Farmingdale High School Art Students Selected for Prestigious Heckscher Museum Exhibition
One fall afternoon, students in the Farmingdale High School AP and Pre-AP Art & Design classes visited the Heckscher Museum of Art for an immersive field trip. While enjoying the scenic museum grounds, students spent the morning photographing and sketching. More significantly, they explored the exhibition Emma Stebbins: Carving Out History, drawing inspiration from Stebbins’ work to inform their own artistic investigations.
Following this experience, students developed original artworks as part of their AP coursework. Farmingdale’s five art teachers collaborated to thoughtfully curate and select the top ten student works for submission to the highly competitive juried exhibition, Long Island’s Best: Young Artists at the Heckscher Museum 2026.
According to the museum: “Celebrating its 30th anniversary, Long Island’s Best has been a hallmark of the Museum’s educational programming for three decades, showcasing the outstanding work of over 2,000 high school students from across Long Island. What began as an annual exhibition of outstanding student work has become a lasting tradition—one that recognizes excellence while nurturing the next generation of creative thinkers. Long Island’s Best continues to be the only juried exhibition for Long Island high school students that provides the opportunity to exhibit in a museum. Students are challenged to select artwork on view in the Museum as the inspiration for their own work, making creative connections with the generations who have come before them. The Heckscher encourages students to think outside the box as they work in a broad range of media, styles, and subjects. Students also write artist statements explaining their creative process. This year, 63 public and private schools submitted students’ artwork for jurying. 402 entries were received, and Consulting Curator Meredith A. Brown and guest juror Aaron Feltman selected 84 pieces for display.” — Heckscher Museum of Art
Farmingdale High School is proud to announce that three students—Maury Torres-Mendez, Payton Livingston, and Dylan Reyna—were selected for inclusion in this prestigious exhibition.
Pre-AP and AP Art & Design teacher Lisa Gramarossa shared her excitement, “Not only is it incredible for these students to have their artwork on display in a museum, but they should feel extremely proud knowing this is the only juried exhibition of its kind for high school students on Long Island. They work tirelessly inside and outside of class and pour themselves into their creations. I am thrilled that their artwork can be appreciated beyond Farmingdale.”
Students expressed both pride and excitement upon receiving the news.
“I am very honored and proud,” said Maury, a senior who was also recently awarded the Art Supervisors Association All-County Art Scholarship.
Dylan, a junior in Pre-AP Art & Design proclaimed her “excitement for this opportunity” - gathering friends and family to join her for viewing this weekend.
Payton Livingston shared her enthusiasm: “It is so exciting to be selected for Long Island’s Best—not only for the exhibit, but also to have my work featured on the promotional banner for the show.” In a moment of pure excitement, Payton exclaimed “Holy cow!” as she saw her artwork displayed on the museum’s homepage banner—an extraordinary honor that highlights her talent on a public stage. Payton plans to pursue art in college, with the goal of becoming a future art educator.
The Farmingdale community is invited to celebrate these talented students and their accomplishments. An exclusive preview day for participating artists, their families, and teachers will be held on Saturday, March 28, from 12:00–4:00 p.m. The exhibition will be on view from March 29 through May 3