Long Island Biennial about

The Heckscher Museum of Art’s Long Island Biennial is a juried exhibition featuring work by contemporary artists from Suffolk and Nassau Counties. The Long Island Biennial offers Long Island’s artists an opportunity to show their work to a broad public, deepening the connections between artists and the communities in which they live. Inaugurated in 2010, the Long Island Biennial has been ongoing for 14 years.

This iteration of the Long Island Biennial will be a themed competition. July 4, 2026, marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Much has changed since the European colonists first arrived and declared an independent nation on land long populated by the diverse Indigenous peoples of North America. Coinciding with this national anniversary and the centennial of George Grosz’s masterpiece of political art, Eclipse of the Sun (1926), The Heckscher Museum invites Long Island artists to submit work that resonates with the legacy of the Declaration of Independence, in all its promises, ideals, and contradictions, and/or that is inspired in some way by Grosz’s masterwork. Artists may address these themes in any fashion: from a personal, local, national, or global perspective, generally or specifically, literally or interpretively, and in any aesthetic genre and medium. Artwork selection is at the sole discretion of the jurors, based on their personal, professional expertise and experience, and an expansive understanding of the theme. Jurors will not provide feedback of any kind.

This year’s exhibition will be juried by: 

Tripoli Patterson, founder and owner, Tripoli Gallery

Lauren Rosati, Associate Curator, Department of Modern & Contemporary Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Andreas Rentsch, photographer, Associate Professor of Photography, and Chair of the Art Department, Lycoming College, Williamsport, PA

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