National Lighthouse Day is celebrated on August 7 each year. In recognition of this, our longstanding custom of paying tribute to Fire Island’s favorite lighthouse in the first issue of this new month. The tradition continues with the artwork of Susan Brown, a longtime resident of Sayville.
The date references August 7, 1789, when the First U.S. Congress passed the National Lighthouse Act, which secured all lighthouses in the newly formed nation as vital infrastructure requiring federal support. The role of lighthouses has changed over the past 235 years, but the rich symbolism associated with lighthouses endures. Since the days of ancient Egypt, beacons atop mighty towers have guided ships and mariners at sea and have evolved to represent a safe passage to all travelers who must navigate the storms that life throws our way.
Much like Fire Island Lighthouse, this is not the first time this publication has written about Susan Brown. We first learned of Susan in 2013, when her brother Marshall featured her artwork on fundraising t-shirts for Save the Great South Bay, the organization he co-founded. The rest is history.
“To the glancing eye, Susan Brown’s paintings may seem scribbled and scrambled with lines and colors. Take a closer look; however, there is an impressive amount of detail beheld on the canvas,” wrote former Fire Island News reporter Nicole Cardone when covering her exhibition at Sayville VFW Post 433 in the spring of 2022.
Susan Brown is an adult on the autism spectrum. Fire Island, her hometown of Sayville, the vistas of South Shore Long Island, and metropolitan New York City are regular imagery sources for her. Some familiar views include Fire Island’s beaches, ferries riding on the Great South Bay, and Sayville’s stoic clock downtown on Main Street – instantly recognizable but seen anew.
Her resume is one that any aspiring artist would envy. She has participated in Outsider Artist exhibitions throughout the United States and in cities abroad like Vienna and Amsterdam. She has also been featured in an Outsider Art segment on CBS Sunday Morning and several art periodicals. She has been represented by Pure Vision Arts Studio on West 17th Street in New York City since 2002, which offers creative people like Susan a safe space to work and connect with one another.
This brings us back to Susan’s painting, which adorns our cover, glistening in cool shades of blue and white. It is at once our iconic Fire Island Lighthouse while capturing the essence of all lighthouses arrived upon after a long journey to make it there.
Learn more about Susan Brown’s life and artwork at susanbrownarts.com.
