Friends of Sam Dorsky from the arts and philanthropies gather to honor him, his legacy to the arts, and his lifelong spirit of philanthropy.

Through their different perspectives, a portrait of Sam Dorsky emerges “revealing the quality of his relationship to artists, art institutions, the art world, and the works of art he donated,” observes art historian Amy Lixl Purcell

From the establishment of his gallery in 1963 until his death in 1994, Sam Dorsky featured scores of artists in literally hundreds of exhibitions, and many of those artists became his lifelong friends, including such well-known artists as Henry Moore, about whom Sam was a recognized authority, Richard Hunt, Willem DeKooning, Larry Rivers, Robert Rauschenberg, and others. He was equally enthusiastic and supportive of lesser-known and emerging artists. Artists Hank Virgona, Chaim Tabak, Howard Gross, and Martin Barooshian, along with collector Paul Rothman and Angela Mascolo, Sam Dorsky’s secretary for more than thirty years, will share their experiences and recollections. Sam’s daughter Karen, who joined her father in operating the gallery from 1987 until his death, will discuss the gallery years.

Sam Dorsky’s generosity and support of artists, a hallmark of his success in the art world, led him to establish a program of donating art to academically affiliated art institutions throughout the country. Ruth K. Beesch, Deputy Director for Program at The Jewish Museum in New York City, who spearheaded plans for an exhibition of Sam Dorsky’s contributions to those institutions when she was Director of the Weatherspoon Art Gallery at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, will discuss the program.

After an interim period, following Sam Dorsky’s death, the commercial gallery was closed, and in 2001 Sam’s children, David, Noah, Karen, and Sara, established Dorsky Gallery Curatorial Programs (DGCP) in Long Island City as a not-for-profit organization dedicated to promoting contemporary visual arts to a broad public audience. In keeping with their father’s spirit of philanthropy, it is also the chartered mission of DGCP to donate substantially all of its collection to libraries, museums, and university galleries throughout the country, where it can be seen, studied, and enjoyed by generations of young people (especially students), who otherwise would not have the opportunity to benefit from contact with such art.

Sam Dorsky’s vision was fully realized only after his death in the museum he had worked for years to establish, The Samuel Dorsky Museum of Art at SUNY New Paltz, opened in 2001. It is the third major college art gallery in the Mid-Hudson Valley, joining the Frances Lehman Loch Art Center at Vassar College and The Center for Curatorial Studies at Bard College. The Museum’s Sara Dorsky Bedrick Gallery was named in honor of Sam’s daughter Sara for her philanthropy toward the Museum. She has also been a charitable donor of many works of art to museums and other institutions and is active in a number of environmental charities. Neil C. Trager, Director of the Museum, and David, Noah, and Karen Dorsky, will discuss the Museum’s evolution.

Sam Dorsky came to art relatively late in life, and his passionate avocation turned into a satisfying vocation right up to the end of his life. He had built a successful garment business in which his entrepreneurial skills, quick mind, creativity, and innate good taste in fashion brought him through the Great Depression, World War II, and the post-war boom years with both the desire and the wherewithal to pursue both art and philanthropy.

It was at that time, when Sam Dorsky found that art would be forever a part of his life, that he also reached out to help mentally handicapped children. He gave to the Karen Horney Clinic’s program for emotionally disturbed children, and served on the Clinic’s board for thirty years. He contributed to the pioneering work of Isaac Maizes, who founded the Maimonides Institute of Far Rockaway for learning-disabled children, which Rabbi Martin Schloss, Executive Director of the Board of Jewish Education of Greater New York, will discuss. Rabbi Schloss taught at the Institute from 1969 to 1978.

Sam Dorsky’s longtime friend, neighbor, and associate, Stanley Greenstein, will share insights into Sam Dorsky, the man, while sculptor and friend Lloyd Glasson’s videotaped interview with Sam in his gallery in 1989 will bring those insights to life and survey Sam Dorsky’s beginnings in the business world.