“A Shared Aesthetic: Artists of Long Island’s North Fork,” Geoff Fleming, Historian, Speaks at the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society

Historian Geoffrey K. Fleming will speak at the Cow Neck Peninsula Historical Society on the lives and work of two American artists, Irving R. Wiles (1861-1948) and Edward A. Bell (1862-1953) in his lecture, "A Shared Aesthetic: Artists of Long Island's North Fork."  Both artists were born in New York, as children studied art with their artist fathers, exhibited their work both nationally and internationally and were members of the Peconic School on Long Island's north shore, among many other prestigious schools and organizations.

Mr. Fleming was born and raised on Long Island.  He attended Mary Washington College in Fredericksburg, Virginia where he completed a Bachelor's Degree in Historic Preservation, with a focus on Architectural History and Museum Studies.  He was the recipient of the J. Binford Walford Scholarship in Architecture, and was accepted into the prestigious Arts Administration Program at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  Formerly the Director of the Bridge Hampton Historical Society, he currently serves as the Director of the Southold Historical Society.  Mr. Fleming is President of the Long Island Museum Association (LIMA), Chair of the New York State Documentary Heritage Program Committee for Long Island, and he is a Trustee of the Brecknock Hall Foundation.  He is also the author of over a dozen publications documenting the art and history of Long Island.