Hi Joey,

With Mayor Carolyn Kirk and the City’s leadership and support, here are some September updates for City Arts & Gloucester covering the Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce, Community Development Downtown Work Plan, Harbortown Cultural District and the Committee for the Arts.

From now through October 15^th submit a design for a Cape Ann license plate!

· The single most successful MA specialty license plate is…the one celebrating Massachusetts’ other Cape. The Cape and Islands plate, created in 1996, features an image of Eastham’s Nauset Lighthouse and the cliffs of Siasconset and Aquinnah. It has raised $20.1 million and was ordered for 45,000 cars in the state. At that time, the Registry of Motor Vehicles allowed backgrounds. The new image space requirements are smaller squares to the left of the number.

· Feeling competitive? There are currently more than 216,641 specialty license plates in circulation in the state now, according to the Registry. The five top sellers?

$20,000 million

 

$18.3 million

$7 million

$4 million

· What do you think the 2 letters should be?

· For more information on how to apply, see GMG announcement https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2013/08/31/cape-ann-chamber-launches-drive-for-special-cape-ann-license-plate/

News from Community Development and the Downtown Work Plan

The Downtown Work Plan group continues! Come to City Hall for the third and final public meeting Tuesday September 17, 2013. Like the others, this meeting will also be held in the Kyrouz Auditorium at City Hall and run from 6-8PM. You can check out the results from the 2^nd public presentation on line http://www.gloucester-ma.gov/index.aspx?NID=760&ART=2142&ADMIN=1. It is a large file and may take a couple of minutes to load. Community Development will also post the other presentations to the website as well. If you have any comments or questions, email Community Development Director, Tom Danieltdaniel@gloucester-ma.gov

Enjoy this August 8, 2013 Boston Globe article on Mayor Kirk’s  efforts for Community Development for downtown Gloucester. You can see it here

News from the downtown Harbortown Cultural District

Mayor Carolyn Kirk has committed the City’s major support as lead partner for our two Gloucester Cultural Districts!

Visit www.gloucesterharbortown.org

2/3 of the Harbortown partners have filled out a survey to prioritize goals with a focus on arts and culture. Other partners will complete theirs as they meet with their committees/boards. Example of one of the questions (‘in progress’ screen shot)

Harbortown partners and stakeholders attending the August meeting at Cape Ann Museum were lucky to hear an outstanding update from Director Ronda Faloon:

Reaching Out and Strengthening Within, Cape Ann Museum’s recently announced Capital Campaign will raise funds to make essential and innovative changes, dramatically improving the Museum’s ability to care for its nationally significant collection, as well as to tell the Cape Ann story and the pivotal role it has played in the American experience. Dynamic new interior and exterior spaces will be created. Outdated systems will be updated and underutilized spaces will be maximized to provide secure, more cost-effective and visitor-friendly settings for the collection. The Campaign will also support efforts to make the Museum’s collection more accessible by digitization, allowing it to be viewed on a redesigned website. Whether you are a physical or virtual visitor, the Museum hopes to transform your experience. http://www.capeannmuseum.org/support/capital-campaign/

We also participated in a special hands-on discussion and workshop about the goals for our district which was facilitated by Rebecca Borden Art Haven’s interim director. Art Haven and Cape Ann museum are founding partners of the Harbortown Cultural District.

News from the Committee for the Arts

On behalf of Mayor Kirk and the City of Gloucester, we’re in the process of updating the Committee for the Arts page on the City website and all these logos are at play!

 

The Committee for the Arts is pleased to announce that James Owen Calderwood’s temporary public  artwork, his abstract ‘Fish Net’ street mural covering Parsons Street, is the first of three 2013 HarborWalk public art awards to be completed.

INSIDER gHW ARTWORLD NEWS: New Parsons street signs are being designed and produced by Tricia O’Neill, Signs Unique, of Gloucester. Tricia is currently collaborating with world renowned British born contemporary artist, Matthew Ritchie, on his new mural commission for the Institute of Contemporary Art /Boston and Rose F. Kennedy Greenway’s Dewey Square. We are thrilled for Tricia and grateful she is helping with the gHW. AND Red Sox fans have long seen her sign work there!

INSIDER BLOOMS: Along with James’ wonderful net mural, also look forward to some lighting, a new fence on the west side of the street, and tucked along its edge, an additional patch of gHW butterfly and sustainable gardens with more of Kim Smith’s planting design!  You can see the relation of mural/fence/garden spot and more from Kim’s fabulous Good Morning Gloucester posts

The end of September heralds the 12^th year of Trails and Sails weekends. This year, the third and final Block Party is timed perfectly with the first Trails and Sails weekend. Gloucester’s Committee for the Arts is thrilled to take part in these weekends.

WALK Parsons Street to experience James Owen Calderwood’s Parsons Street mural for the 2013 HarborWalk Public Art Challenge

Before/after

Send us your photos!

 

Leaping © Cruz Ferreras

Thank you, Marty Luster! https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2013/08/20/great-public-art/

Stop into City Hall and cherish our City’s major murals.

Over the 2^nd weekend of Trails and Sails, July 27-29^th, the Committee for the Arts is also hosting 3 special days of mural celebration and recognition! Art conservator, Peter Williams, who recently completed the first phase of mural restoration at City Hall, will be speaking about restoration and Charles Allan Winter on Friday September 27 at 7PM in City Hall. Mark your calendars for his lecture:  “A Restorer’s Intimate View of Paintings and Murals by Charles Allan Winter”. Sign up too for guided tours Saturday and Sunday by Gloucester artist, historian, scholar, independent curator, adjunct professor, and former Committee for the Arts member, Susan Erony!

For more information on the restoration and photos see GMG posts including https://goodmorninggloucester.wordpress.com/2013/03/09/the-gloucester-committee-for-the-arts-announces-13200-in-new-private-donation/