Month: April 2018

Empty Bowl Dinner 2018
Cruiseport Gloucester
6 Rowe Square
Thursday, May 3
4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Join them for an evening of food and hospitality.

The meal is simple—soup, bread and a cookie. Guests can choose and keep a soup bowl handcrafted for this community event. The bowl goes home as an unspoken reminder that somewhere someone’s bowl is empty.

Extra parking is available at Harbor Beach with complimentary trolley service to and from the event site.

Tickets available at the door. $20 for adults and $15 for children under ten.

Empty Bowl events are held nationally to generate awareness concerning hunger and to raise money for local hunger-relief programs. Proceeds from this event will benefit The Open Door Summer Meals and Mobile Market programs.

Pick #1:  Gloucester Pride Stride

Visit their website here for all information

The Directors of Gloucester Pride Stride are committed to the residents of Cape Ann to assist non-profits and community groups in their fundraising efforts.

All members of the community are invited to get involved by choosing and walking in support of a local non-profit or community/school group. Tax-deductible pledge donations are collected by each walker in advance of the walk using the pledge sheet or online giving system.

The 2 mile walk begins and ends at Gloucester’s iconic Stage Fort Park at noon on Sunday, April 29, 2018. Donation checks are then disbursed to all non-profits and groups at the Awards Party in June 2018 (exact date/location TBA).

In addition, Gloucester Pride Stride awards two annual scholarships, the Lynne “Lani” Vachon Memorial Scholarship and the Gloucester Pride Stride Scholarship to two individual Cape Ann graduating seniors.

Pick #2: Build a Lighthouse

An Essex Heritage event at NPS Visitor Center in Salem.

Essex Heritage invites visitors (ages 4+) to come and build their very own model lighthouse using every day materials! Special guest instructor and children’s book illustrator, Katy Bratun, will be leading this family friendly craft starting at 1:00 pm at the National Park Serice Visitor Center in Salem. This event is FREE and all craft materials will be provided.

Since 2014, Essex Heritage has been taking visitors to see the lighthouse on Bakers Island, but now we want you to your hand at building one!

*Pre-registration strongly suggested for this FREE event!

REGISTER AND READ MORE HERE

Pick #3: Art in Bloom at the MFA

What a wonderful way to spend a beautiful spring day with your family.

READ MORE ABOUT THIS ANNUAL MULTI-DAY EVENT HERE

Celebrate the return of spring with Art in Bloom, the Museum’s annual festival of fine art and flowers.

Enjoy exquisite art from across the MFA’s collection paired with magnificent floral interpretations created by New England-area garden clubs. Professional designers delight with creative designs in Museum entrances and walkways.

Art in Bloom launches with an Evening Preview of freshly installed arrangements on Friday, April 27, from 5 to 10 pm. Daily events include tours of flower arrangements throughout the galleries; demonstrations of floral arranging for your home; casual dining among masterpieces; and outdoor walking tours. Browse the new MFA Art in Bloom Market and expanded Garden Cart for unique gifts and treasures.

The popular Member Night is Saturday, April 28, and Community Day with children’s activities is Sunday, April 29. Free Ikebana demonstrations on Saturday from 3 to 4 pm in Remis Auditorium.

As always, for a comprehensive list of family activities, please visit our friends at North Shore Kid.  

Spring’s late arrival this year put my mind back to the previous “shoulder season”, fall 2017 and I realize how much has changed around town since then especially at the beaches. Fall was very nice this year and brings some sweet memories.

It was monarchs before it was Snowy Owls

The boardwalks and the footbridge hadn’t been beaten up by the vicious storms yet:

Trees were still standing and holding tight awaiting harvest done by hand and not by wind

AHHH.  Sweet memories only 6 months old.

Kinloch Nelson: Guitar Mad Scientist
Saturday, April 28 at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck
6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA 01930

The Rocky Neck Art Colony is pleased to announce that it will present Kinloch Nelson: Guitar Mad Scientist as part of the upcoming ArtWeek festival happening April 27 – May 6. Hundreds of events will be presented across the Commonwealth during the 10-day creative festival. See a complete listing of events at artweekma.org.

ArtWeek is an award-winning innovative festival featuring hundreds of unique and creative experiences that are hands-on, interactive or offer behind-the-scenes access to arts, culture, and the creative process. Now an annual statewide festival, ArtWeek was born in Boston in 2013 and recently expanded its footprint across the Commonwealth.

Don’t miss this exciting event:
http://www.artweekma.org/event/kinloch-nelson-hear-the-guitar-mad-scientist/
Presented by: Rocky Neck Art Colony, Inc
Price: $20
Location: The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck Art Colony
Date: Saturday, April 28 at 7:30 – 9:30 PM

Kinloch Nelson is a uniquely amazing finger style guitar player and composer, and he loves his Mad Scientist Guitar Projects. You’ll experience the design, construction, and sublime playing of Kinloch’s crazy harp guitar along with his usual stock of unusually fabulous instruments. Learn how to build a harp guitar with junk plywood and a coat hanger, and hear a fabulous concert by the Mad Scientist himself! Kinloch plays with an enthralling dexterity, diversity, and sense of humor – a guitar master not to miss! Kinloch Nelson Event at Rocky Neck Art Colony

Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek offers new ways to experience art, culture, and creativity. This year, Mass Cultural Council and the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism have joined ArtWeek as Lead Champions in this unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on the state’s creative economy.

“We are thrilled to have organizations like Rocky Neck Art Colony participating in ArtWeek this season,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, Jr., President & CEO of the Boch Center. “ArtWeek is an innovative festival that works to spotlight how the creative economy is thriving in Massachusetts. We are very excited about this season’s offerings, which include many unique experiences spanning dance, fashion, media arts, spoken-word, poetry, writing, culinary, visual arts, music, opera, theater, design, film, and more. And the best part is that many of the events are free making it affordable and accessible to everyone!”

For more information on ArtWeek, visit www.artweekma.org.

About Rocky Neck Art Colony, Inc– Rocky Neck, a picturesque part of Gloucester, MA, is widely known as the location of a famous artist colony. In fact, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, artists such Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Mark Rothko and others lived and worked on Rocky Neck. They came to Cape Ann charmed by the landscape, vibrant light and working waterfront as well as the artist community. Rocky Neck Art Colony is oldest continuously operating art colony in America.

About ArtWeek– Presented by Highland Street Foundation and produced by the Boch Center, ArtWeek has become an annual award-winning innovative festival featuring hundreds of unique and creative experiences that are hands-on, interactive or offer behind-the-scenes access to artists or the creative process. ArtWeek was born in Boston in 2013 and has since expanded to serve communities across Massachusetts. Statewide partners include: Mass Cultural Council, Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism as well as Mass Center for the Book, MASSCreative, MassHumanities, MassPoetry, New England Foundation for the Arts, New England Museum Association, Young Audiences of Massachusetts and VSA Massachusetts. To learn more about our regional and local collaborators as well as about the festival and its growth, visit www.artweekma.org.

About Highland Street Foundation– Since its establishment in 1989, Highland Street Foundation has donated more than $180 million to many worthy non-profit organizations. It is committed to addressing the needs and concerns of children and families primarily in Massachusetts and California specifically in the areas of education, housing, mentoring, health care, environment and the arts. To learn more about Highland Street Foundation, please visit www.highlandstreet.org.

About the Boch Center – The Boch Center is one of the nation’s leading nonprofit performing arts institutions and a guardian of the historic Wang and Shubert Theatres. As New England’s largest cultural venue, the Boch Center is home to theater, classical and popular music, dance, comedy, opera, Broadway musicals, family entertainment, and more.

Located in Boston’s historic Theater District, the Boch Center also offers a diverse mix of educational and community outreach initiatives, including the City Spotlights Leadership ProgramandArtWeek;collaborates with artists and local nonprofit arts organizations; preserves historic venues; and acts as a champion for Greater Boston’s arts and cultural community. Learn more at bochcenter.org.
About the Mass Cultural Council
The Mass Cultural Council is a state agency that promotes excellence, inclusion, education, and diversity in the arts, humanities, and sciences to foster a rich cultural life for all Massachusetts residents and contributes to the vitality of our communities and economy.

The Council pursues this mission through a wide range of grants, initiatives, and advocacy for artists, communities, organizations, and schools. Mass Cultural Council also runs the Massachusetts Cultural Facilities Fund in partnership with MassDevelopment. For more information, please visit www.massculturalcouncil.org.

About the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism
MOTT’s mission is to promote Massachusetts as both a leisure and business travel destination for domestic and international markets and to contribute to the growth of the Commonwealth’s economy. MOTT works closely with 16 regional tourism councils across the state, and with larger tourism alliances such as Discover New England and BrandUSA. For more information on visiting Massachusetts, go to massvacation.com.​