WithThe hornbeams’ truncated edges, lush borders, and meandering pathways make it the most beautiful of all the hornbeams. LongHouse ReserveThis sanctuary is 16 acres in size Long Island’s fabled East EndThis tranquil oasis offers visitors a peaceful retreat where they can enjoy not only quiet garden views but also sculptures by the likes Willem de KooningAnd Sol LeWitt.
CreatedBy Jack Lenor LarsenInternationally renowned textile designer, the reserve in East HamptonIt was used for decades as both Larsen’s home as well as an attraction operated by a veteran executive director and supervised by a volunteer board.
But Larsen died last DecemberAt 93 years old, and in this fall, the harmony he had created in his retreat was shattered by bitterness, recriminations, and despair.
MuchThe sudden firing of incendiaries is what causes the upset. SeptemberOf Matko TomicicThe director who had managed the reserve for 26-years. The LongThe House board offered no explanation for the sudden change, and over 30 donors, many major supporters, stated that they will withhold any further gifts.
SeveralDonors claimed they have removed LongThey will inherit the House. OneIn resignation of a board member OctoberBut she has not given any reason for her departure. AnEx officio member resigned in protest
“I was astonished,” said Marcia Wilsona former trustee and donor, who has now suspended her gifts. “Flabbergasted. EveryoneWe had nothing but praise Matko. I still don’t understand the logic.”
SomeMany donors are also upset by the fact that they say LarsenTo reduce his bequest, he amended a trust agreement seven months before he died. LastMonth, a donor filed a grievance with the New York State Attorney General’s OfficeShe argued that several board members had not met their fiduciary responsibilities. LongHouse because they were allegedly active supporters of changes to the agreement to reduce the bequest, the complaint stated LongHouse.
SupportersThe board believes that the expansion of the company motivated the decision to replace the director. LongHouse’s mission. TheyThe institution will soon be more than a garden and sculpture reserve. It will also become a full-time museum that includes Larsen’s home as a site for exhibitions. ForThe trustees decided that a curator with more experience was needed.
AnIn interim director, OctoberIs. Carrie Rebora Barratt, a former vice director of the Metropolitan MuseumOf ArtWho led the charge later? New York Botanical GardenAs its president for two-years, ending in 2020.
Karen A. Monroe, the lawyer who incorporated LongHouse, 1991, as a non-profit, the year it opened to the public. TomicicFor encouraging dissent. “Only some donors are unhappy,” she said.
“That is not by a stretch of the imagination, the majority of them,” she continued. “There’s always a couple of them, what do they call it, the ‘noisy minority’?”
TomicicThe author declined to comment. “I don’t want any trouble for me or my family,” he said.
The board’s defenders say it was Larsen’s prerogative to decide how he wanted to distribute his assets. TheyThe institution also stated that it is in a strong financial position despite potential cuts in gifts. Also, donations are running ahead last year because some donors have increased their support while new benefactors have come forward.
“Despite messages from a few upset donors, we remain confident, financially solid and grateful to our supporters,” the board said in a statement.
ThoughThe way forward LongHouse seems to be more complicated now. Larsen’s legacy as a textile designer is clear. HisInteriors are adorned with textiles Frank Lloyd Wright’s FallingwaterHis work is part of the permanent collections of The MuseumOf Modern ArtThe VictoriaAnd Albert Museum.
In1975: He bought land in East HamptonTo create a microcosm that reflected his global travels, art collection, and designs. TodayIt includes his home and 60 contemporary sculptures. This is a mixture of permanent and loan pieces. Buckminster Fuller’s “Fly’s Eye Dome” and Yoko Ono’s giant, monochromatic chess game, “Play ItBy Trust.”
Tomicic56-year-old, who studied at UniversityOf ZagrebIn CroatiaAt the New York Botanical Garden, started at LongHouse in 1996 as executive director and was paid $194,075 in 2019, according to the institution’s most recent tax returns. HeHad previously worked as a personal secretary. Henry GeldzahlerThe MetFormer curator New York City cultural affairs commissioner.
DuringHis years at LongHouse, he established personal relationships with board members, staff, and is the reason why there is an emotional cast to this dispute currently engulfing sculpture garden. When Dianne BensonOne of the board members who voted for replacement was. TomicicLast year, he got married. TomicicShe had been walked down the aisle by her father.
“This is not an ‘et tu Brute’ moment,” BensonShe said it in regard to her vote. “MyPersonal feelings and what is most important LongHouse are two entirely different things.”
SomeStaff were also upset at the news. TomicicAccording to Joanne KahnThe woman who worked part time in the gift shop said that she later resigned.
An arborist, Ray Smith, said he had donated specimen trees and his company’s services to LongHouse for 18 Years, work that he claimed would have cost the institution well more than $900,000.
“After what’s happened,” Smith said. “Anything they need, they’ll have to pay for.”
Susie GelmanWho, along with her husband? Michael GelmanThey gave $100,000 to a charity. LongHouse since 2012, stated they were shocked.
“I really don’t see how my husband and I can continue supporting LongHouse,” GelmanYou wrote it in an email. “It pains me deeply.”
SomeMany donors who claim they are withholding gifts have expressed concern that Tomicic’s tense relationship with Peter Olsen, 68. A trustee and Larsen’s companion of 30 years, who lived with him, played a role in Tomicic’s departure.
TheThe board denied this. ItIt has admitted that it wasn’t initially clear about what had precipitated its decision not to remove. TomicicHowever, the company has maintained that it was trying to be professional and discreet by reserving details about the fall in the face criticism. InAn Oct. 19 letter to the institution’s members, the board’s co-presidents said that the “silence about the change in leadership was meant to be respectful to all the parties,” who “agreed to part ways.”
MoreRecently, in an email to The New York TimesThe board clarified its explanation and stated it understood the commotion because it was a sign of how deeply its members view the institution. “We ask for patience and in return promise to be more forthcoming and open,” the board wrote.
TheIt said that directors’ changes were based on LongHouse’s need to transition from “one man’s residence with limited public visitation to the grounds, to a more fully public institution.” OneOne of its top priorities is to convert Larsen’s 13,000-square-foot home into a museum, the board said, and to do that it felt LongHouse needed “new leadership with commensurate skills and experience to help professionalize and sustain” it.
The board described BarrattThe interim director, who was, during her time at the Met, assisted in the renovation of the American WingAnd Islamic galleries, as having “extensive experience in museum and public garden leadership.”
The complaint filed with the attorney general’s office argues that LongHouse will be affected significantly by the changes in the trust arrangement that were made shortly prior Larsen’s death. TheThe complaint states that the trust agreement was breached. LarsenMade in April2020, the bulk his estate, which includes his. Park Avenueapartment, was to be to LongHouse when he died.
ButAccording to the complaint, the agreement was amended in November2020, just before Larsen’s death, to substantially reduce the gift to LongYou can buy a house by giving additional money to a trust that will make it possible. OlsenA stipend in the amount of $120,000 per annum OlsenThe apartment was also granted to you for life with all the maintenance fees covered.
TheBoard stated it could not comment on this complaint as it had not seen a copy. However, it released a statement to express its views on the changes to trust agreement.
“TheThe majority of Jack’s estate goes to LongHouse,” the statement said. “WhatThis is available to PeterAlso, it reverts back to LongHouse on his demise.”
TheAccording to the complaint, several board members lobbied for the changes that would benefit them. OlsenAt the expense of LongHouse.
“HowAre you eligible to be on the board LongHouse and not stand up LongHouse and rent money that was initially directed to LongHouse go elsewhere?” said WilsonOne donor has suspended her gifts.
The board, responding to such concerns, said in a statement: “InAll of these issues, the BoardActed ethically and in the best interest of LongHouse after careful deliberation and in fulfillment of its fiduciary duty.”
Olsen declined to comment beyond saying that he fully supports the board’s actions and plans, “which I believe to be consistent with Jack’s vision.”
The complaint to the attorney general’s office expresses concern that LarsenThese changes were approved during a period of his mental and health declines, just after he was discharged from the hospital for breaking a femur in an accident. ItOne draft of the changes was shown. LarsenWhile he was still in the ICU, and that the final draft of his discharge was signed six days later.
OtherFriends suggest that such concerns are unfounded. “Although his physical condition was deeply deteriorating,” said Roseline KoenerAn artist in WesthamptonWho visited Larsen, her friend, several times after he left the hospital, “he always kept his mind.”
Source: NY Times
