Long Island Arts Council at Freeport
Celebrating 50 Years in 2024
Supporting the Arts on Long Island for Nearly 50 Years!
Long Island Arts Council at Freeport frequently hosts a wide range of event types, expanding access to the literary, visual, and performing arts. We are a team dedicated to supporting arts in the community! Visit our Events Page for more information about current and upcoming events.
Our
Story
In 1974, the Village of Freeport and Freeport Public Schools provide the seed money to create an arts council. This was a unique beginning for arts organizations in New York State. The LIAC at Freeport, originally called the Freeport Arts Council, emerged as a non-profit organization to develop and support artistic talent, and enrich the lives of the residents of Freeport, specifically, and Long Island, generally.
The Arts Council’s original purpose was to bring art into the Freeport community through school arts education residencies, concerts, master classes, theater and art trips, workshops, and art exhibits. The Arts Council worked with such exciting companies as the Joffrey Ballet, American Symphony Orchestra, Westminster Choir, Tokyo String Quartet, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, New York City Opera, and America Ballet Theatre. Gradually, the Arts Council shifted its focus from presenting to service in order to meet the changing needs of the arts community, and expanded to include artists, cultural organizations, and the public throughout Long Island.
Today, the Arts Council programs and services focus on six areas – professional development and technical assistance, information services, arts promotion, youth development, visual arts programming, and performing arts programming. The Arts Council serves individual artists of all disciplines, a multitude of diverse cultural organizations, and the public. The Long Island Arts Council at Freeport strives to improve the quality of life through the arts.
Annual Events
Juried
Photography Show
Since 1980, the Arts Council has hosted an annual call for photographers to submit works to our Juried Photography Show, as well as a reception for selected photographers and the public. Recent shows have been held at the Freeport Library. It is one of the richest awards photography shows of its kind in the northeast.
Summer Sunset
Concert Series
Held at the Esplanade on the Nautical Mile, we sponsor free outdoor summer concerts on Thursday nights in July and August featuring local artists to showcase different types of music and celebrate the arts' ability to bring people together.
Poetry
For All
High school students across Nassau County participate in a poetry review every April, celebrating Poetry Month. The poetry is judged by a professional poet. At the conclusion of the contest, LIACF hosts a poetry reading and produces a journal for all participants.
Historical Events
Visual
Arts Programming
Student Art Exhibitions: We've sponsored several art exhibitions for students from Freeport, Long Beach, and Baldwin at the Freeport Memorial Library, as well as in our art alcove at the Freeport Recreation Center. Exmples include a photography, mixed media, and an art alcove show to celebrate Women, Feminism, and the 100th anniversary of the right to vote.
Emmett Wigglesworth Mural: The Woodward Children’s Center, founded in 1957, is a school for children with emotional and social challenges. The school provides education as well as therapeutic treatment for young people ages 6 to 21. Hallways are filled with children’s artwork, including a mural created by Woodward students and artist Emmett Wigglesworth on the meaning of community.
Mural Contest: In 2018, LIACF were awarded an AARP Community Challenge Grant. In addition to the grant, funding was collected through a GoFundMe campaign and support from Mount Sinai South Nassau Communities Hospital. After hosting an open call for mural proposals, the council chose Ji Yong Kim, an artist originally from South Korea who resides in Brooklyn. The Mural, called “Sailing Through Freeport’s History” includes landmarks such as Freeport’s second bank, the Crystal Lake Hotel, the library, the Moser Building, and more. The mural is hosted by the Freeport Memorial Library!
Trash to Treasure: LIACF worked in conjunction with Operation SPLASH, a local environmental organization that works to clean up our local bays, waterways, and shorelines on the south shore of Long Island Plastic bottles and other refuse items were collected, and high school students turned these items into three-dimensional sculptures.
Performing Arts
Programming
Shakespeare in the Park: The Arts Council partners with Eastline Theatre Company to present Shakespeare Plays in the Park during the summer, with recent performances of Romeo and Juliet and Two Gentlemen of Verona, at Cow Meadow Park.
Some Like It Hot and Opera for All: A Sunday brunch series, one featuring jazz and the other, operatic favorites at local restaurants in Freeport during the winter.
Literary
Arts Programming
Book Talks: Featuring individual authors and panels, our intimate events give authors a chance to elaborate on the topics of their book, and share information about themselves. We’ve hosted Black History and Women’s History themes, and continue to give authors additional opportunities to tell their important stories. Book Talks are hosted in the spring and fall.
Community
Development
Memories: LIACF sponsored a memoir workshop for senior citizens at the Salvation Army's senior center.
Freeport Arts: From a healthy Walking Trail along the famous Freeport Nautical Mile to the Streetscape Banner Program beautification project, and participation in festivals, parades, and other community events, we are out there in the community supporting the arts!
All the Lonely People Documentary Screening: For two years, a handful of people documented how they overcame crippling social isolation and loneliness. They shared how they did it in "All The Lonely People". This documentary film was presented to the public in partnership with the New York State Office for the Aging, shown at the Bellmore Movies and Playhouse, with an exclusive Q&A with the director and producer afterward!
