The "Circassian" courtesy of Robert Hefner.

East Hampton - Now into its seventh year, the Friday Night Winter Lectures Series instituted by The East Hampton Historical Society "to get folks together" during the cold off-season months, as EHHS Executive Director Richard Barons puts it, certainly fulfilled its mission on Jan. 11 when it was standing room only at East Hampton's Clinton Academy. The 2008 series, Revelations from the Past: Uncovering Secrets & Mysteries from our History, led off with a slide-show talk by Barons called "Skeletons By The Sea: Shipwrecks and the Stories They Tell." Though the pictures were "dim," that fact added "to the general flavor," Barons noted, as he read from and commented on archival accounts of various East End disasters that prompted some to call the area Shipwreck Alley.

Where previous lectures drew primarily on paintings, documents and furniture in the Society's collection, the new series is "more thematic," Barons points out, concentrating on little known local maritime lore - "secrets" - and he hints that subsequent talks may prove surprising in what they reveal, particularly about rum running and the U.S. Navy in Amagansett. His own talk included an account of, arguably, "the most famous and dramatic" of local area shipwrecks, the grounding of the iron-hulled, iron-masted, full-sail cargo ship Circassian off Mecox in December 1876, a "more complicated story" than people realize. The tale, as Barons related it, is one of recurring storm warnings, miscalculations, negligence and misdeeds that resulted in a loss of Shinnecock lives but also in the salvage of enough of the ship's industrial freight to spawn the name "giftwreck." Quite a story. Fortunately, for schools and libraries, the Clinton Academy series are taped.

On its own, however, the building is reason enough to visit. Built in 1784 with funds raised by the Rev. Samuel Buell and other members of the East Hampton community, the Clinton Academy opened one year later as a private and co-ed secondary school, drawing students from all over the Atlantic seaboard and reaching a peak enrollment of 156 in 1815. Named for George Clinton, governor of New York from 1777 to 1795, it was the first such chartered school in the state, but fell into disrepair with the coming of free education. Restored in 1921 by the EHHS, the Academy-Museum today, though small, serves as a venue for various cultural events.

What's on exhibit this month is well worth seeing: a score of lovely watercolors by David Arbus (no relation to Diane), a superb draughtsman and artist, who spent several months last year drawing exteriors and interiors of various historical buildings along East Hampton's Main Street. Also on display are several striking images by East Hampton photographer Michael Cardacino. These are part of the Marine Museum's series "Baymen's Last Stand" and reference the 1992 protest against the outlawing of haul seine fishing. Both exhibits will likely remain up through February.

How fitting, considering the history of the American Revolution on The East End, that the elegant wash and ink sketches of Main Street historic buildings should be the work of a Brit! And how utterly surprising to discover that Arbus is a man of many talents, including playing violin, flute, saxophone and trumpet for the 70's progressive rock band he founded, East of Eden. The watercolors on view at the Academy, part of his "portrait of America" series, show his excellent eye and feel for tone. "Mulford Spinning Shed", "St. Luke's Church", "Hook Windmill", "Home Sweet Home", "The Study", and "East Hampton Star Office", each a perfect composition, are rendered in washes of gray or brown, with delicate accent lines inking out details with incredible precision. Other interiors, suiting mood, such as, "Apple Corer" and "Osborn-Jackson House" glow with selected color.

The exteriors testify even more to Arbus's architectural expertise. Many scenes, such as Thomas Moran Studio, Methodist Church, and Gardiner-Brown LVIS clearly evidence their historical identities while also allowing history to ripen under Arbus's brush and pen into springtime green. Other buildings, such as The Star or the Osborn-Jackson House, move back in time with their sidewalk scattering of brown leaves. "It has to be fall," one viewer declared admiringly of the Presbyterian Church, "the skies are bluer then."

The blue skies in "Baymen's Last Stand" evoke a different kind of nostalgia. Smooth, bold, cloudless, they complement and enhance the subject matter below – various shots of bayman Danny King's Dory, painted red, white and blue in flag style to signal opposition to the prohibition against haul seine fishing. The words "The Last Stand," sun-streaked and tactile, are subtly visible in the impressive blow up of the stars section of the hull. In all the images, Cardacino effectively captures a sense of simple grandeur lost: the grounded dory, the slip of background sea, and the sense of a proud way of life, still palpable in the enlarged photo, now a part of history.

 • The Clinton Academy Museum is at 151 Main Street, East Hampton, 631-324-6850. The next talk in the series – "Threat from the Sea: Life Saving And War on Atlantic Avenue in Amagansett" - will be given by Robert Hefner on Friday, Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. All talks are preceded by a wine and cheese reception. Admission is free.