Rockaway Beach Clubs Restoration Takes Off with Artist-In-Residence Programs

Rockaway, NY, January 26, 2015 --(PR.com)-- Two legendary Beach Clubs that sustained serious facility damage from 2012’s Hurricane Sandy have just announced a new Artist-in-Residence program coordinated by the non-profit National Park Arts Foundation. With this program, NYC-based artists, carefully selected by a world-renowned panel of jurors, will have summer day access to the exclusive Breezy Point Surf Club and the Silver Gull Beach Club. While there, the Selected Artists will use the beach club resources to create work inspired by the landscape and surrounds of the Gateway National Recreation Area, part of the National Park system. Artists can apply here: http://www.nationalparksartsfoundation.org/#!apply-/c1as3

This Artist-in-Residence program also dovetails with a recent cooperative venture between the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Park Service who have pledged $1M to fund a wide range of arts projects in and around the parks. The two agencies are celebrating important milestones soon -- the Park Service’s centennial arrives in 2016, and this year the NEA will clock 50 years of sustained arts funding. The National Parks Arts Foundation is is a 501(c)3 non-profit organized and operated to engage in charitable, educational activities, which include bringing artistic experiences to the public in National Parks, National Monuments and National Recreation Areas and other public parks. These programs include Artist-in-Residencies, museum in-loans and workshops. NPAF is dedicated to the promotion of the National Parks of the world by creating dynamic opportunities for artworks that are based specifically natural and historic heritage not just of the US but other countries too. It is the only Artist Residency creator that offers its’ programs globally. See nationalparksartsfoundation.org for details.

Silver Gull Beach Club and Breezy Point Surf Club provide an opportunity for NY artists to be artistically inspired as pass-holders in the two beach club communities. These are both unique and historic Beach Clubs at the southern tip of Long Island. Both communities have a lovely restored-retro vibe: The Breezy Point Surf Club dates from before the Second World War, and The Silver Gull (featured prominently as the setting of the 80s classic The Flamingo Kid and also in the iconic HBO show The Sopranos) dates from the early 1960s. Both clubs bore the full brunt of the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in 2012, and just completed a multi-million dollar restoration and are better than ever.