Newsday: Slide Slams
Local artists are the subjects in Slide Slams 
Painters, sculptors and graphic designers get to show an audience of influencers their works.
Art lovers made their way to the Patchogue Arts Council’s second Slide Slam held in December at Stony Brook University's Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery. Photo Credit: Adel Gorgy
Instead of masterworks of modern and contemporary art that usually hang on the walls of the Paul W. Zuccaire Gallery at Stony Brook University, recently, they were covered with projections of paintings, sculptures, graphic designs and more by local artists. They ranged from those just building up photography portfolios, like Carole Amodeo and Mike McLaughlin, to painter Marsha Solomon, who’s represented by a Manhattan gallery and has exhibited worldwide. Nineteen artists came together on Dec. 6 to take five minutes in the spotlight in the Patchogue Arts Council’s 2018-19 Slide Slam. It was a chance to have their art seen by curators, gallery directors and critics, and network at a reception afterward.
Every artist wants an audience, but an audience of influencers who can impact careers is what Beth Giacummo, Patchogue Arts Council executive director, had in mind. She started the slams six years ago, and they've been expanding. This year, five separate events include over 60 artists of the more than 120 who applied. Upcoming Slide Slams will be at Haven Art Gallery in Northport on Jan. 19 and the Heckscher Museum of Art in Huntington on Feb. 7. Plans are forming for the final one in Patchogue in early spring. They're free and open to all.
"I'm an artist, and I've always wanted to create opportunities for artists," Giacummo says. "I created the Slide Slam to have a concentrated audience looking that could provide possible opportunities for new venues to show in. We have all these creative pockets all over Long Island, but they're not viewed as one whole." Novice and experienced artists from across Nassau and Suffolk participate, expanding those pockets while stitching them together.
Hear artist's vision
The first slam was held at the Patchogue Art Council on Dec. 1. It was followed by the presentation at Stony Brook co-hosted by Giacummo and the council’s program director and curator John Cino, with Karen Levitov, director of the Zuccaire Gallery, who noted with a smile that chairs were added to accommodate a larger-than-expected crowd.
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