Preservation Long Island Awarded Curatorial Internship Grant

The Decorative Arts Trust is thrilled to announce that Preservation Long Island (PLI) is the recipient of the 2025–27 Curatorial Internship Grant.

Headquartered in Cold Spring Harbor, NY, PLI was founded in 1948 as the Society for the Preservation of Long Island Antiquities. PLI advances the importance of historic preservation in the region through advocacy, education, and stewardship. Their program areas include interpreting historic sites, collecting art and material culture pertaining to Long Island history, creating publications and exhibitions, and providing direct support and technical assistance to individuals and groups engaged in local preservation efforts.

In 2026, PLI will celebrate the United States Semiquincentennial as well as the 50th anniversary of their landmark furniture publication, Long Island is My Nation: The Decorative Arts and Craftsmen, 1640–1830.

Long Island’s complex political landscape and the convergence of diverse cultures left lasting imprints on the region’s material life, as seen in extant furniture. Dutch-style kasten, such as one found in Westbury (figure 1), remained popular for over a century in areas of western Long Island once part of New Netherland. Farther east, a 17th-century carved blanket chest from East Hampton (figure 2) shares stylistic similarities with examples from New Haven Colony. This connection across the Long Island Sound is also evident in an 18th-century high chest of drawers (figure 3) from Oyster Bay, which incorporates design elements typical of Newport furniture, further highlighting the social and commercial ties between Long Island and New England.

Other examples of regional furniture, including two pieces associated with well-known local families, convey deeper narratives about communities historically absent from Long Island furniture scholarship. An early 18th-century trestle table (figure 4) has a long-standing history of being made on the Floyd Estate in Mastic. The 4,000-acre plantation relied on the  work of enslaved Africans and indentured or enslaved Unkechaugs, an indigenous group. This mixed-labor force likely included skilled woodcutters and carpenters capable of creating such a form. Similarly, a side chair (figure 5) attributed to the celebrated cabinetmaker Nathaniel Dominy V (1770–1852) showcases the talents of an Indigenous craftsperson. A member of the Montaukett community of East Hampton possibly wove the later cattail seat bottom. By preserving and adapting such ancient craft traditions, Native peoples on Long Island resisted economic and cultural subjugation.

PLI’s Peggy N. Gerry Curatorial Fellow will collaborate with Chief Curator & Director of Collections Lauren Brincat on a series of objectives aimed at cataloging Long Island furniture in public and private collections across the region, reexamining these objects from new perspectives, and enhancing their accessibility to 21st-century researchers and the public. The Fellow will take a leading role in a new initiative building upon previous scholarship towards the creation of a collaborative Long Island furniture digital database that incorporates objects from c. 1640–1860, an exhibition, and an accompanying catalogue. Also, the Fellow will coordinate and participate in a Long Island furniture symposium in summer 2025.

The PLI Fellowship will provide an emerging museum professional with comprehensive, hands-on experience across all areas of collections management, curatorial practice, and digital content creation. The selected Fellow will play a pivotal role in driving an important organizational initiative, working closely under the mentorship of an experienced professional.

PLI will post the Curatorial Fellow position on their website in spring 2025.

The Curatorial Internship Grant is awarded annually to museums and historical organizations. The Trust thanks the members and donors who make programs like the Curatorial Internship Grant and our Emerging Scholars Program possible.