This Weekend in the ARTS

New North Shore Artist David  P.  Curtis’s Work
on Display at First Ipswich Bank’s Gloucester Branch

First Ipswich Bank is pleased to announce that  work  by  local  artist,  David  P.  Curtis,  is  on  display  at  its  Gloucester  branch  –  207  Main Street ‐ through July.

David P. Curtis grew up on Cape Ann, and was introduced to painting at an early age by his artist father, Roger W. Curtis. Primarily a plein air landscape painter, Curtis has been instructing outdoor oil painting classes and workshops on Cape Ann since 1993.

“To paint nature,” says Curtis, “you need to be out there, on location, where you can savor  the  ambience  and  really  get  a  sense  of  the  atmosphere  and  how  it  affects  the  landscape.” To view his works online, please visit http://www.davidpcurtis.com.

An open reception for David will be held at the branch on Friday, May 20 from 2:00 – 4:00 PM to offer the opportunity to meet him and learn more about his work.

About the program: One artist’s work will be shown every three months; David’s work will be on display through July. A new artist will then be featured from August through October 2016.

For  more  information,  please  contact  Rebecca  Sumner,  Branch  Manager  at  978‐356‐3700, or Beth Taber at 978‐356‐8120.

First  Ipswich  Bank  has  branch  offices  in  Essex,  Gloucester,  Ipswich,  Newburyport  and  Rowley,  Massachusetts – you can find them online at http://www.firstipswich.com, as well as on Facebook.

Please join us on
Saturday, May 21 and Sunday, May 22
10am to 5pm each day
You can download our brochure and map here.

Saturday Evening Girls:

Immigrant Artists and Scholars of Boston in the Early 1900s
An illustrated lecture by Dr. Dorothy E. King

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present a special lecture entitled, Saturday Evening Girls: Immigrant Artists and Scholars in Boston in the Early 1900s on Saturday, May 21 at 2:00 p.m. The lecture will be presented by Dr. Dorothy E. King, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Penn State Harrisburg. Joanne Riley, archivist at UMASS Boston and Roz Kramer, daughter of pioneer Saturday Evening Girls (SEG) researcher Barbara Kramer, will also participate.

This program is $10 for CAM members / $20 for non-members (includes Museum admission). Space is limited; reservations required. For more information, email us at info@capeannmuseum.org. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Museum at 978-283-0455 x10 or online at Eventbrite.

The Saturday Evening Girls was a social club organized in Boston in 1899 to assimilate young immigrant women into American culture. Girls—who met Saturday evenings—were introduced to literature, art and history. They were also given the opportunity to make and decorate ceramics at the Paul Revere Pottery. In 1906, a summer camp was built for the girls’ use at Wingaersheek Beach in west Gloucester.

Dr. Dorothy E. King, a native of York, Pennsylvania, holds an EdD from Teachers College, Columbia University. Dr. King began conducting her research on the Saturday Evening Girls in 2013. In addition to being an educator, Dr. King is a performance poet, playwright, and founder of PenOwl Productions Theater Company.

Rocky Neck Art Colony presents

Emerald Rae & Somer O’Brien in concert

at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck,
Saturday May 21. Doors at 7:00 PM,
music begins at 7:30 PM.

Emerald Rae and Somer O’Brien are a neo-folk fiddle and accordion duo polished with a quasi-art-music sheen. Their repertoire is a montage of Celtic, French, Italian and Greek tunes intuitively rendered with a delicate mix of authenticity, curiosity and artistry.  Their arrangements are fiercely vivacious, ardent and candid and are presented with warmth, wit and humour.

A fearless and masterful fiddler with a heavy background in driving dance music, Emerald Rae blends softness and strength to create a uniquely expressive sound. Being a traditional music guru requires a dedication to history, using an approach similar to that of a museum curator.  She describes the process of collecting carefully-sourced tunes as being akin to grave-robbing.  “Tunes are our currency.  To find them you have to dig, wipe off the dust, and breathe life into them.  Then they become part of your story.”

Somer O’Brien’s original accordion playing belies a lifetime of study as a classical pianist.  Her compelling rhythms and singular harmonic textures push the boundaries and defy categorization.  She weaves a fine tapestry with exotic colors from Afro-Latin, Jazz, and Folk.  “As a teacher I am a perpetual student.  My ears are always expanding, as is my knowledge of and relationship to the accordion.  I think this is what keeps my style fresh.”

With their whimsical style and passion for eclecticism, Rae and O’Brien piece together a surprising and refreshing mosaic, taking you on a journey that will spark your inner wanderlust.  Their first full-length album, Artifact, will be released in the summer of 2016.

For up to date information visit http://rockyneckartcolony.org/events/category/music/list/. 

James Eves, owner of Cape Ann Giclée, Fine Art Printing and Gallery, is GMG’s Arts Enthusiast and the Calendar Guy. To submit arts related press releases, photos of arts events or any arts related posts email: james@capeanngiclee.com.
To add an event to the GMG Cape Ann Calendar go here to see how to submit events.