Updated: August 31, 2009, 8:55 am

Sixth Annual 'Garden As Art' Celebrated Over Cocktails In East Hampton

By Eileen Casey

Joining in the appreciation for the 'Garden As Art," are John Picker, Lisa Boilloti, Marla Gagnum And Denise Regan. Photos by Eileen Casey

Hostess Margot Adams and Ruth Appelhoff, Executive Director of Guild Hall.

East Hampton - As a launch to Saturday's Sixth Annual "Garden As Art" tour, Margot Adams hosted a cocktail party on Friday, Aug. 28, held in her beautiful garden in East Hampton. The tour will allow attendees to explore "the relationship between artists of the East End and their gardens" according to Guild Hall, who is conducting the event.

The tour included the gardens of seven well-known East End artists, including Dianne Blell (Bridgehampton), April Gornik and Eric Fischl (North Haven), Mary Heilmann (Bridgehampton), Bryan Hunt (Wainscott), Roy Nicholson, and Donald Sultan (both Sag Harbor). Additionally, tours of the gardens at Madoo Conservancy (Sagaponack), and the Pollock-Krasner House and The LongHouse Reserve (both in East Hampton) were included.

Notably this year, "The program gives equal attention to the artists and their art as it does to the gardens themselves, most especially by including the artists' studios on the self-guided tour together with their gardens" as indicated by Nina Gillman, Chairperson of the "Garden as Art" Committee.

Participating artist Dianne Blell (holding a very clever purse) and designer Marla Gagnum.

On the eve of the tour, a gracious Adams held a cocktail party allowing tickets holders, artists, volunteers and Guild Hall representatives, among others, to simply enjoy a lovely evening in a beautiful environment. From 6 p.m. to 8 p.m guests were feted with cocktails and scrumptous delicacies provided by Debbie Geppert and her attentive catering staff.

Saturday's event was scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. with a garden lecture by Helen Harrison, author, art reviewer, and feature writer for the Long Island section of the New York Times, as well as the director of the Pollock-Krasner House and Study Center, and wife of participating artist Roy Nicholson. Harrison's lecture, "Snake in the Grass: The Artist and the Garden" will feature many of the gardens on the tour, and will be introduced by New York Times writer and garden historian, Mac Griswold.

Following a benefactor luncheon at the home of Nina Gillman, Guild Hall's Garden as Art Committee Chairperson, attendees armed with maps and directions were able to undertake self-guided tours of the aforementioned gardens from 12 noon to 5 p.m.

Susan Gillman, Nina Gillman and Dorothy Donovan enjoy the evening.

Tickets for the tour ranged from $75 for the garden tour ticket; $175 for a garden lover ticket that included the tour, breakfast and lecture; $250 for a patron ticket which included the cocktail party, as well as the tour, breakfast and lecture, and $500 for a benefactor ticket, inlcluding all of the above as well as the luncheon.

The very attractive booklet issued to attendees, included cover art by Sultan, offered a brief description of each artist's garden, allowing attendees the opportunity to plan which gardens offered the most appeal.

Honorary Chairs of the event are Robert Dash of the Madoo Conservancy, Jack Lenor Larsen of The LongHouse Reserve, and Martha Stewart.

A section of the beautiful gardens at the home of Margot Adams who held a cocktail party on Friday to launch the "Garden As Art" tour coordinated by Guild Hall.

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