Artist Donna Caselden shares a release for an upcoming artist talk special event:
Please join us as we listen to artist Robin Colodzin. This exciting talk is free and open to the public! All are welcome!
The New England Experimental Art Group presents Robin Colodzin
About the Artist
Robin Colodzin’s work is inspired by the ocean, poetry, philosophy, and feminism. She is an artist, a software engineer, a swimmer, and an avid reader.
I find the practices that get me most fully embodied and expressive sometimes conflict with those that would allow me to shape a painting into something that would say something to others. This talk will explore those tensions.
Robin Colodzin
Her latest solo show (fall 2023) entitled ‘Embodied’ was a month-long exhibit at The Copley Society for Art in Boston. She has recently published a monograph of the same title, including artwork and writing. www.colodzin.com
Who: The New England Experimental Art Group
What: A Timely Talk: An evening with Robin Colidzin | My studio of safe uncertainty: An exploration of the gap between pure expression and communication in art-making
Where: ZOOM
When: March 20,2024 7:00pm
About The New England Experimental Art Group
The New England Experimental Art Group is a creative forum. Its main mission is to increase public awareness and to foster self-expression by bringing artists together to explore and share ideas that cultivate creative freedom. If you would like a zoom invite to the event, please contact: Nella Lush, The New England Experimental Art Group Chair, via email at www.experimentalartgroup.com
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Fog & sweet convivial snow buntings covered a lot of ground along the Long Beach seawall. After many weeks, I was happy to return to a morning walk Feb. 27, 2024.
photo and video clip images from my phone: A small flock of snow buntings traversed from lawns to roofs to the seawall railing and back again in response to walkers on the path and beach below. It was great fun watching them venture up and down especially when navigating the roof pitch on various cottages.
video clips- short few seconds each
Snow buntings in the fog venture down the roof pitch
snow buntings on the front cottage lawns
People coming!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Join us Sunday March 3rd at 3 P.M. for another superb concert created by violinist and composer, Scott Moore!
Music Committee Annisquam Village Church
Wood, Wire, & Song – Crossover Chamber Music in Annisquam
The nascent Lobster Cove String Quartet widens its wake with guest artists in a concert Sunday, March 3rd, at 3:00 PM at the Annisquam Village Church. With windows looking out on the Cove itself, the concert is designed by Artist-in-Residence, violinist and composer Scott Moore—joined here by a glittering lineup of special guests in an eclectic program of new music as inviting as it is fresh. Pianist and songwriter Elizabeth Ziman anchors the lineup with what NPR Music calls “beautiful, thoughtful, smart music largely built around her very approachable and warm voice.”
The March 3rd Wood, Wire, & Songprogram comprises music written in the last 30 years: the plaintive strains of John Tavener’s mysterious Akhmatova Songs; the elemental crispness of recent Pulitzer-winner Caroline Shaw’s Valencia (composed in Manchester-by-the-Sea); frequent Kronos Quartet collaborator Osvaldo Golijov’s visceral setting of Emily Dickinson, How Slow the Wind; and Moore’s own setting of Shakespeare’s sunny Sonnet 18, a world premiere. Classical soprano Theodora Nestorova joins Ziman, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Dietrich Strause, and quartet members Moore, Erica Pisaturo (violin), Brandon White (viola), and Alex Fowler (cello). Notoriously multi-talented Club Passim stalwart Zachariah Hickman (Josh Ritter, Ray LaMontagne) contributes string arrangements.
$35, suggested contribution.
Please join us for the reception following the concert.
Annisquam Village Church, 820 Washington Street, Gloucester MA 01930
For questions, please contact the Annisquam Village Church at 978-281-0376 or avchurch820@gmail.com
Gloucester DPW rehung art throughout City Hall following the 2023 fire & smoke damage. Frames were rewired.
In Kyrouz Auditorium, the Mayors Portrait Gallery installation was shuffled and reordered to incorporate portraits past and future with more to come. Two large Howard Curtis paintings recently donated to the city’s art collection are featured in the main hall.
The Mayor Portraits Gallery is extensive, nearly complete, and a work in progress. Mayor portraits are installed following service: A portrait of Mayor Romeo Theken will be added. A poster of the Mayor Barrett portrait will come, the third in a series of poster reproductions for the trio of Mayor portraits painted by Charles Allan Winter (quick, not from life, unprimed, and flaking). I recommended the portrait of Mayor Dyer (A.H. Bicknell, 1879) be brought upstairs in sequence with the others, and that Mayor Merchant be represented (he wasn’t), so it’s great to see those two included. I also recommended that the portrait of Mayor O’Maley be brought back from O’Maley school and one future day a portrait of Mayor Foster (rather than a plaque) and perhaps a larger portrait of Mayor Beatrice Corliss be commissioned.
As is common with Gloucester DPW, the staff admires the architectural details and history of the building. Here, Joe and Jim take in the ‘scenic overlook’ from the balcony. Jim talks about the Kyrouz ceiling lights: the original engineering mechanism that drops the fixtures so that the bulbs can be changed remains operational.
2023 custom scaffolding set up CLEANING CITY HALL CEILING AFTER THE BASEMENT FIRE/SMOKE DAMAGE
The ceiling is sparkling because workers could reach it from atop a specialty scaffolding platform (a la Michelangelo :)). Images: Kyrouz Auditorium, City Hall, 2023. Courtesy photos, Joe Lucido, Asst. Dir. DPW
Look up!
On the Dale Avenue entrance side of City Hall, above the fire & smoke incident, the stairwell walls and ceiling received attention, too. The facilities remediation project was smartly directed by DPW.
City Hall 1867 1869 1871
photo: 2013, C. Ryan
City Archives is open and as ever ready to help!
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Cape Ann Symphony Musicians Unleashed Concert Series
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 11 at 3:00PM
BLAZING BRASS!
at Gloucester’s St. Paul Lutheran Church
Featuring SAMUEL COSTA Trumpet; KURT CHARLES, Trumpet; EARL POWERS, Horn; JOHN MITCHELL, Trombone ROB NEEDS, Tuba
Cape Ann Symphony proudly announces the Musicians Unleashed Concert, Blazing Brass!, on Sunday, February 11, 2024 at 3:00 PM at The St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1123 Washington Street, Gloucester. The ticket price for Blazing Brass! is $40 for Adults and $15 for Youth. Call CAS at 978-281-0543 or go to www.capeannsymphony.org to purchase tickets. The Cape Ann Symphony’s Musicians Unleashed programs were launched in 2019 and have become a wonderfully popular series with an overwhelmingly enthusiastic audience response.
Blazing Brass! celebrates the brass section of the orchestra and features 5 accomplished brass players including Ipswich resident and CAS principal horn, Earl Powers; Samuel Costa, trumpet; Kurt Charles, trumpet; John Mitchell, trombone; and Rob Needs, tuba. These 5 musicians have planned an exciting journey of brass music through the decades featuring the music of George M. Cohan, Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, Leonard Bernstein and America’s March King John Philip Sousa. The program for Blazing Brass! includes the classics: Just a Closer Walk With Thee, Amazing Grace; The Saints’ Hallelujah and America The Beautiful; Jaime Texidor Dalmau ‘s Amparito Roca; Fats Waller’s Ain’t Misbehavin’; John Philip Sousa’s Fairest of the Fair; Duke Ellington’s It Don’t Mean A Thing; and Selections from Leonard Bernstein’s West Side Story: Maria, Tonight, I Feel Pretty and Somewhere.
THE PLAYERS:
Earl Powers is currently the principal horn of the Cape Ann Symphony and has been a
member of the 215th Army Band since 2012. Earl received his Bachelor of Music degree from Wichita State University and his Master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music. Prior to joining the 215th , he was principal horn for 10 years in the United States Navy Band in Washington, DC, and spent two years as 3rd horn in the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra. In 1989 Earl was selected as a Rotary Scholar from District 569 in Kansas and spent a year abroad studying horn at the Hochschule “Mozarteum” in Salzburg, Austria. Now a software engineer by day and a horn player by night, Earl lives in Ipswich with his amazing and talented wife, Susanne,along with their four equally talented and amazing children.
Samuel Costa is currently the Director of Bands at Ponaganset Middle School in North Scituate, Rhode Island. He has also held the position of Principal Trumpet for the 215th Army Band of the Massachusetts Army National Guard for the last 24 years. He has performed all over New England and is a founding member of the Nebula Brass Quintet.Samuel has performed frequently with the Cape Ann Symphony in addition to other orchestras, including the Rhode Island Philharmonic, Cape Cod Symphony, and Rhode Island Civic Chorale and Orchestra.
Kurt Charles was born and raised in Manchester, Connecticut, where he started playing the trumpet in grade school. He has worked as a local musician performing for church services, marching bands, dance bands, and musicals around Connecticut and Western Massachusetts. Kurt studied music education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst from 2011 to 2016. He joined the 215th Army National Guard Band of Massachusetts in 2012 and is a member of the Commonwealth Brass Quintet. Kurt currently resides in Stafford Springs, Connecticut and works full time in the field of Information technology while continuing to serve as an Army Bandsman in Massachusetts and a civilian musician in his local community.
John Mitchell, a trombonist of unwavering passion, embarked on his musical journey at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, where he cultivated his skills and developed a profound appreciation for the art. Currently, he proudly serves in the 215th Army Band,showcasing both his musical prowess and dedication to his country. Alongside his military commitments, John finds fulfillment in shaping the next generation of musicians through private lessons. With a rich blend of training, service, and a love for teaching, John Mitchell continues to leave an indelible mark on the world of music.
Rob Needs started playing euphonium in 1972. He joined the 215th Army Band in 1980, started learning tuba in 1985, and in 1987 became the principal tuba player for the Army Band. Rob recently retired with 41 years of service! Rob has played on severa loccasions with the Cape Ann Symphony on tuba and is currently the principal French horn player in the Southeastern Philharmonic Orchestra and Our Lady of Light band. Additionally he is lead trombonist in the Swansea Community Musicians, euphonium player in the Saint Cecilia Philharmonic Band, tuba player in the Nebula Brass Quintet, French horn player in the North River Brass Quintet, and regularly switches instrumentsas needed in the Bridgewater Antiphonal Brass Society. He has performed vocally, on bass guitar, on keyboards, and has written brass quintet arrangements, several of which are being performed today.
Blazing Brass! is Sunday, February 11 at 3:00 PM at The St. Paul Lutheran Church, 1123 Washington Street, Gloucester. Ticket prices forBlazing Brass!are $40 for Adults and $15 for Youth. Call Cape Ann Symphony at 978-281-0543 or go to www.capeannsymphony.org for tickets.
Photos Attached:
Photo 1: Samuel Costa, Trumpet
Photo 2: Earl Powers. CAS Principal Horn and Ipswich resident
Photo 3: John Mitchell, Trombone
Photo 4: Kurt Charles, Trumpet
Photo 5: Rob Needs,
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Images closer, closer, closer 2/3/2024: Those rocks are moving 🙂 Long Beach regulars slow float & feed, waddle, or stand when they hit a sandbar stretch.
Sun came out sometime after 10AM
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Images: Jan. 28, 2024, 9:30 A.M. A seal that’s washed up dead on Long Beach was reported to authorities. Sick or dead marine wildlife can pose risks. Despite advice to keep a distance from beached seals, dead or alive, people and pets touched this one. Dogs sniffed, marked, chewed, dug and climbed atop the body. In its current position at this particular tide, the cause of death is undetermined and no visible wounds are apparent. High tide may cover and move the seal out or re-beach it again./
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
The annual meeting of the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, Inc. will be held on Wednesday, January 31, 2024. All regular patrons of the Cape Ann Symphony are welcome to attend. Dinner will be served at 5:30 pm followed by the annual meeting starting at 7:00pm. Dinner will be served restaurant-style and each person will pay for their dinner and gratuity directly to the server.
The purpose of this meeting is to hear reports of the past year’s activity by the Music Director, President, Treasurer, Manager and Board Officers. The meeting is also convened to elect Directors and Officers for the period from February 1, 2024, through January 31, 2025.
The meeting will be held in the Christopher Columbus Room at Minglewood Harborside located at 25 Rogers Street, Gloucester, MA.
For further information or if you would like to attend, please contact the Cape Ann Symphony at 978 281 0543 or info@capeannsymphony.org.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Jane Deering announces expansion of the Jane Deering Gallery (JDG). Since 2016, JDG has presented contemporary art in one room of the historic 1842 Capt. Harvey Coffin Mackay house at 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester. The gallery will expand into a second front room of the historic house. An official opening of the new space to be announced.
JDG is located next to the important Cape Ann Museum. The gallery represents Cape Ann artists alongside national and international artists; and since 2002 has placed art in museums, corporate collections and numerous private collections in the US and abroad.
courtesy photos: work in progress towards gallery ready (note extant architectural details: decorative mantle surround, dentil molding, exposed hardwood floor); and Jane in the new space)
In 2016, I wrote about the first opening of the gallery here, and the history behind the home here
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
According to officials, the coastal flooding was worse in some sites prone to high tide flooding than they had experienced in past storms. The impact is going to take time to assess.
In the meantime, congratulations to DPW and city services. Making roads safe was addressed immediately by Gloucester DPW. On Thatcher Road, the clean up was instant. How did this storm surge impact your neighborhood? I spoke with 20 residents around Long Beach (in East Gloucester and Rockport) and every one of them felt that this storm did not cause as much damage as the year with the trio of March storms. However, homeowners closer to Gap Head cove in Rockport felt it was the worst they’d ever experienced.
“The waves kept coming,” they said.
Jan. 14 – Day 2
Photos: Aftermath. Day 2. High Tide #3. Coastal cleanup continues swiftly. On Long Beach, Saturday’s midnight high tide #2 punched out a few more holes along the walkway, shortened the berm height a couple of feet, yanked off the winter stairs, and displaced additional sand. There are sequential extra Long Beach photos for residents who are away.
Video clips
Rip rap reflections at 8AM low tide Jan 14, 2024
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
photos Jan. 13, 2024, about 4pm–four hours after high tide–when the ocean receded: some views and condition of the Long Beach seawall, front row cottages, and behind the cottages.
Note: The packed and tamped soft surface atop the seawall walkway was stripped away and a narrow gully was carved along its length. The path is entirely clear and walkable (albeit one front cottage deck which was lifted and traveled some) although a bit uneven and raw. The concrete hard stretch fared better. There was 1 debris chunk and two damaged spots on the concrete section. On the beach, the rip rap is entirely exposed (which happens every winter). The popple berm between Long Beach and Cape Hedge is shorter, but still standing. Four hours after high tide the road out back was more dry than not. Every storm is different.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
photos January 13, 2024, two hours after high tide: At the back of Good Harbor Beach over to Cape Hedge (roughly Thatcher Road between Stop & Shop, Good Harbor Beach, Long Beach, and Cape Hedge). Streets were impassable for about two hours–flooded by feet of water not inches. Barriers, DPW crews, utility and emergency crews are repairing, clearing, and pushing cars. The last time the floods breached the berm at Cape Hedge was the March 2012 storms. I was away for the prior flooding this week, and have not seen other neighborhoods today.
GMG readers shared video and photos from their views
Courtesy photos shared with GMG: Good Harbor Beach; Greasy Pole
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
photos: Jan. 8, 2024, Gloucester, Ma. A bright winter morning after the storm. Snow accumulation was enough to enact a 2 hour delay for Gloucester schools. High tide was about 8 AM and windy.
Spread The GMG Love By Sharing With These Buttons:
Good Morning Gloucester 