The annual Mansions and Millionaires Designers’ Showcase is now open at Mill Neck Manor. The beneficiary, Mill Neck Manor School for the Deaf, provides comprehensive educational services for children from infancy through age 21 who are deaf and/or have other special needs. The showcase is open to the public through Sunday, June 14. General admission: $30; senior citizens: $28; children (12 & under): $7; groups (20 people min.): $26 each
Debra Ann Kasimakis is a participating local artist who brought her miniature art to the showcase this year. With painstaking attention to every detail, Kasimakis brings the fable of “Pinks” to life in the small room known as the Flower Room in the Mill Neck Manor House (showcase Room 7). Captured as if in a photo, guests can observe the result of a frozen moment of the transformation by one the garden’s enchanted creatures in the tiniest room at Mill Neck Manor, known as the floral center of the house. It was here that fresh flowers were taken from the garden and prepared for display in every room. The room contains a sink, countertops, cabinets and a small floral refrigerator where the staff would create magic for the manor. There was this one time, however, where the magic of the garden entered this tiny room, according to the fable.
It is the story of Pinks, a magical creature who is said to have dwelled on the grounds of Mill Neck, enjoying the beauty of her surroundings.
“She noticed that some of her flowering friends would go missing from the gardens, but she would see them through the windows of the big house,” said Kasimakis. “Pinks wondered why they would leave the open air and go inside. So one day, using her magic, she turned herself into a beautiful flower and jumped into a basket laying on the ground with some of her flowering friends and they were swept away and brought inside. Pinks jumped over to the window and threw it open wide and called to her friends. And in a flash, all of Pinks’ garden friends came inside, helping turn the counter into a garden and the walls into a selfie art gallery.”
All who visit can take a peek at Pinks’ party in the Mill Neck Manor magical miniature garden.
Kasimakis is one of 30 designers and artists participating in the showcase. This year’s showcase includes a bonus Salvador Dali exhibit, curated by the Meisner Gallery. For more information, call special events coordinator Samantha Hallman at 516-628-4239 or email shallman@millneck.org. For tickets and events visit www.millneck.org/community-events/designers-showcase-2015.
For information about Mill Neck Manor, visit www.millneckmanorhouse.org.
