New Exhibition Opening July 2nd: Wood and Water: Furniture on Long Island, 1660–1860
Preservation Long Island Exhibition Gallery, Cold Spring Harbor
July 2 to November 22, 2026
Across centuries, furniture has brought Long Islanders into contact with each other and the world beyond their shores. Incorporating 40 objects ranging from high-style chests to everyday seating furniture, Wood and Water offers a rich cross-section of Long Island society before the Civil War. The exhibition interprets the region’s unsung craftspeople—Quaker joiners, Black makers, women upholsterers, Dutch turners, and Indigenous weavers—alongside the furniture they used and crafted. From the workshop to the domestic sphere, furniture connected Long Islanders as they navigated a shifting social and political landscape during New York’s rise to global prominence.
Wood and Water is organized in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the publication of Long Island is My Nation: The Decorative Arts and Craftsmen, 1640–1830 and the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalog featuring extended object labels and scholarly essays by Steven Baltsas, Lauren Brincat, Laini Farrare, Peter Fedoryk, and Katherine C. Hughes, PhD.
Wood and Water is part of the multi-year Long Island Furniture Project, supported in part by the Gerry Charitable Trust, The Decorative Arts Trust, The Richard Hampton Jenrette Foundation, and the Long Island Libraries Resources Council.
