“This is Adare who just returned from Kenya,” writes Deborah French, Library Director of the TOHP Burnham Library in Essex, Massachusetts. The family captioned the photograph “So here is Cape Ann Reads with a giraffe!” What a super travel photo, and kind shout out to Cape Ann Reads and Cape Ann.
Several captivating and compassionate picture books included in the Once Upon a Contest: Selection from Cape Ann Reads travel exhibition currently on view at Cape Ann Museum focus on animal friends. Stop by to read the new books and see if you can find all the giraffe illustrations.
More Cape Ann Reads and library news: Gloucester Daily Times visits TOHP Burnham Library, Essex, Ma.
Diane Polley read from her Cape Ann Reads award winning picture book”Let’s Go Animal Tracks in the Snow” Jan. 22, 2019 | photographer Paul Bilodeau captures scenes from the author reading and arts activity
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Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester MA
Artist Talk | Jeff Marshall
Sunday . January 27th . 2:00 pm
Jeff talks about drawing and his current work in the exhibition ‘Working the Waterfront’ If you missed Marshall’s acclaimed exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum, this is the last opportunity to view this stunning body of work, which is the subject of Marshall’s year-long observation of the ‘comings and goings’ on Gloucester’s Morse-Sibley Wharf. Marshall’s work at Jane Deering Gallery was recently noted by The Boston Globe’s Critics’ Pick as one of the best exhibitions to catch.
Moulton’s 4th stop today for MLK Day. He said they’re all busy despite a late night for Pat’s fans 😉! He spoke about Lewis, Civil Rights, Freedom Riders, and more before the awesome music next on the program.
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ON Monday Jan 28 there is Saunders House Committee meeting 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM LOCATION: Byers/Davidson Room according to the library’s calendar. Additionally, The Saunders House Stewardship Committee, meets at 10:30 am on the third Monday of every month; confirm locations on the day. January 2019 was moved to January 14th because it would have fallen on Martin Luther King day.
ON Wed Jan 30 there is Library (new) Building Committee meeting 4:00 PM – 6:00 PM Then monthly: 01/30/2019, 02/27/2019, 03/27/2019, 04/24/2019 LOCATION: confirm if Friend Room or one of two rooms upstairs/downstairs in Saunders. There may be other informal ad hoc meetings–there was one scheduled at Dore & Whittier in December.
For your review – summary and scenes from the November 15, 2018 public meeting and recent headlines:
photo caption: Central Grammar apartments (left), City Hall (back), Sawyer Free library (right)
photo caption: at the start of the 11/15/18 Library new building meeting – eight to ten tables set up, and mood boards on stands
photo caption: Brad Dore introduces the design team November 2018 (eight including him) Matt Oudens raising hand in this photo presented his designs at the 2017 meeting
Approximately fifty attendees –including the library board and staff plus eight consultants from the firm, Dore & Whittier Project Management and Architecture— convened on the main floor of Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Public Library on November 15, 2018. Individuals from the Historical commission, Action Inc, Saunders House, Gloucester Green, a local middle school teacher, a Varian employee, library members and 3 teenagers were present.
I believe the light attendance was due to a feeling of repetition. The public meeting was billed as an opportunity to provide feedback to the library yet again. It turns out that the gathering was a required step in the next phase of the library building plans and as such was presented to be starting from square one. No matter how one tries to paint it, it’s not square one. “This is just a necessary step,” the consultants explained. “”It doesn’t matter.”
Since 2013, the library has facilitated and hired consultants to help with public forums related to the building and future plans. (Public and committee meetings, agendas, minutes, and strategic planning are requirements for grants and funding, not to mention big pursuits like new buildings or restoration). It is disconcerting that years of prior and extensive staff and public feedback are not aggregated and readied by the library board nor contracted consultants–especially as several in attendance were present at the January 11, 2017 meeting attended by 150+ that sent the building plans back to the drawing board.
photo caption: Jan 11 2017 crowd (paintings on view like the Lanes since moved)
That contentious January 2017 meeting was preceded by the corporators* meeting two weeks prior where feedback recommended recording and sharing public comments for transparency and efficiency and many of the same concerns were expressed.
*I am a library corporator and can attest that project updates have not been shared (albeit annual meetings) Corporators are a devoted library audience and might help.
photo caption: The official recorder for committee and municipal meetings in City Hall is a great model.
In between the timing of that big 2017 meeting and this small 2018 one, the library pursued forums via ThinkGloucester facilitated by Gloucester Conversations for its strategic planning. At those forums, the library indicated that results would be shared in the fall of 2018. I was not the only one expecting those results linked on the homepage and printed out for the November 15th meeting. They weren’t. Following the meeting, a board member kindly shared the findings: Sawyer Free Library thinkGloucester Project Report_final 2018
State funding support for library buildings is guided by the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners ( MBLC). In part because of the state’s toolkit funding process, the November 2018 meeting became a fresh start and first step, Phase 1. I was told that the architects and designers needed to hear feedback “first hand” which is reasonable until you establish that yes in fact most of them had been at that most well attended public meeting to date mentioned above (2017), and have been engaged by the library and worked with the library committees for years. Although that money is disassociated as part of the MBLC toolkit next phase, each purchase order (PO) for marketing/public relations (PR) and phases towards new building plans can affect the library’s bottom line, and take years. When I find them, I will link to the library’s letter of intent, a list of costs for consulting to date (phases or not), building related work, marketing completed since 2013, and for the fine art removed.
In 2013 top concerns included new bathrooms, more staff, the Saunders building, art & archives, and the HVAC systems. Here we are six years later: I can say there has been no change in the bathrooms. The library needs more staff. Voices to preserve the John and Dorothy Rando memorial garden have arisen. The teenagers at the November meeting hoped for new lighting. Perhaps that’s an easy renovation. After six years, the library may have saved some money and developed outreach by conducting a local design competition, fixing the bathroom, and hiring staff. We may have move forward together to MBLC instead of what feels like a never ending “stage one”.
MBLC supports new builds that adhere to a best practice formula and adjusts as no two libraries or communities are exactly the same. For instance, specific additional square footage from a current footprint, varied “programmable” spaces, adequate parking and public input are guidelines. I would suggest that money be spent on clerks/recorders for the public meetings and the library should insist on that from their consultants (whether Dore &Whittier or not). I would hope that new input at every stage continues to be updated and evaluated. Why is the focus on “green” LEED not parsing the MBLC parking spaces requirements? The Boston Public Library did away with them–we should expect no less. Some rural or smaller communities may need larger library builds and new visions to create a statement cultural public gathering spot where there hasn’t been one. (Although I think that’s unlikely in MA.) Our extant library has a variety of gathering spaces. And Gloucester is blessed with an abundance of large, special public spaces that work in concert with the library. City Hall, Cape Ann Museum, Temple Ahavat Achim, the YMCA, and the Gloucester Meetinghouse UU Church are essentially library abutters and can pack hundreds. The Legion, Rose Baker Senior Center and Maritime Gloucester are short blocks away. The library can move events to off-site locations when and if it’s mutually rewarding. Mostly it does OK in house. Gloucester’s population hovers 30,000 which is the same as it was at the time of the last expansion. Does our population require more space? According to sources in the paper and the meeting, the building plans remain many years out. The Massachusetts funding model has decreased and according to the MBLC press release issued Nov 2018, “The longer a community goes without being able to start its project, the higher the construction costs will be.” At what point do the costs outweigh options like renting if building lifespans are warrantied to a few decades expectancy? If the process requires construction this costly, perhaps the state can reimburse communities more money, quicker, and/or develop other models?
You can read a range of reactions to the library’s November 15, 2018 meeting in an article by Ray Lamont in the Gloucester Daily Times: Sawyer Free Library plans still unclear, November 19, 2018
Dore & Whittier was awarded the 197 million Newton North high school design and build, and multiple MBLC and MSBA contracts for the City of Gloucester. Here is a link to the complete project list published on their website (and photos below). You’ll need to go back and forth among the awarded category projects to separate work by town. (For instance, West Parish is listed but does not indicate “Gloucester” and the library work does not appear). The state sites don’t aggregate all phases either. The Massachusetts school PO status from March 2018 lists 3 awards: the East Gloucester Elementary School study, the GHS roof repair and the West Parish build.
The current website does not have a “button” or menu selection for new building plans. You can select from the calendar to see some of the meetings announced. You can select About to explore more about the board committees and some minutes and agendas. Some meetings are linked into the City of Gloucester calendar, too.
I don’t suggest that the treacherous bridge needs to be “preserved” or want to impede progress. However, I believe there is still time to repeat my pleas (since 2012). Great design impacts future investment. Is there a small way that the design can tip its hat to Edward Hopper, Gloucester, and New England for this landmark and beacon for Cape Ann, this cherished vista across the Great Marsh?
Update from the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation:
2PM It’s on but use caution!
We regret that Meetinghouse Green is now frozen over solid and is not safe for parking or walking, so allow time to find on-street parking or use one of the lots in the Historic District. The front steps will be clear and sanded but please exercise extra caution when coming up from Church Street. You are also welcome to use the side entrance instead, close to the intersection of Church and Pine Streets, where there is an interior staircase and an elevator.
2:00-2:15 Introduction: ‘Why Are We Here? Sandra Ronan
2:15-2:45 ‘Shadowed Lives,’ Effects of Slavery on Cape Ann Stephanie Buck
2:45-3:00 Break with Refreshments
3:05-3:50 The Honorable Seth Moulton United States Representative, Massachusetts 6th Congressional District
3:05-3:50 Alvin Foster and his band Soul Eclectic, music that underpinned Black people’s courage to be happy and celebrate life, love, spirituality and growth in the face of racism
3:50-4:00 Break with Refreshments
4:00-5:00 Keynote Speaker: Clennon L. King, ‘MLK’S Boston Years’ The award-winning documentary filmmaker and journalist Clennon L. King will present a slideshow, focusing on the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s movements in Boston and New England, from the fall of 1951 to the spring of 1954, to be followed by Q&A with the audience
5:00-5:15 Break with Refreshments
5:15-6:00 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I’ve Been to the Mountaintop” speech accompanied by a slide show of period and present-day images
Conclusion Audience invited to join in ringing the Paul Revere Bell for freedom
This free annual civic event is hosted by the Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation. GMF mugs, caps, totes, shirts, and memberships are available along with refreshments all through the afternoon and your support is greatly appreciated. Gloucester Meetinghouse Foundation
Front stairs open but approach is icy. Approach from side entrance. Many have suggested a temporary winter ice skating rink on this glorious spot but not in this way.
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Do you have the same window treatment / view?! Flash Freeze sheets on any surface glazing commenced about noon on January 20, 2019, Gloucester, Mass.
It’s nasty out there. Safe wishes for those in need and all the helpers.
And #PowerforthePatriots…
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agencies power outage tracking MEMA map showed 541 outages at 11:40AM and has gone down and back up again –though not topping that number.
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Courtney Richardson at the Cape Ann Museum shares information about an upcoming special event at the museum:
Lecture – Life on the Edge: The Ecology of Crane Beach, Saturday Jan. 19th, 3PM
The Cape Ann Museum, in collaboration with The Trustees, is pleased to present a lecture about the natural history and ecological significance of Crane Beach with ecologist Jeff Denoncour. This program is offered in conjunction with the special exhibition Sky/Horizon/Light: Perspectives on Crane Beach. This program is free for Museum members, Trustees members, Cape Ann residents or with Museum admission. Reservations required. For more information visit capeannmuseum.org or call 978-283-0455 x10.
When one thinks of Crane Beach, the sea, sun, and sand might be the first things that come to mind. But how did the forces of nature create the stunning landscape? What’s special about this incredible barrier beach and marshlands it protects? How do The Trustees protect special places and care for our vulnerable coast? Join Jeff Denoncour, an ecologist with The Trustees, for a dive into the natural history and ecological significance of Crane Beach, how they protect our coastal resources, and examples of success stories resulting from their work.
Jeff Denoncour is the Eastern Region Ecologist with The Trustees where he manages and monitors ecological resources on its properties in Eastern Massachusetts. Jeff grew up on Cape Ann and has spent most of his life living along the coast. He has 11 years of experience managing rare and endangered shorebirds that nest on beaches. For the past eight years, he has been managing the Shorebird Protection Program on Crane Beach, as well as other natural resources that make the Crane Beach such a treasured place.
This program is offered in conjunction with Sky/Horizon/Light: Perspectives on Crane Beach a special exhibition of the paintings of Dorothy “Doffie” Arnold. The works on view at the Cape Ann Museum offer an ever changing vista of Crane Beach as observed across Ipswich Bay from Arnold’s studio in Bay View (Gloucester). Painted in the 1980s, these acrylics on paper are part of larger series of works by Arnold that take as their subject the intersection of water, land and light viewed from a single vantage point over a period of years. With a low horizon line, a sky that is often turbulent and waters that range from placid to racing, the paintings reflect the strong influence of nature on the artist and her work.
A 1980 graduate of the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, Dorothy Arnold maintained studios in Cambridge and Gloucester. While much of her work is large scale, the Crane Beach paintings measure just 11×15 inches. Her work, which includes landscapes, still lives, figure studies and abstractions, was the subject of an international retrospective in 2001–2003. It was Arnold’s wish to exhibit her art locally in an effort to strengthen the community’s appreciation of the culture and traditions of the area.
A Cross-cultural Conversation: Curators visit from Japan to talk about The Little House: Her Story exhibition’s origins in Tokyo
The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to welcome Gallery A4 chief curator Michiyo Okabe and Atsuko Tanaka on Saturday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. to discuss the collaboration that brought the special exhibition The Little House: Her Story home to Cape Ann. The curators will present an illustrated talk with a short film. This program is free for Museum members, Cape Ann residents or with Museum admission. Reservations required and can be made at camuseum.eventbrite.com. For more information visit capeannmuseum.org or call 978-283-0455 x10.
2017 marked the 75th anniversary of the publication of the children’s book The Little House, written and illustrated by Virginia Lee Burton (1909–1968). In recognition of that milestone the Cape Ann Museum collaborated with Gallery A4 at the Takenaka Corporation in Tokyo, Japan, to create an exhibition exploring Burton’s extraordinary career and legacy. The Sawyer Free Library in Gloucester, the University of Minnesota, the Burton-Demetrios family and the Tokyo Children’s Library also contributed to the project. The exhibition that resulted from this partnership featured archival material and a model of “The Little House” at the center of Burton’s story. “The Little House” was on display at the Gallery A4 from June until August 2018. Thereafter the exhibition traveled to Kijyo Picturebook Village (Miyagi prefecture), Aomori Museum of Art (Aomori prefecture), Narnia (Ginza, Tokyo), and the Spiral Garden (Aoyama, Tokyo). The exhibition was greeted enthusiastically by large crowds at each site.
The Cape Ann Museum is pleased and honored to have been given this rare opportunity to engage in cross cultural dialogue and thanks its partners—and dear friends—in Japan for their generosity and kindness. This exhibition was made possible through the support of: Cape Ann Savings Bank and Cape Ann Savings Trust & Financial Services; Takenaka Scholarship Foundation; Nancy LeGendre & Walter Herlihy; Mary Craven; Margaret Pearson; Christine & Stephen Kahane; Arthur Ryan; J.J. & Jackie Bell; Gib & Sarah Carey; Paul & Christine Lundberg; and Andrew Spindler.
Image courtesy of Gallery A4, Takenaka Corporation, Tokyo.
I don’t know where prayers go, / or what they do. / Do cats pray, while they sleep / half-asleep in the sun? / Does the opossum pray as it /crosses the street? /The sunflowers? The old black oak / growing older every year? / I know I can walk through the world, / along the shore or under the trees, / with my mind filled with things / of little importance, in full / self-attendance. A condition I can’t really / call being alive. / Is a prayer a gift, or a petition, / or does it matter? / The sunflowers blaze, maybe that’s their way. / Maybe the cats are sound asleep. Maybe not. / While I was thinking this I happened to be standing / just outside my door, with my notebook open, / which is the way I begin every morning. / Then a wren in the privet began to sing. / He was positively drenched in enthusiasm, / I don’t know why. And yet, why not. / I wouldn’t persuade you from whatever you believe / or whatever you don’t. That’s your business. / But I thought, of the wren’s singing, what could this be / if it isn’t a prayer? / So I just listened, my pen in the air.
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WACC conservation teams on the ground in Gloucester, MA, 2018
Thanks to Mayor Romeo-Theken, city officials & departments and staff, residents, volunteers, archives and generous grant awards & donations, — Gloucester’s extant historic mural collection has begun a new chapter and is beginning to receive most fitting care at the illustrious Williamstown Art Conservation Center.
Located on the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute campus, The Williamstown Art Conservation Center (WACC) is a non-profit institution that was established as the regional conservation center for New England by the US government back in 1977.
The Williamstown Art Conservation Center is located on the campus of the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute in Williamstown, Massachusetts. (architect Tadao Ando)
The summer 2017 issue of Art Conservator, WACC’s indispensable industry magazine, focused on the center’s 40th anniversary milestone and Director Tom Branchick. The back page prints the 2017 Center consortium members.
Gloucester Massachusetts art collection stands with important American collections and just might be the first municipality on this list!~
Conservators at the center assessed the condition and performed necessary triage because of the invaluable support from the city’s Community Preservation Act (CPA). CPA funding and Williamstown Art Conservation Center’s stature are inspiring endorsements for broadcasting the project and compelling additional financial support. As money is raised, every mural will have its necessary care regimen completed. Donations in support of the mural care can be sent c/o the Auditor’s Office, City of Gloucester, 9 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA (note mural restoration). All murals will be displayed in Gloucester as soon as their care is completed.
Sneak peek then and now:
The former Eastern Avenue School (85 Eastern Avenue) was the site for the monumental mural, Schooldays, by Frederick L. Stoddard, from 1936. This multi-panel triptych was painted 8 feet high and nearly 60 feet long despite an array of unusual architectural challenges. My hunch for its original location on the main floor was confirmed thanks to Barbara Tarr. I’m looking for interior photos of the school that show the mural installed. Over time the school walls were resurfaced, doors blocked, and an elevator installed. Based on my expertise, I recognized that a stand alone piece was misattributed and must have been dispersed, not as bad as the scarecrow in the Wizard of Oz after the flying monkeys descend-… still it was dire and will be amazing to have it whole once again! Special thanks go to Gloucester’s Department of Public Works.
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Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Public Library children’s services offers fantastic weekly programming. Zyla the Therapy Dog loves a good book! The next “Sign up to read” or sit with Zyla are January 29th, March 5th and May 14th. Looking ahead: there’s plenty of time to prepare for the annual Poetry Without Paper contest co-founded by Jon Ronan with Christy Russo, Director of Children’s Services. This year, national Poem in Pocket Day falls on April 25, 2019.
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Admiring some serious tailgating prep by super fans! Smells like a win.
Meanwhile, we’re at a munchy fare level, and loaded potato skins (thanks Sista Felicia) for the big game 1:05PM Los Angeles Chargers vs New England Patriots. What’s on your menu?
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Don’t miss Mary Rhinelander McCarl’s floral still lifes on display January 2019 at the Matz Gallery, Gloucester Lyceum & Sawyer Free Library.
clone tag: 7312131960865815702
from the printed matter:
“Mary Rhinelander McCarl- Mary, a Gloucester resident, draws her artistic inspiration from the scenery of Cape Ann. In her youth, she studied both sculpture and figure drawing with George Demetrios. She has worked under the guidance of Juni Van Dyke in the Art Room of the Rose Baker Senior Center and studied watercolors with Susie Field. At present Mary uses her training as an archivist to transcribe and edit the papers of Samuel Elwell Sawyer, Gloucester’s great philanthropist and art collector.”
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Today visitors to Cape Ann Museum were in for a special treat. They came excited to learn about linocut prints from artists Mary Rhinelander and Julia Garrison. Some watched. Many gave it a go. Best of all they left with an impression they pulled from the ingenious homage block Mary carved in tribute to the Folly Cove designers!
Good Morning Gloucester 