Edward Hopper House Garden Party To Honor Art Gunther, Elliott Forrest

NYACK, NY — It's spring and it's sufficiently post-pandemic for the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center to hold its annual garden party, and the theme suits the mood.

This year's benefit – "A Fresh Coat for a Fresh Start" – will support the Museum's mission to care for and preserve the house and to explore the legacy of the American artist Edward Hopper and his Nyack years.

Mark your calendars for June 5. Tickets will be available for sale in mid-April.

It's been 51 years since local residents banded together to preserve Hopper's birthplace and childhood home, where the foundation for many of the great American artist's masterworks was established.

Perched on Broadway with a clear view of the Hudson River, the house was built in 1858 by the artist's grandfather, and was occupied by the Hopper family for 107 years.

Hopper (1882-1967) graduated from Nyack High School in 1899. Though he eventually moved to Manhattan, and spent his summers on Cape Cod with his wife Josephine, Hopper, his wife and his sister Marion (who never married and lived in the family home all her life) are all buried in a family plot in Nyack's Oak Hill Cemetery.

Following Hopper's death, the house fell into disrepair and was slated to be demolished — until a group of local citizens raised enough to purchase and restore the house. In 1971, the Edward Hopper House Landmark Preservation Foundation (now the Edward Hopper House Art Center) was formed, and in 2000 The Hopper House received the distinction of being listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

This year's Spring Benefit Garden Party honorees are Arthur Gunther and Elliott Forrest, each of whom has been instrumental in supporting the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center through their advocacy, volunteerism, and talents.

Honoree Arthur Gunther

Art Gunther is a former trustee of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center. For over fifteen years, he has served as a tireless volunteer with the Museum, continuing the tradition of historian Win Perry and others. His Rockland Journal-News editorial work and reporting aided the rescue of the "Hopper House" in 1971.

Gunther is a retired newspaperman with the former Rockland Journal-News. Over his forty-two year career, he took more than 8,000 photographs and wrote more than 6,000 articles for the newspaper, including some 2,500 weekly columns. In his retirement, Gunther continues writing online at thecolumnrule.com. He is also a painter and exhibits at regional galleries and art centers.

Today, the historic preservation of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center remains paramount to Gunther. He appreciates the value of local historic structures and the utter necessity to protect them. In 2020 he was featured on the Edward Hopper House Museum's storybank, Myths & Legends, documenting shared histories and memories of community members about Edward Hopper and his hometown of Nyack.

Gunther is a third-generation Rocklander, married to Lillian, a retired teacher, with whom he has two sons Arthur Gunther IV, a teacher, and Andrew, an archivist, and four grandchildren.

Honoree Elliott Forrest

For twenty years, Elliott Forrest, a Peabody Award-winning broadcaster, director, designer, and producer, has brought professional concerts, theater, and conversations to his upstate community in Rockland County and across the country. He currently serves as the afternoon host on New York’s Classical Radio Station 105.9FM, WQXR.

Forrest is also the founding Executive Artistic Director of ArtsRock.org of Rockland County. Through ArtsRock in 2021, he devoted his talents and energies to work with the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center to celebrate with the community and the world the Museum’s milestone 50th Anniversary.

Forrest contributed countless hours through ArtsRock preparing the four Anniversary events – virtual lectures and conversations with leading American art historians and curators. These programs offered exciting, new perspectives on Edward Hopper and themes of his legacy. Forrest hosted the shows and interviewed each of our guest presenters. With his help, the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center’s Anniversary celebrations were a great success and the engaging programs are now free and online to be enjoyed by our audiences today.

Originally from Midland, Texas, Forrest lives in Nyack with his wife Kara Sheridan, a former trustee and Board President of the Edward Hopper House Museum & Study Center, and they have two children, Michael and Tyler.