Reminder about the USAF “Airmen of Note” Jazz Band free concert at Gloucester High School 7-9PM tonight. What a great name and special event for any high school, especially Gloucester, home of the Docksiders, great high school and middle school bands, and such rich music talent throughout the community! On this gorgeous spring day, enjoy a past video of the USAF band playing It Might As Well Be Spring (Rodgers and Hammerstein). Read more about the band below. Hope someone takes a picture like that one on the steps here in Gloucester by the Man at the Wheel and on the High School steps 🙂
Black box theater at New England Conservancy “Edward Hopper paintings come to life”
A chamber opera based on the paintings of Edward Hopper about to start !
Music composed by John Musto | Libretto by Mark Campbell
Joshua Major, Stage Director | Robert Tweten, Conductor
Artists: Chelsea Baccay, Rush Dorsett, Julia Dwyer, Alexandra Saori Erickson,Jeongmin Kim, Kaitlin Loeb, Emily Siar, Ana Mora, Whitney Robinson, Corey Dalton Hart, Christopher Remkus, Gregory Sliskovich, Kyle Bejnerowicz, Grant Braider, Corey Gaudreau, Taehwan Kim, Matthew O’Donnell, Seung Yun Kim, Seiyoung Kim, Erin McMullen, Kristen Murdaugh, Yoonjeong Yoo
One more matinee tomorrow-22
New England Conservatory: Plimpton Shattuck Black Box Theatre
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Mark your calendars. Kathy O’Neil shares Cape Ann Forum‘s press release for their next (local) lectures on international issues.
May 6 Sarah Chayes at City Hall
WHY CORRUPTION THREATENS GLOBAL SECURITY: A Cape Ann Forum with Sarah Chayes
In dozens of countries, corruption can no longer be understood as merely the bad deeds of individuals. Rather, it is the operating system of sophisticated networks that cross national boundaries in their drive to maximize returns, and it has gotten to a level that it threatens global security, according to Sarah Chayes, who is speaking at the next Cape Ann Forum at Gloucester City Hall on Sunday, May 6 at 7 pm.
Chayes, author, a former reporter for National Public Radio in Afghanistan and a senior associate in the Democracy and Rule of Law program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, is not only exposing the extent of this problem—she’s advising policymakers on how to combat it. One of her recent studies focused on Honduras, the source of many of the refugees now seeking asylum in the United States.
“The strands of the Honduran kleptocratic network overlap, and personnel is shared among public, private, and criminal network elements. But the three sectors do retain some autonomy, interacting via exchanges of revenues and services,” writes Chayes.
“Revenues are captured at the expense of the environment as well as the people of Honduras, and some of the most resilient opponents of the network’s business model are community groups defending the land. These groups are largely ignored by international donor institutions, the bulk of whose assistance benefits the network.”
Sarah Chayes’s work explores how severe corruption can help prompt such crises as terrorism, revolutions and their violent aftermaths, and environmental degradation. She recently left her position at Carnegie to work on her next book, which will apply this framing to the United States.
Before joining the Carnegie Endowment, Chayes served as special assistant to the top-ranked American military officer, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen. She focused on governance issues, participating in cabinet-level decision-making on Afghanistan, Pakistan, and the Arab Spring, building on the years she reported on the region for NPR.
Chayes says it was “a sense of historic opportunity” that prompted her to end her journalism career in early 2002 and to remain in Afghanistan to help rebuild the country. She chose to settle in the former Taliban heartland, Kandahar where she founded Arghand, a start-up manufacturing cooperative, where men and women working together produce fine skin-care products.
Her first book, The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan After the Taliban, was published in 2006. Her most recent book is Thieves of State: Why Corruption Threatens Global Security (2014), Winner of the 2015 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Current Interest. “I can’t imagine a more important book for our time.” ―Sebastian Junger
This is the Cape Ann Forum’s last major event of the 2017/2018 season, as the organization closes in its 100th presentation since it was formed in 2001, which will be commemorated next September. The May 6 forum will also feature the announcement of the organization’s annual international awareness award to a graduating Gloucester High School senior, which comes with a $500 scholarship.
Sarah Chayes portrait by photographer Kaveh Sardari
May 20th Andrew Bacevich at Gloucester Stage
The Cape Ann Forum is also co-sponsoring a presentation by Andrew Bacevich, a West Point graduate and Vietnam War veteran, at the Gloucester Stage Company, 267 East Main Street, on Sunday, May 20, at 6 p.m. The talk is part of a month-long program on Combat Art—“In War and Afterwards”—curated by Gloucester artist Ken Hruby and organized by the Rocky Neck Cultural Center, which will exhibit the work of combat veterans.
Bacevich is a two-time Forum speaker and a nationally known commentator on international affairs, a professor emeritus at Boston University, and the author of nine books, including The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism and America’s War for the Greater Middle East: A Military History.
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“Gloucester nature photographer Kim Smith, the keynote speaker at Salem State University’s Earth Days Week, used vivid images of monarch butterflies to describe their lifecycle, importance in ecosystems, and imperiled future due to habitat loss and agricultural chemicals. Smith, who spoke on campus Thursday, April 12, 2018, makes nature films and contibutes to the daily blog Good Morning Gloucester. She also helps communities and individuals build gardens specifically aimed at attracting butterflies, bees and beneficial bugs…”I think compassion for all living creatures is really important,” said Smith. “Right here in our own backyards and beaches we have small winged creatures like monarchs and piping plovers that are struggling to survive…”
Pick up your paper. Lovely to see front page article for Kim, and with a Dawn Upshaw coming to Shalin Liu (tomorrow) notice same day!
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Virginia Demetrios is Virginia Lee Burton’s married name and author credit she used for her work as Folly Cove Designer and founder. Her linocut was curated for the MASSterpiece trail 🙂 from Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism (MOTT): https://www.flipsnack.com/eohed/massachusetts-masterpiece-trail.html
Explore them all!
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All are invited to have fun, join in, share ideas for Gloucester’s 400th Anniversary possible celebrations in 2023. A public meeting will be held at City Hall on Saturday, April 28, 2018 from 1-3pm. Can’t attend? Email your input to the 400th steering committee: email gloucester400@gmail.com and check out the 400th Anniversary Facebook page For More Info
“Although Gloucester’s 400th Anniversary is five years away, we know that those years will go by quickly. 400 years deserves a year long celebration in 2023 and a steering committee has been meeting for the last six or seven months to get the process started. Three Captains have been chosen to lead the group: Bruce Tobey, Bob Gillis and Ruth Pino. The Committee is sponsoring a public meeting on Saturday April 28, 2018 in City Hall Auditorium…What should happen during 2023? What would you participate in? What would you miss if it didn’t happen?”
With so much advance notice, it’s fun to ruminate. Three words come quickly to mind for one idea: Virginia Lee Burton. Burton was one of the most influential children’s book author-illustrators of the 20th century and Folly Cove textile designer and founder. She received the Caldecott medal in 1943 for The Little House. Whether for the 400th Anniversary or not, I hope one day that there are tribute commissions for Virginia Lee Burton’s beloved characters Katy from Katy and the Big Snow and Mary Ann from Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel at Stage Fort playground. Life Story and Song of Robin Hood were also informed by landscape and her life in Gloucester. (The Burton tributes could be massive, interactive and accessible bronze sculptures. Tom Otterness commissions were completed at this scale. Why not Burton? They don’t have to be. Also bring back the monumental sea serpent and the big truck. These memorable imaginative expressions were wood in the past and maintained for years. Perhaps they could be recreated with modern decking materials. And add in Burton’s Little House! )
Archives
Gloucester has a history of producing major anniversary celebrations which makes looking back through archives* inspiring for future plans. Here are a few I’ve pulled:
*digitizing Gloucester Daily Times and Gloucester’s municipal archives is another oft repeated plea of mine and others–am sending that one along to a 400th dream wish list…
August 16, 1942– the city’s second (!) Tercentenary Celebration.
1923 Fighting for public art – the Fisherman at the Wheel memorial commission
On May 21, 1923, the Gloucester Daily Times published an article about the appropriations and planning for the city’s 300th Anniversary which is remarkable in content and its late date–the celebration was just months away! The idea itself and related costs concerning a public art commission –the one that would become Gloucester’s renowned Fisherman at the Wheel Memorial– were hammered out at a heated City Council meeting. Here’s the nearly complete transcription:
COUNCIL RECONSIDERS AND VOTES $5000 TO CELEBRATION: Equal Amount Will Be Reserved for Permanent Memorial Fund–Executive Committee Held Prolonged and Animated Session Saturday Evening. May 21, 1923 (*note ______ indicates illegible copy)
After three hours of discussion and a conference of the municipal council behind closed doors lasting about three-quarters of an hour on Saturday evening, it was voted to reconsider their action whereby the $10,000 appropriated for the anniversary committee should be alloted for a permanent memorial and voted for _____ committee to expend a sum not exceeding $5000 for the celebration, and the other $5000 to be used for the creation of a permanent memorial.
The agreement as finally reached is ______________ provide for the dedication in whole or in part of a permanent memorial to be erected and paid for jointly by the _______ city of Gloucester. “The municipal council agrees that a sum of $5000 of the amount appropriated by the city for the celebration will be for the general purposes of the committee if necessary, with the understanding that all expensea for additional police protection incurred by the committee on public safety will be paid for by the anniversary committee. And with the further understanding that the anniversary committee will do all possible to have this sum of money applied to the permanent memorial in addition to the sum reserved ____ by the municipal _____ surplus after the celebration is over, this surplus also to be for the purpose of a permanent memorial.” The meeting opened at 8.15 o’clock, with a reading of the records by Secretary Harold H. Parsons, and following this there came without hesitation_____ ing of the celebration from those present, and for a time, one was reminded of the old town meeting days. ___________ A Piatt Andrew ___________ carnival parade by members of the art colony of the city were accepted and adopted.
Plain Talk by Chairman Barrett- Chairman Barrett then arose and addressed the members present and said: “I sent a communication to the municipal council some time ago to find out just what standing this celebration had with them. The letter I received was not
Erin George, Johanna McEvoy, Joe McEvoy, Caryn Clifford, Sophia Douglas, and Allison Lex are the members of the Action trivia team. John and Patty McCarthy and Jen Beloff were cheering them on.
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The creative response to military service is vast.
Several Gloucester and Cape Ann artists and writers were veterans officially engaged as combat documentarians and/or military artists, like Larry O’Toole (1908-1951), marine artist, official USCG artist and WWII Veteran.
Author and historian Ron Gilson viewing Larry O’Toole murals at O’Maley Innovation School, originally commissioned by Ben Pine ca.1945; after fire and demolition, temporarily relocated to Essex Shipbuilding Museum ; rescued and returned to Gloucester by Raye Norris. When he was a teenager, Gilson helped O’Toole with general art handling-studio assistance such as readying and moving these murals.
Addison Center’s 1866 portrait of Ulysses S. Grant is to the left upon entry in City Hall. (On the right is a 1946 memorial commission by Marguerite Pearson to 5 WWII marines: Sherman B Ruth, Ralph Greely, Wilfred Ringer, John M. Sweet, and Robert M. Maguire.)
Others created art in response to their service experience like fine artist, Robert Stephenson (1935-2013).
Artists-veterans throughout Cape Ann. Bradley Smith, poet, veteran
NEXT MONTH, Rocky Neck Cultural Center will present a visual arts group exhibition featuring artists who are currently active or served in the military curated by fine artist and veteran Ken Hruby:
IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans, Curated by Ken Hruby May 17 – June 24, 2018
Courtesy photos credit info and press release below from Rocky Neck.
Mourning the Loss of a Comrade, GySgt Michael Fay, USMCR- Served in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan
Walking in Two Worlds, US Army Signals Linguist Cara Myhre, Served in Iraq, Afghanistan
Haunting Memories, Lt. Col. Deveon Sudduth, US Army, Served in Iraq
Ready for Ga Noi, Sgt. Robert Louis Williams, USMC, Combat Artist, Served in Vietnam
Woman Marine, GySgt Michael Fay, USMCR, Served in Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan
Through The Elephant Grass, Sgt. Robert Louis Williams, USMC, Combat Artist, Served in Vietnam
PRESS RELEASE – “The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) proudly presents “IN WAR AND AFTER: The Art of Combat Veterans”, a multi-media, juried exhibition of over sixty works by more than thirty combat artists from the military services and by veterans making art from their experiences in zones of combat…Congressman Seth Moulton of the 6th congressional district of Massachusetts, himself a Marine Corps veteran of four tours in Iraq, states of this exhibition, “The ‘incommunicable experience of war,’ as Oliver Wendel Holmes once described it, indeed often defies explanation by words alone. That veterans can share some of their experience through art can help us all better understand what they went through. And as a veteran myself, who returned to war with a camera after I left the Marines, I know how cathartic art can be for those of us who were there. The work of combat artists is important for civilians as well, to deepen their understanding of the lives of our service men and women, and their families. “In War and After” is an a very important exhibition for both communities.”
Few people are aware that when US military forces go to war, some of them carry, in addition to their weapons, their sketch pads, graphite pencils, watercolor brushes and cameras. These are combat artists, tasked to not only serve the combat mission but to record that mission in ways only an artist can.
Gloucester, MA, and NH artist, Liz Fletcher shares save the date:
“On Saturday, April 28, 2018 the world will join in celebration of sculpture during the 4th annual International Sculpture Day. Artists, organizations and institutions worldwide will celebrate the day with open studios, unveiling public sculptures, sculpture scavenger hunts, pop up exhibitions, demonstrations, iron pours, plus much more.” Bedrock Gardens, “an oasis of art, horticulture, and inspiration”, International Sculpture Day Group Show, Lee, NH
Saturday April 28 – May 8, 2018
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Sunny morning inspection following April 17, 2018 spring storm. DPW crews were racing to assess before the next incoming high tide. Gloucester-Rockport, Mass. Long Beach seawall and stairs were hit hard yesterday including a collapse. “I’ve never seen an aerial bend in the middle before.”
Now in its 16th year (!) Sawyer Free’s annual poetry contest for all students who go to Gloucester schools or live in Gloucester is LIVE. Participants can submit up to 3 poems through April 30, 2018. Some of the previous winning poems are published on the library web site. 201520162017
courtesy photo by Amanda Madeira: Kim Smith receiving Salem State University ‘Friend of the Earth Award’ April 12 2018
The 2018 week-long Earth Day events at Salem State University culminated with an evening awards ceremony on April 12th. Kim Smith was the invited 2018 Keynote Speaker, and Friend of the Earth Award recipient! It’s an extraordinary fit as Kim Smith’s life’s work across media –whether its her acclaimed and award-winning films, photography, landscape design, art, or writing– calls us to marvel and commune with nature. She’s a champion Friend of the Earth.
Kim Smith is henceforth included in this distinguished Salem State University Friend of the Earth list, an ambassador for the natural world, our region and Massachusetts!
Earth Days at Salem State University – Past Friend of the Earth Award Recipients:
*2001-2017 list- Compiled by Prof. John Hayes, Geography, and co-chair, Salem State University (SSU) Earth Day Planning Committee
2018 – KIM SMITH award winning photographer, filmmaker, landscape designer, artist, and writer. Author of Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden
2017-
2016: Naomi Oreskes, Ph.D.—(Professor, Harvard Univ.), co-author, Merchants of Doubt, ……. Bob Prescott—(Exec. Director, Wellfleet Ocean Sanctuary)…..
2015: Larry Chretien—(Executive Director, Energy Consumers Alliance of New England and of Mass Energy – for his advocacy and leadership for over 20 years to champion the benefits of renewable energy alternatives in the New England region for our states, cities and towns, and our utility companies that provide us electricity and energy; as Executive Director of Mass Energy and the Energy Consumers Alliance of New England – he demonstrated how consumer-oriented non-profit organizations can lead the way in promoting affordable and environmentally
sustainable energy resources.)
2014: Gerard (Jerry) Bertrand (Environmental Adviser, Permian Global – for his enduring commitment to preservation of land and habitat; for his past service as head of international affairs for the U.S. Fish & Wildlife
Service, his chairmanship of BirdLife International, his service as president of Massachusetts Audubon Society and cofounder of World Land Trust, and his service at Permian Global and its efforts to protect natural forests globally to
sequester carbon, mitigate climate change, and preserve habitat through investment.)
2013 Frances Moore Lappe – (co-founder of Small Planet Institute and author of 18 books including the landmark Diet for a Small Planet, World Hunger – Twelve Myths, Food First – Beyond the Myth of Scarcity, Hope’s Edge, and EcoMind – Changing the Way We Think, to Create the World We Want.) Marc Rodgers – (Communications Director, Cape Wind Associates – for his continuing efforts for more than ten years to communicate and educate about the proposed Cape Wind wind farm project on Nantucket Sound and for his efforts to help shepherd the project through the long-lived environmental review process.)
No surprise! Here’s the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art press release about the Berkshire Museum deaccession. George Lucas already paid a record breaking price– 46 million–back in 2013 for Saying Grace, one of his numerous major Rockwells. Shuffleton’s Barbershop could have surpassed that price; the market won’t know unless Lucas opts to sell it at a public auction some future date.
(photo above – Norman Rockwell, Saying Grace, collection Lucas Museum Narrative Art)
John La Farge, Magnolia, 1859–60. Estimate $200,000–300,000.
Charles François Daubigny, Paysans allant aux champs (Le Matin). Estimate $70,000–100,000.
Henry Moore, Three Seated Women, 1942. Estimate $400,000–600,000.
Alexander Calder, Double Arc and Sphere, executed circa 1932. Estimate $2,000,000–3,000,000. (*oddly just one of a site specific commisioned pair for the Berkshire Museum)
Francis Picabia, Force comique, 1914. Estimate $800,000–1,200,000.
Adriaen Isenbrant, The Temptation of Adam and Eve. Estimate $150,000–200,000.
William Bouguereau, The Newborn Lamb, 1873. Estimate $1,500,000–2,000,000. (**November cover lot pulled from sale last fall)
Alberto Pasini, Faubourg de Constantinople, 1877. Estimate $700,000–1,000,000.
Adriaen Isenbrant, The Flight into Egypt. Estimate $150,000–200,000.
William Bouguereau, Les deux sœurs, 1884. Estimate $2,000,000–3,000,000.
Norman Rockwell, Blacksmith’s Boy – Heel and Toe, 1940. Estimate $7,000,000–10,000,000.
Frederic Edwin Church, Valley of Santa Isabel, New Granada, 1875. Estimate $5,000,000–7,000,000.
Rembrandt Peale, George Washington. Estimate $200,000–300,000.
Norman Rockwell, Shuffleton’s Barbershop, 1950. Acquired privately by a nonprofit American museum.
(the Vuillard and 25 more aren’t listed at this time)
press release from Lucas Museum APR 11, 2018
Lucas Museum Announces Acquisition of Norman Rockwell’s ‘Shuffleton’s Barbershop’
Museum ensures iconic masterwork remains in public view
Los Angeles, CA (April 11, 2018) – The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art today announced the acquisition of Norman Rockwell’s masterwork Shuffleton’s Barbershop. The 1950 painting, which had been in the collection of the Berkshire Museum in Pittsfield, MA, has been the subject of considerable attention in recent months.
“As a museum dedicated to celebrating visual storytelling, we are honored to become the public steward of this major work,” said Don Bacigalupi, Founding President of the Lucas Museum. “Norman Rockwell is one of our nation’s most important storytellers, and this cultural treasure will continue to be seen and enjoyed by the public in an American museum, where it will be a source of inspiration for generations to come.”
The Lucas Museum recently broke ground and launched construction in Los Angeles, and is expected to open to the public in 2022.
Shuffleton’s Barbershop, revered as one of the most iconic works of Rockwell’s storied career, will join an expansive collection of works by the artist, including Saying Grace (1951) and After the Prom (1957).
These works will be featured prominently on public view to allow museum visitors to explore the power and importance of visual storytelling. The Lucas Museum will engage visitors of all ages in educational programs that highlight prominent examples of narrative art in a variety of mediums, periods and cultures.
With the acquisition, the Lucas Museum announced a cross-country partnership whereby Shuffleton’s Barbershop will be on long-term loan to the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, for public display commencing later this year and extending into 2020. The Lucas Museum will also explore opportunities to loan the painting to other museums in Massachusetts and elsewhere in order to maximize public access to this beloved work of art.
“We are immensely grateful to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art for ensuring that Norman Rockwell’s masterpiece Shuffleton’s Barbershopwill continue to be available to and enjoyed by the public. We thank the Museum for generously loaning the painting to the Norman Rockwell Museum while the Lucas Museum is under construction in Los Angeles,” stated Laurie Norton Moffatt, Norman Rockwell Museum Director and CEO. “It is especially meaningful for the people of Berkshire County who will have the opportunity to enjoy this masterpiece for a few more years, knowing that it will remain in the public realm. We look forward to continuing to work with our friends at the Lucas Museum to create educational opportunities and appreciation of the narrative art of illustration, including ongoing collection-sharing.”Continue reading “And the Mystery Buyer of Berkshire Museum Shuffleton’s Barbershop by Norman Rockwell is…Lucas Museum of Narrative Art”→
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“Opening Doors, Opening Hearts: Grandparents raising Grandchildren Cape Ann: Guest speakers Deborah Doucette author of Raising our Children’s Children: Room in the Heart and Colleen Pritoni, Director of Commission on the Status of Grandparents Raising Grandchildren.”
This original & innovative event is hosted by Sawyer Free Library Childrens Services in collaboration with community partners like: Cape Ann Museum, Cape Ann YMCA, Senior Care, The Open Door, Healthy Gloucester Collaborative, WIC, Pathways, NS MVP, and Backyard Growers.
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“April is National Poetry Month! Kids can celebrate by writing a poem & planting a tree! All supplies will be provided for this make & take program on April 20, 2018 from 2-3pm”
Always busy, busy fun programming through children’s services at Sawyer Free Library
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Now in its 16th year (!) Sawyer Free’s annual poetry contest for all students who go to Gloucester schools or live in Gloucester is LIVE. Participants can submit up to 3 poems through April 30, 2018. Some of the previous winning poems are published on the library web site. 201520162017
Former Gloucester Poet Laureate, host of The Writers Block, and co-founder with Christy Russo of the dynamite Poetry without Paper contest, John Ronan, included this reminder plug along with his January column and poem in the Gloucester Daily Times:
“Students! Families! Grandparents, aunts and uncles! The annual Poetry Without Paper contest, sponsored by the Sawyer Free Library, will again open from March 1 to April 30. All students living in or attending school in Gloucester are eligible, from elementary to high school. This is the 16th year of the contest and hundreds of students participate each season, winners claiming prizes, a public reading, and a chance to be on TV. Spread the word! Watch for details at: www.sawyerfreelibrary.org.”
Mayor Romeo Theken broadcasts and celebrates National Poetry Month every April, Poetry without Paper, and Poem in Your Pocket Day which is April 26 in 2018. #pocketpoem
Mayor Romeo Theken National Poetry Month 2018 poster at City Hall, Gloucester, Mass
O’Maley Innovation Middle School has it posted in several spots and it’s been included in newsletters since the contest opened. Good luck to all the writers!
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Good Morning Gloucester 