios located in the East Hampton hamlet of Springs. In collaboration with The Brooks–Park Home & Studios on Neck Path, we honor these extraordinary artists and the place they called home.

Charlotte Park and James Brooks—both seminal figures in postwar American art—chose Springs not just as a place to live and work, but as an ever-evolving source of inspiration. This exhibition offers a glimpse into how the area’s distinct light, sweeping vistas, and tranquil isolation shaped their creative vision. Through a selection of paintings, prints, and drawings, Of This Place reveals how Park and Brooks were deeply attuned to the rhythm and radiance of their surroundings.

Park’s gestural lyricism and Brooks’ bold, structured compositions are unified by a shared sense of place and a life in art. Visitors will discover how the famed light and air, as well as the raw natural beauty of Springs, imbued their work with a timeless vitality, placing them at the heart of an artistic community that also included Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, and others.

This exhibition not only honors their legacy but also celebrates Springs itself—long known as a haven for artists seeking clarity, solitude, and illumination.

Exhibition Dates: August 2 – October 5, 2025Opening Reception: Saturday, August 2 from 4 – 5:30 pmLocation: The Leiber Collection, 446 Old Stone Highway, East Hampton, NY

Join us as we pay tribute to two extraordinary artists and the place that inspired them.

Special thanks to Esperanza Leon from The Brooks–Park Home & Studios, Christine Berry from Berry Campbell Gallery, Guild Hall, and Parrish Art Museum.

The Leiber Collection is located at 446 Old Stone Highway in the East Hampton hamlet of Springs. The Collection is open on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays from 1 – 4 pm and at other times by appointment.

The Leiber Collection is located at 446 Old Stone Highway in the East Hampton hamlet of Springs. The Collection is open on Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays from 1 – 4 pm and at other times by appointment.

For more information, or to arrange a private viewing, please contact Ann Stewart at info@leibercollection.org

The Brooks-Park Home & Studios in East Hampton is where noted American artists Charlotte Park and James Brooks lived for over four decades, beginning in 1957. It is an internationally significant site purchased by the Town of East Hampton in 2013 through the Community Preservation Fund (CPF) program. The eleven acres of beech and oak woodlands, which connect with historic trails, were initially purchased for the purpose of open space. Following public advocacy in favor of preserving the buildings on this site, the town designated the property a local historic landmark in 2014.

The centerpiece of the site is the purpose-built studio designed by James Brooks in 1959. Nearby is the modest house, comprised in part by a 19th-century timber-frame cottage that the artists had lived in since 1948, having moved from Montauk after Hurricane Carol devastated the area in 1954. A small building also brought from Montauk in 1957 and sited near the Brooks Studio is the only surviving structure from the fishing community known as the Tar Works in Montauk. It served as a guest cottage for friends like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Completing the group of extant buildings on this secluded site, standing partway between the residence and Brooks Studio, is Charlotte Park's small studio building, which is said to have been a former Wainscott Post Office.

Since 2014, despite local landmark designation and widespread public interest and advocacy—including being listed in 2021 and 2022 as an endangered site by Preservation Long Island, Preservation League of New York State, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation— any significant progress with preservation efforts has been deterred by a lack of political will and dedicated funding.

For more information about the Brooks–Park Home and studios, please see their website at https://brooks-parkarts.org