Port & Harbor: Preservation Not Speculation Opens at Floyd Memorial Library

Pictured Above: Sabina Streeter, Dressed Up for the Wrecking Ball (1888–2023). Charcoal on paper, 24″ x 36″.

Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport celebrates the opening of its winter exhibition, “Port + Harbor: Preservation, Not Speculation” by Sabina Streeter this Friday, Nov. 10 from 6 to 8 p.m.

The exhibition will be on view through Feb. 4, 2024.

Comprising new works created especially for this show, Port + Harbor is a comparative architectural and historic profile of Greenport and Sag Harbor, two traditional maritime villages facing the pressures of modern consumerism.

The exhibition documents a tale of these two villages through paintings, drawings, collages, and photographs, sometimes using materials commonly employed in construction and architecture, such as vellum, blueprint, and plywood. Yet, while these works capture the villages’ lived histories (including portraits of past residents), Port + Harbor is not a romanticized landscape exhibition. 

As a long-time resident of Sag Harbor, Streeter has grown increasingly concerned about overdevelopment and compromises to the historic integrity of her hometown and other East End villages. This concern is materialized in images recording building development, such as dumpsters and boarded-up buildings.

Ms. Streeter is a contemporary artist whose portraits and architectural drawings are based on classical traditions and include a diverse range of present and historical subjects. Her work dramatizes issues of history, popular culture and, most recently, the tussle between building preservation and development.

The freely gestural strokes are executed in charcoal, pastel, gouache, and oil and result in a movement between figurative painting and abstraction.

Streeter was born in Munich, Germany, to a family of artists. She has lived and worked in Sag Harbor since 1992.

The vision for the future of the East End being is currently on the top of many residents’ minds, and this exhibition could not be more timely. Streeter hopes that Port + Harbor will help further discussion among North and South Fork artists and residents about this crucial issue.

The Floyd Memorial Library is located at 539 First Street in Greenport.