Author: James Eves

At the Water’s Edge
Online Photo Contest

In conjunction with the Cape Ann Museum’s spring exhibition, Charles Movalli: Cape Ann & Beyond, the Museum is hosting an online photography contest. Photographers of all ages and experience levels are invited to submit images based on the theme of “at the water’s edge” that capture the magical place often seen in Movalli’s work where land and sea meet. Photos must be taken in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex or Manchester-by-the-Sea.

For over forty years, Charles Movalli (1945–2016) was a pillar of Cape Ann’s year-round art community, a distinguished landscape and marine painter, a prolific writer and advocate for the arts and a widely respected teacher.

Submission deadline April 30 | Live Facebook voting May 5 through May 19 | Winners announced May 26

A photographer in the pulpit of a sword fishing vessel, Gloucester, MA (possibly Vincent’s Cove). Handcolored slide from the Fishermen’s Institute, c. 1921. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives.

Cape Ann Museum staff will select photos for public voting on the basis of creativity, photographic quality and effectiveness in conveying the theme of “at the water’s edge.” Beginning on Friday, May 5, the selected photos will be posted on the Museum’s Facebook page at facebook.com/camuseum. The public will be encouraged to vote for their favorite photo(s) by “liking” them.

For more information please visit: capeannmuseum.org/waters-edge

Prizes:

• 1st Prize: One year Cape Ann Museum Membership (Contributor or Red Cottage Society Individual level)
• 2nd Prize: $50 Gift certificate to Museum Shop
• 3rd Prize: Copy of Kodachrome Memory by photographer Nathan Benn

A selection of photographs, including the top three winning entries, will be displayed on the Cape Ann Museum website.

The Cape Ann Museum celebrates the art, history and culture of Cape Ann – a region with a rich and varied culture of nationally significant historical, industrial and artistic achievement. The Museum’s collections include fine art from the 19th century to the present, artifacts from the fishing, maritime and granite quarrying industries, textiles, furniture, a library/archives and two historic houses. For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.

The Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 adults, $8.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (18 and under) and Museum members are free. For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

Cape Ann & Beyond:
Lecture by Judith Curtis

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to offer an illustrated lecture by author and art historian, Judith Curtis on Saturday April 1 at 2:00 p.m. Curtis will discuss one of the North Shore’s most distinguished landscape and marine painters, the late Charles Movalli. This talk will touch on Movalli’s philosophy and technique as it pertains to works in the current special exhibition, Charles Movalli: Cape Ann & Beyond. Exhibition support generously provided by Judi Rotenberg and Edward Zuker and Mr. & Mrs. Robert A. & Lucienne M. Bosselman.

The cost of this program is $10 Museum members / $15 nonmembers. Space is limited; reservations required. For more information email info@capeannmuseum.org. Register by calling 978-283-0455 x10 or online at Eventbrite.

Judith Curtis is a freelance writer specializing in art-related themes and is curator of the Rockport Art Association and Museum’s permanent collection. She lives on Cape Ann and is a regular contributor to the American Art Review. She has also written several books including Anthony Thieme, The Life and Art of Paul Strisik, N.A., W. Lester Stevens, N.A., (1888-1969), Harry A. Vincent and His Contemporaries, Rocky Neck Art Colony (1850—1950) and A. T. Hibbard, American Master.

Textures and Light: Visualizations in Monochrome – Kirk R. Williamson One-Artist Show

An exhibition of black and white photography titled Textures and Light: Visualizations in Monochrome by local artist Kirk R. Williamson will open in the Marguerite Pearson Room of the Rockport Art Association & Museum (RAA&M) on Saturday, April 1st with an artist’s reception from 2 – 4 PM. The exhibition will be on view Saturday, April 1 – Thursday, April 13.

A lobstereman heads out past the Motif#1 into Rockport Harbor for a morning of lobstering.

The toe of the frog at the Rockport Art Association has a mitten attached to it.

“This show brings me back to my roots in black and white photography. I was classically trained as a black and white newspaper photographer I tend to see light in those terms. The vital elements of successful black and white work are texture and light.” – Kirk R. Williamson

Mr. Williamson has been a photojournalist for most of his working life. For the past 35 years he has been employed by a variety of newspapers on the North Shore of Massachusetts. Starting in 1978 he began his career as the Director of Photography at North Shore Weeklies in Ipswich where he remained until 1979 when he moved to the Salem Evening News. As the Chief Photographer at the Salem Evening News he spent the next 20 years fulfilling his dream of being a photojournalist for a daily newspaper. While at the “News” he photographed Presidents, celebrities, and major sporting events throughout Essex County and Boston. What he enjoyed most was photographing high school sports throughout the North Shore. During this same period he also had his work published in the New York Times Magazine, Yankee Magazine, Ski and Skiing Magazine and numerous publications around the country. He was also a New England contract photographer for The New York Times, Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times.

Mr. Williamson left the Salem Evening News in 2000 and began work at Autobytel an Internet company as the Photo Editor where he was responsible for the digital capture and archiving of over 10,000 images for the automobile library. In 2003 he left Autobytel and started the Cape Ann Photographic Foundation where he is still the Executive Director. In 2007 he came back to the field of photojournalism as the Multimedia Editor for Gatehouse Media’s North group where he was responsible for a staff of photographers and producing the still and video production for this group of 20 newspapers and 24 websites.

In August of 2016 Mr. Williamson retired from the news business and has concentrated on a new career in teaching at the college level and running his own workshops. He is also starting a photo tour company in May of 2017.


RAA&M April Hours:

Open: Tuesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM; Sunday 12 – 5 PM. For more information on this and other shows, please visit the RAA&M’s website at www.rockportartassn.org

Rockport Art Association & Museum’s Experimental Group Opens Fourth Show

The Rockport Art Association & Museum’s Experimental Group opens its fourth group exhibition, “Un-expected No. Four” at the Rockport Art Association and Museum. This show features artworks of about 80 artists, works of both the RAA&M’s artists and contributing members. Works on view in the exhibi-tion range in medium to include paintings, mixed-media, graphics, sculpture and photography.

The Experimental Group is a creative forum, its main mission is to increase public awareness and to fos-ter self-expression by bringing artists together to explore and share ideas that cultivate creative free-dom. The EG is encouraged and supported by the Rockport Art Association & Museum.

If you would like more information about the exhibition, would like to schedule an interview and a walk through, or need additional promotional images please contact: Nella Lush, Experimental Group, Chair, 978.886.4582 or via email experimentalgroupraa@gmail.com

The Rockport Art Association & Museum (RAA&M) is one of the oldest and most active art organizations in the country. The Association has a long and distinguished history that has spanned 96 years.

ARTS FEST APPLICATION FOR NEW EXHIBITORS – DEADLINE APRIL 2
Arts Fest • Saturday, June 17th  • 10am-4pm on Cabot Street (Rain or Shine)

Arts Fest Beverly is a free outdoor festival that’s fun for the whole family – including over 150 juried fine artists and crafters, music and entertainment, kids’ activities, art-on-the-spot creations and local fresh food.

Calling all artists! Exhibitors who would like to apply for a 10’x10′ space on Cabot Street must complete the online application by April 2.

All details about the jury review process and space fee are in the online application. All artwork must be original and handcrafted by you. We are looking for new artists to join us at Arts Fest this year!

A limited selection of thoughtfully curated collections of vintage, upcycled, unique and specialty retail items will also be considered.

We encourage everyone who is interested to apply, the online application only takes a few minutes!

More details can be found on the Arts Fest website.

UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the date for our upcoming events!

June 15 – Arts Fest reception at the Walter J. Manninen Center for the Arts at Endicott College

June 17 – Arts Fest on Cabot Street

July 29 – THE BLOCK downtown street party

August 12 – Bacon + Brew Fest at the Raymond J. Bourque Arena at Endicott College

September 16 – THE BLOCK downtown street party

Charlotte Roberts:
A Retrospective 1973-2017

Photo credits : Andrew S. Harris

Photo credits : Andrew S. Harris

Photo credits : Andrew S. Harris

Photo credits : Andrew S. Harris

Manchester -by-the-Sea resident Charlotte Roberts is proud to exhibit a Retrospective of her work from 1973-2017 at the Manchester Historical Museum (MHM) located at 10 Union St., Manchester-By-the-Sea, MA, 01944, Telephone 978-526-7230,  www.manchesterhistoricalmuseum.org. The MHM is open to the public Tuesday through Friday 10 AM through 3 PM The Retrospective opened with a reception on March 14th and will remain at the MHM through April 7^th 2017.

The Retrospective illustrates the progression and expanse of Roberts’ graphic design and fine art career.  Works include her plain air paintings, studio work, small scale three-dimensional art, bookmaking and collage. Works featured are fine art printmaking, acrylic, watercolors, oil, and gouache paintings from Cape Ann and Cape Cod. The Retrospective includes blown glass vessels, hand-painted by Roberts and hand-blown by her son, John Wiedenman. Wiedenman’s career in glass blowing began at the Pilchuck Glass School in the state of Washington.

The recipient of numerous awards, Roberts has studied with Erma Wheeler, Celia Eldridge,  Betty Lou Schlemm, Paul Ciaramataro, Zigmund Jankowski,  Cynthia Packard, Ron Straka, Timothy Harney and Caleb Stone. Her present memberships include North Shore Arts Association, Rockport Art Association and Cape Ann Painters.

Towers and Other Thoughts in Performance: A Fundraiser for Refugees in Gloucester

Wednesday March 29, 2017, 7:00 – 8:00pm

Floating Lotus, 169 Main Street / Gloucester MA 01930

$15 suggested minimum donation
TICKETS: available at https://www.floatinglotus.net/products/fundraiser-for-refugees-in-gloucester or at the door on the night of the event.

Contact: Sarah Slifer Swift, TLAS-Director@tridentgallery.com, 978-394-5797

An art show and performance to benefit recently resettled refugee families in Gloucester will be held at Floating Lotus on Wednesday, March 29, 2017, from 7:00 to 8:00pm. Projected images of art from Susan Erony’s recent exhibition at Trident Gallery, Towers and Other Thoughts, will accompany a performance piece inspired by Erony’s art and produced by Trident Live Art Series Director Sarah Slifer Swift and Trident Gallery Director Matthew Swift.

Erony’s art, in turn, takes particular inspiration from Franz Kafka’s Parables and often includes hand-written text transcribed from Kafka’s writings. Erony writes that

Kafka’s words have always made me feel safe, because he clarifies the deep and complex natures of modernity and human behavior. He has helped me make sense of the world as a frustrating, absurd, but wondrous place.

Kafka retells and refers to the Biblical story of the Tower of Babel in several of his writings. Erony finds these writings particularly illuminating to our current socio-political climate:

The body of work in Towers and other Thoughts reflects … concerns about the human lack of understanding of each other, and even desire to try to understand. The Tower of Babel seemed a right theme for our times in America, when many people are screaming and few are listening.

Choreographer Sarah Slifer Swift has made a dance performance piece in response to both the Parables of Kafka and to Erony’s powerful imagery. The performance explores themes of division, unity, and ultimately the power and beauty of diversity through dance and sound. Matthew Swift has contributed textual imagery and performance elements. Visual art, dance, sound, and text come together as powerful intermedia experience appealing to all the senses. Slifer Swift says that

in the Tower of Babel, we have the story of how we all became refugees, going from a unity to being split apart by language and distance. In the performance, we take the perspective that the diversity that came from the split is not a weakness but a humble strength, our humanity.

Dance performers in the work are Reg Edmonds, Alison Fornes, Barbe Ennis-Abramo, Nome Graham, Jane Justice, Philip Story, Ziggy Hartfelder, and Sarah Slifer Swift. All the artists are donating their work to this event, and Floating Lotus is donating the use of their space as well as administrative assistance.

This event will provide an opportunity to learn more about the refugee families who have settled in Gloucester and how the community can support them. Peggy Russell, who heads the efforts to settle the refugees, will speak about the families, the work being done, and how people can help. Susan Erony will also speak about her work with the refugees and about the role of artists in political and community actions.

There is an ongoing fundraising effort to help with the costs of settling the families. At the event, there will be a place to make tax-deductible donations by check, payable to the WGTCC (West Gloucester Trinitarian Congregational Church) with “refugees” in the memo line. There is also a GoFundMe campaign online at https://www.gofundme.com/RefugeesGloucester.

Trident Live Arts Series presents performances by Monstah Black and Mx. Oops, and hosts Panel Discussion “The Political Body in Art”;accompanying visual art exhibition The Political Body opens at Trident Gallery

Performances:
March 31 and April 1, 8:00pm
Panel Discussion: April 1, 4:00pm
Exhibition: March 31 through April 30

Trident Gallery, 189 Main Street / Gloucester MA

COST: $10 suggested donation for performances; panel discussion free; exhibition free

CONTACTS: Performances & Panel: Sarah Slifer Swift, TLAS-Director@tridentgallery.com, 978-394-5797 Exhibition: Matthew Swift, director@tridentgallery.com, 978-491-7785

New York City performing artists Monstah Black and Mx. Oops come to Gloucester’s Trident Gallery for two nights of performance. Both performers will bring original solo intermedia works that combine dance, live music, and visual art elements to the Trident Live Art Series’ intimate performance setting. Both performance works (together about 60 minutes) will be shown at each performance evening. Seats for the performances may be reserved at http://trident.gallery/presents/the-political-body/.

A panel discussion entitled “The Political Body in Art” will be held at Trident Gallery on Saturday, April 1, at 4:00pm to discuss the relationships between art and politics, and how the body can be the vehicle for these interactions. Panelists will be visual artists Gabrielle Barzaghi, Nadine Boughton, and Susan Erony; Gloucester Stage Company Managing Director Jeff Zinn; musician 3rian King; and the visiting performers, Monstah Black and Mx. Oops. Trident Live Art Series Director Sarah Slifer Swift will moderate.

The first performance on March 31 coincides with the opening of the visual art exhibition The Political Body at Trident Gallery, showing visual art which engages with the political dimensions of the human body. Artists represented will include the three visual artists on the panel, other Trident Gallery artists, and artists not before shown at the Gallery. Exhibition hours on Saturday, April 1, are TBD. Exhibition hours from Sunday, April 2, through closing day Sunday, April 30 are Fri 12–7, Sat 10–7, Sun 10–5, Mon 12–5 and by appointment. Extended hours may be announced later, please check the gallery web site at TridentGallery.com.

Monstah Black will present Cotton, a dance film accompanied by live musical performance. The work investigates the idea of physical transformation as a source for healing and a means to overcome Post Traumatic Stress Disorder passed on for generations through DNA. Black employs images from slavery as a point of departure, modifying the images into positive iconography to inspire and empower those that suffered and continue to suffer from its ugly legacy.

“It’s a matter of taking the historical facts from the ugly side of history, and then reshaping it for myself and others to achieve empowerment and affirmation,” Black says. “I’m taking the negative, adding magic and making fanciful, majestic, mythological, yet real.”

Black has performed at Art Basel Miami, The Whitney Annual Gala, The Smithsonian, Performa Biennial (NY), Joe’s Pub (NY), Dance New Amsterdam (NY), New York Live Arts, Movement Research (NY), Dixon Place (NY), and Lincoln Center Out Of Doors.

Mx. Oops will be performing excerpts from the work Carrying Capacity. Mixing elements of Vogue, Capoiera, and Yoga, Carrying Capacity is a dynamic exploration of embodiment. Mx. Oops tries on sometimes divergent ways of being to clumsily see which might fit. Sudden shifts from intimate, quiet moments to loud, erratic passages illuminate both questions of authenticity and mental health. A collage of personal experiences embrace confusion, defining terrains of shame and pleasure.

Mx. Oops, a transhuman, gender-bending, genre-bending, urban arts shaman is performed by Wendell Cooper. Founder of Complex Stability, Cooper creates interdisciplinary work with a focus on the intersection of urban arts and consciousness studies. Carrying Capacity premiered at The American Realness Festival in NYC this past January.

About Trident Gallery

Trident Gallery shows beautiful and intelligent contemporary art in all mediums, emphasizing the work of artists continuing Gloucester’s rich legacy as a center for new American Art. Gallery Director Dr. Matthew Swift curates and produces the exhibitions, drawing on over twenty years of multi-disciplinary scholarship, teaching, and creative exploration.

About the Trident Live Art Series

The Trident Live Art Series presents performances by seasoned professionals showing experimental and collaborative work in the intimate salon setting of the gallery. Live Art Series Director Sarah Slifer Swift curates and produces the performances, drawing on over twenty years of experience in the United States and abroad as a dance artist, choreographer, and producer.

About Trident Live Art Series performances

A $10 suggested donation compensates the artists. Performances of 30–45 minutes are followed by refreshments and informal conversation among guests and artists. (Note: The performances of The Political Body will be longer, about 60 minutes.)

Reservations are recommended. To reserve seats, please use the online RSVP form at the bottom of the event’s page on the Trident Gallery web site or contact the gallery. Unreserved guests are usually accommodated comfortably: they will be invited to occupy empty seats at the scheduled start time. When seats are fully occupied, standing room and sometimes floor seating are normally available.

If unforeseen circumstances require postponement or cancellation, notices will be posted on the gallery website and social media (Facebook and Twitter).

Founding support for the Live Art Series is provided by Trident Gallery, which furnishes the venue, provides publicity, and guarantees minimum compensation to the performing artists. Supplementary fiscal support in 2015, 2016, and 2017 has been provided by the Massachusetts Cultural Council.

Margarett Sargent
The Bold and the Beautiful

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to celebrate Women’s History Month with a presentation on the life, loves and work of Margarett Sargent (1892 – 1978) by Cape Ann Museum docents Tamsen Endicott and Margaret Bernier on Saturday, March 25 at 2:00 p.m.

This program is free for Museum members or with Museum admission, paid on arrival. Space is limited; reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling 978-283-0455 x10, emailing info@capeannmuseum.org or online through Eventbrite.

Margarett Sargent was a sculptor, painter and member of the National Association of Women Artists. Founded in 1892, NAWA is the oldest professional women’s arts organization in the United States, and counts among its earliest members a number of prominent Cape Ann artists whose work is represented in the Cape Ann Museum collections, including Anna Hyatt Huntington, Katharine Lane Weems and Theresa Bernstein.

Sargent was an early Modernist who rebelled against the societal expectations of her privileged Boston Brahmin family and embarked upon a career as an artist in the heady 1920s and 30s.

Tamsen Endicott is a docent at the Cape Ann Museum and leader of the Cape Ann Museum Book Club.  A Rockport native, Tamsen enjoys history, genealogy and is pursuing graduate work in public history.

Margaret Bernier is also a docent at the Cape Ann Museum, and an Artist Member of the National Association of Women Artists, Inc.

Don’t miss Gloucester Education Foundation’s Second Annual Power of Play Festival this Sunday!

What: The Power of Play – a day of play for all ages

When: Sunday, March 26th 11am – 2pm

Where: Gloucester High School Field House 32 Leslie O. Johnson Rd. Gloucester, MA

Details: $5 per family at the door. Join us for goop-making, obstacle course, Simon says, art projects, giant games, fort-building, hula-hooping, yoga, dance, karate, sand and water play and MORE!

More info:  https://www.facebook.com/events/246424339117647/

Video: https://youtu.be/DFg67s5V6T8

Hosted by Gloucester Education Foundation with sponsorship from Cape Ann Savings Bank Trust and Financial Services Department.

Photography Walking Tour with Eoin Vincent

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to invite budding and experienced photographers alike to join photographer Eoin Vincent for a 90-minute photo walking tour in downtown Gloucester on Saturday, April 1 at 1:00 a.m. Participants will learn tips, gain instruction and perhaps walk away with a submission or two for At the Water’s Edge, this year’s photography contest.

In conjunction with this spring’s exhibition, Charles Movalli: Cape Ann & Beyond, CAM is hosting an online photography contest. Participants are invited to submit images based on the theme of “at the water’s edge” that capture the magical place often seen in Movalli’s work where land and sea meet. Photos must be taken in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex or Manchester-by-the-Sea. More information can be found at capeannmuseum.org/waters-edge. Submission deadline April 30.

Image Credit: Eoin Vincent, “Dogs”, “Bath Water in the New Fall Light”, “Morning has Broken” and “Periwinkles”

Eoin Vincent is a native of Rockport, MA who credits his love of the creative process to growing up in a family that fostered the arts. He is experienced in a wide range of event, on location and fine art photography.  His work has appeared in a number of publications worldwide; his fine art is internationally collected and is a part of the Peabody Essex Museum collection.

This program is $10 Museum members / $20 nonmembers. Space is limited and reservations are required. For more information please email info@capeannmuseum.org. Tickets can be purchased by calling 978-283-0455 x10 or online at Eventbrite.

The Cape Ann Museum celebrates the art, history and culture of Cape Ann – a region with a rich and varied culture of nationally significant historical, industrial and artistic achievement. The Museum’s collections include fine art from the 19th century to the present, artifacts from the fishing, maritime and granite quarrying industries, textiles, furniture, a library/archives and two historic houses. For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.

The Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 adults, $8.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (18 and under) and Museum members are free. For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

Hats Off to Spring: A Celebration of Grace Murray

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announce that the extraordinary hats made by longtime Annisquam resident, friend of the Museum and avid knitter, Grace Murray, will be on display throughout the day on Saturday, March 18 in the CAM Auditorium and the Folly Cove Designer Gallery. At 1:00 p.m. owners of Grace’s beloved hats will have the opportunity to share their thoughts during “Story Time” in the auditorium. A selection of hats will remain on view in the Folly Cove Designer Gallery through April 2.

The Museum will be free and open to the public from 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. for this program; reservations are not required.

Each of Grace’s hats is an original. She was inspired to create her well-known style of hat by the patterns in “Andean Folk Knitting: Traditions and Techniques from Peru and Bolivia”, by Cynthia Gravelle Lecount. By the time Grace had purchased the book in 1992, she had already been knitting for 60 years; however, the colorful motifs kept her attention, and she created over 300 hats, all lovingly tagged “From the Knitting Needles of Grace Murray”.

ROCKY NECK NOW – Exhibition Events:

Saturday, March 18 – Opening Reception, 2:00pm-4:00pm (6 Wonson Street)
Saturday, March 25 – Conversation about Life and Art, 4:30pm (6 Wonson Street)
Sunday April 23   – Closing Reception, 2:00pm-4:00pm (6 Wonson Street)

The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) will host a new exhibition, titled ROCKY NECK NOW 2017, featuring current works of art by RNAC members in all media.  This six-week exhibition will run from March 16, 2017 through to April 23, 2017.

Yhanna Coffin, Gagged, mixed media on canvas

Andy Matlow, Water Urn, clay

Ruth Mordecai, Yellow Field, acrylic, oil & collage

Heidi Caswell Zander, Shore Splash, oil

Artists from the RNAC community present pieces of art they have recently produced.  The exhibit is both representational and abstract and in various mediums; water, oil, encaustic, prints, photographs, ceramics and jewelry. This is a wonderful opportunity for visitors to enjoy a visual and diverse feast from our many talented artists.

“Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.”
Pablo Picasso

Please join us on our opening reception, ROCKY NECK NOW 2017 exhibition, Saturday, March 18, for a thoroughly enjoyable and invigorating occasion!

Artist Talk, Saturday, March 25 at 4:30pm, A Conversation about Art and Life: A Community conversation as it relates to the Members Exhibition and Beyond” Led by Ruth Mordecai and a panel of the artists from the exhibition.  Please join and participate with us.

Artists in this exhibit include: Heidi Caswell Zander, Yhanna Coffin, Roland Cornelis, Peggy Cullen Matlow, Terry Del Percio-Piemonte, Loren Doucette, Gordon Goetemann, Judith S. Goetemann, Nancy Gorman, Leslie Heffron, Elynn Kroger, Stephen LaPierre, Brenda Malloy, Ruth Mordecai, Regina Piantedosi, David Piemonte, Ed Touchette and many more!

Michael S. Foley One-Artist Show

An exhibition of sculpture by local artist Michael S. Foley will open in the Marguerite Pearson Room of the Rockport Art Association & Museum (RAA&M) on Saturday, March 18th with an artist’s reception from 2 – 4 PM. The exhibition will be on view Saturday, March 18 – Thursday, March 30.

“Geometry and the love of natural materials are the driving forces behind my work. As a lifelong carver and career machine design engineer, I find beauty in both the gifts of the earth, as well as the wisdom of mathematics, which helps us to see our humble place in the universe. My sculptures, in their small ways, attempt to transform the fusion of these beauties into expressive forms, frozen in time, but warmed by each human hand which reaches out to touch them.” – Michael S. Foley

Michael Foley was born and grew up in Beverly MA. His sculpting career started as a teenager with an avid interest in relief carving using a variety hardwoods and soft pine. He received his BS Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Lowell Technological Institute. During his engineering career he continued to pursue his interest in relief carving and full-size sculpture in wood. Retiring in 2013, Foley began to devote his full-time energies to his art.

With the somewhat recent advent of sintered diamond tools, he quickly transitioned into his current work in stone, each piece unique not only in design, but also in color and grain. Foley works primarily in hard stones such as granite, basalt and marble – most of which have been gathered from the bedrock and glacial till of our native Cape Ann and the quarries of Vermont.

He draws his subject matter and inspiration from the abundant local natural and marine life, incorporating both realistic and abstracted themes into a wide range of subjects. His use of materials spans simple patterned popple stones to full-size sculpture in quarried granite.

RAA&M March Hours:
Open Wednesday – Saturday, 12 – 5 PM. For more information on this and other shows, please visit the RAA&M’s website at www.rockportartassn.org

HANDEL’S ORATORIO ‘ISRAEL IN EGYPT’

BY MUSICA SACRA

Saturday, March 18th, 7:30pm
Gloucester UU Meetinghouse, 10 Church St., Gloucester, MA 01930

The biblical tale of the Exodus inspired Handel to write some of the most dramatic music of his career, depicting the story in vivid detail from the increasingly unpleasant plagues visited upon the Egyptians to the Israelites’ feelings of exultation and triumph in escaping their oppressors after Moses leads them through the parted waters of the Red Sea. Performed by Musica Sacra with vocal soloists and Baroque orchestra drawn from Boston’s most acclaimed musicians.

More information and advance tickets at www.gloucestermeetinghouse.org

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1)

A Time for Blue, on view at Trident Gallery through March 26, is a themed exhibition of art organized first of all around the color blue, but strongly influenced by the many meanings and echoes of the words “time” and “blue.”

Time: era, moment, fit period; occasion; trial; tempo, meter; enforced duty; and many more.

Blue: the pure color of a clear sky; melancholy, dismal; not red; indecent; blasphemous; discolored by cold, contusion, fear, or vascular collapse; stemming from rigid morals. Blues: songs marked by frequent occurrence of blue (flatted) notes; blue military uniforms, the police; and more.

In the Trident Gallery context, the most unusual works on display are two early “Blue Dog” silkscreen prints from 1993 by the Cajun artist George Rodrigue (1944–2013), and an early pastel drawing of Gloucester from 1958 by Nell Blaine (1922–1996). Several paintings by Zygmund Jankowski and Peter Lyons have not been exhibited previously at Trident Gallery. Other works of art are shown again in the new light of this exhibition.

Gallery hours are
Friday 12–7, Saturday 10–7, Sunday 10–5, and Monday 12–5, and by appointment.

About Trident Gallery

Trident Gallery shows beautiful and intelligent contemporary art in all mediums, emphasizing the work of artists continuing Gloucester’s rich legacy as a center for new American Art. Gallery Director Dr. Matthew Swift curates and produces the exhibitions, drawing on over twenty years of multi-disciplinary scholarship, teaching, and creative exploration.

For further information, visit TridentGallery.com or call the gallery at 978-491-7785.

At the Water’s Edge
Online Photo Contest

In conjunction with the Cape Ann Museum’s spring exhibition, Charles Movalli: Cape Ann & Beyond, the Museum is hosting an online photography contest. Photographers of all ages and experience levels are invited to submit images based on the theme of “at the water’s edge” that capture the magical place often seen in Movalli’s work where land and sea meet. Photos must be taken in Rockport, Gloucester, Essex or Manchester-by-the-Sea.

For over forty years, Charles Movalli (1945–2016) was a pillar of Cape Ann’s year-round art community, a distinguished landscape and marine painter, a prolific writer and advocate for the arts and a widely respected teacher.

Submission deadline April 30 | Live Facebook voting May 5 through May 19 | Winners announced May 26

A photographer in the pulpit of a sword fishing vessel, Gloucester, MA (possibly Vincent’s Cove). Handcolored slide from the Fishermen’s Institute, c. 1921. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives.

Cape Ann Museum staff will select photos for public voting on the basis of creativity, photographic quality and effectiveness in conveying the theme of “at the water’s edge.” Beginning on Friday, May 5, the selected photos will be posted on the Museum’s Facebook page at facebook.com/camuseum. The public will be encouraged to vote for their favorite photo(s) by “liking” them.

For more information please visit: capeannmuseum.org/waters-edge

Prizes:

• 1st Prize: One year Cape Ann Museum Membership (Contributor or Red Cottage Society Individual level)
• 2nd Prize: $50 Gift certificate to Museum Shop
• 3rd Prize: Copy of Kodachrome Memory by photographer Nathan Benn

A selection of photographs, including the top three winning entries, will be displayed on the Cape Ann Museum website.

The Cape Ann Museum celebrates the art, history and culture of Cape Ann – a region with a rich and varied culture of nationally significant historical, industrial and artistic achievement. The Museum’s collections include fine art from the 19th century to the present, artifacts from the fishing, maritime and granite quarrying industries, textiles, furniture, a library/archives and two historic houses. For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.

The Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 adults, $8.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (18 and under) and Museum members are free. For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

This summer, Montserrat College of Art is offering Youth S.T.E.A.M. week-long camps that will run July 10 through Aug. 4 at Montserrat’s downtown building, 248 Cabot St., Beverly, MA. These flexible, partial, or full-day opportunities for youth in grades 3-8 offer hands-on learning in a safe, supervised environment, led by professional faculty from educational institutions on the North Shore and beyond. Students are welcome to attend for more than one session. www.montserrat.edu/summer/

S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) classes incorporate creativity, problem-solving, collaboration and presentation. The program will be offered in lower school and upper school groupings: students in grades 3-5 will be together and students in grades 6-8 will be together. Students may choose their own courses, up to three each day. Class subjects include Cartooning, Collage, Crazy for Chemistry, Digital Photography, Drawing, Eco-Art, Geometry and Art, Horticulture, iPhoneography, Jewelry Making, Junk Box Creations, Magical Media, Nature Crafts, Painting, Sculpting with Nature, Sculpture and T-Shirt Design.

Course offerings will be: morning, 9 a.m. – 11 a.m., mid-day, 11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m., and afternoon, 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. Supervised brown bag lunch and pre and after school sessions will also be offered so parents can be assured their children are in good hands all day. At the end of each session, student work will be on view in a group exhibition for families to view and celebrate. Pricing is $100 per five-day class, or $265 for a full-day, five-day per week of classes.

For more information about the offered courses, instructors or to register, visit: www.montserrat.edu/summer/ or contact Montserrat’s STEAM Director Eric Moore at steamcamp@montserrat.edu or 978.921.4242 x1717. Moore is a member of the Art Education faculty at Montserrat who has been teaching Visual Art to kids of all ages for more than 19 years.

Here’s an article about great women from history:

https://www.buzzfeed.com/hannahjewell/historical-women-who-gave-no-fcks?utm_term=.aoVByR1XZ&sub=3563907_4604008

And a link to purchase a book about Annie Smith Peck (number 2 in the article) by our own local author and FOB Hannah Kimberley

PUPPETRY CLASSES
at the Cape Ann Cinema & Stage!

CHILDREN’ PUPPETRY WORKSHOPS
(ages 6-12)
Teaching puppetry skills of puppet & script creation, dramatization, performance. Each of 5 weekly sessions focus on one style of puppetry (hand puppet, mask, shadow, clay/toy theatre, & marionette) and one world region. The last day of each block offers a free performance to the community by the children and the master.

Saturday mornings, 10:00am to 11:30am,
next session begins March 4

COST: $60/child in advance or $15/class drop-in
(if space is available).

PRESCHOOL PUPPET PLAYTIME
(ages 2-6)
In 5 weekly one-hour sessions, children will be engaged by various dazzling tales from around the world as they come alive through participatory puppetry and theme-expressive arts activities such as finger plays, craft, games, folkdance and percussion. (All children must be accompanied by a caregiver.)

Wednesday mornings, 10:30am to 11:30 am,
next session begins March 1

COST: $42/child in advance or $10/class drop-in
(if space is available).

THE WORLD FAMILY PUPPET THEATRE offers exciting school year puppetry arts programs. Participants bring alive the folktales of the worlds’ peoples thus learning valuable lessons of getting along. This program model has been refined from 38 years of multicultural arts programs for children. Time travel to a land or time far away, experience world kinship, compassion, lifelong positive problem-solving, while making new friends!

Charles Movalli: Cape Ann & Beyond
New exhibition opening at the Cape Ann Museum

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 4
On view through May 21, 2017

 The Cape Ann Museum will host a special exhibition of paintings by Charles Movalli, opening on Saturday March 4 and remaining on display through May 21, 2017. Cape Ann & Beyond will be drawn from private collections throughout the region and will be complemented by gallery talks and lectures exploring Movalli’s career and the Cape Ann School of painters.

For over forty years, Charles Movalli was a pillar of Cape Ann’s year-round art community, a distinguished landscape and marine painter, a prolific writer and advocate for the arts, and a widely respected teacher.  His paintings have been showcased in solo and group exhibitions throughout the region and showered with awards; his writings on art and artists have been published widely and his editorial skills earned him a 25 year stint as contributing editor of American Artist magazine. Often referring to himself as “the luckiest man in the world,” during his long and successful career Charles Movalli created a body of work which continues to inspire and delight viewers.

Programs offered in conjunction with this exhibition are as follows:

• Saturday, March 4: Opening reception – free and open to the public
• Saturday, March 11: Gallery Talk with Dale Movalli, artist and wife of Charles Movalli
• Saturday, April 1: Photography Walking Tour with Eoin Vincent
• Saturday, April 1: Cape Ann & Beyond — Lecture by Judith Curtis, author and art historian
• Saturday, April 8: Gallery Talk with artists Tom Nicholas and T. M. Nicholas
• Saturday, April 22: Remembering Charlie — Plein air panel discussion led by artist and former host of CATV’s Cape Ann Report, Sinikka Nogelo
• Saturday, May 20: Gallery Talk with Judi Rotenberg, artist and gallery owner

 For more information on these programs please visit capeannmuseum.org/events.

Support for this exhibition has been generously provided by Judi Rotenberg and Edward Zuker.

A Forum on the
Landscapes of Cape Ann

 The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to announce a collaboration celebrating the landscapes of Cape Ann on Saturday, March 4 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This program of presentations and conversations is offered in partnership with Essex County Greenbelt, Friends of Dogtown, Lanesville Community Center and Mass Audubon.

This program is free and open to the public. Space is limited; reservations are required. Reservations can be made by calling 978-283-0455 x10, emailing info@capeannmuseum.org or online at Eventbrite.

The once open landscape of Cape Ann, a mosaic of glacial boulders, pastures and moors, has given way over the past century to a uniform forest cover. Through short presentations and public engagement, this forum examines the issues, methods and benefits of restoring this formerly diverse and productive landscape. Can Cape Ann once again include the open, scenic terrain that inspired painters, writers, walkers, bird watchers and foragers of wild blueberries? Come and lend your voice to this exciting and important conversation moderated by Ed Becker, President of the Essex County Greenbelt Association.

This program is accessible.

Mothers and Daughters
Exhibition curated by Juni Van Dyke

Saturday March 4th ~ Opening Reception from 3-6pm.
at the Jane Deering Gallery, 19 Pleasant Street, Gloucester

The exhibition will include six mother/daughter pairings: Jane Crotty | Anne-Marie Crotty, Esther Moss Proctor | Eliza Proctor, Constance Rhinelander | Mary McCarl, Mathilde Iervolino | Bobbi Kovner, Juni Van Dyke | Paige Farrell, and Helen Burgess | Valerie Sadler.  In addition to the artworks, the participants’ written statements relative to the exhibit’s theme will be on view.

Mothers and Daughters suggests many possibilities associated with ‘nature versus nurture,’ as well as more obvious associations having to do with gender.  Here, however, a table is set with gratitude for what we were able to give and receive: mother to daughter, daughter to mother.  Support. Example. Affirmation. Encouragement. Exchanges, quiet and resounding.  Maternal instincts. Filial love.

The exhibit will continue through March 31st.  Gallery hours: Friday – Sunday 12noon-5pm and by appointment at 978-526-7248.  Public Reception: Saturday March 4th from 3-6pm.

And on Tuesday Next Week

Former Poet Laureate John Ronan at the Cape Ann Museum

Love, language and community.

 The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to welcome Gloucester’s former poet laureate, John Ronan on Saturday, February 25 at 2:00 p.m. to discuss his most recent book of poetry, Taking the Train of Singularity South from Midtown (Backwaters Press, 2017), including its connections to Gloucester with “Good Harbor, Home,” which was written for and read at John Bell’s first inauguration as Mayor of Gloucester. Through Taking the Train of Singularity South from Midtown Ronan hopes to convey that love and language create community.

This program is free and open to the public. Reservations required. Free registration can be made by calling 978-283-0455 x10, emailing info@capeannmuseum.org, or online at Eventbrite.

John Ronan is a poet, playwright, movie producer and journalist. He has received national honors for his poetry and is a former National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, Ucross Fellow, Bread Loaf Scholar and Poet Laureate of Gloucester, MA. In 2010, his volume of poetry, Marrowbone Lane, won Highly Recommended honors from the Boston Authors Club. As a playwright, Ronan’s works include The Yeats Game and The Early Bird Special. John is also founder of the media production company American Storyboard, a teacher of film and host of Cape Ann Television’s The Writer’s Block with John J. Ronan which celebrates its 27th anniversary in the 2016–2017 seasons.

This program is accessible.

PUPPETRY CLASSES at the Cape Ann Cinema & Stage!

CHILDREN’ PUPPETRY WORKSHOPS
(ages 6-12)
Teaching puppetry skills of puppet & script creation, dramatization, performance. Each of 5 weekly sessions focus on one style of puppetry (hand puppet, mask, shadow, clay/toy theatre, & marionette) and one world region. The last day of each block offers a free performance to the community by the children and the master.

Saturday mornings, 10:00am to 11:30am,
next session begins March 4

COST: $60/child in advance or $15/class drop-in
(if space is available).

PRESCHOOL PUPPET PLAYTIME
(ages 2-6)
In 5 weekly one-hour sessions, children will be engaged by various dazzling tales from around the world as they come alive through participatory puppetry and theme-expressive arts activities such as finger plays, craft, games, folkdance and percussion. (All children must be accompanied by a caregiver.)

Wednesday mornings, 10:30am to 11:30 am,
next session begins March 1

COST: $42/child in advance or $10/class drop-in
(if space is available).

THE WORLD FAMILY PUPPET THEATRE offers exciting school year puppetry arts programs. Participants bring alive the folktales of the worlds’ peoples thus learning valuable lessons of getting along. This program model has been refined from 38 years of multicultural arts programs for children. Time travel to a land or time far away, experience world kinship, compassion, lifelong positive problem-solving, while making new friends!

ROCKY NECK NOW 2017
Spring Members Show

Exhibition Dates: March 16-April 23
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 18, 2:00-4:00 PM
Closing Reception: Sunday, April 23, 2:00–4:00 PM

 THE CALL:

RNAC seeks works of art by RNAC members featuring both representational and abstract 2D works in water media, oil, graphite, encaustic, photographs and prints; and also jewelry, ceramics and sculpture.

 IMPORTANT DETAILS:

The exhibition (unjuried) will display the variety of work that RNAC members are doing in 2017 and reveal the variety of artistic expression and direction found in the work of RNAC artists. Both floors of the Cultural Center will be used to display art with room for approximately 30 artists submitting wall art, and for 10-3D artists on pedestals.

A curating team made up of exhibition committee members will make final choices and all choices will be final. (You, as an RNAC member, are welcome to join the committee. The committee meets regularly.) The first 30 artists to submit wall art will be guaranteed space for at least one work (depending on size); all other works will be considered as space is available.

ELIGIBILITY:

RNAC members only. Artists must be members when entering. To join the Rocky Neck Art Colony go to http://rockyneckartcolony.org/join.php.

Submissions:

• Each artist may submit two pieces.
• Application is made by mailing a completed inventory form and check for $20 made out to RNACG.
• Deadline for applications: received by Thursday, March 2, 2017 at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Art Requirements:

• All art must be original. (no reproductions)
• Each artist may submit 2 pieces of 2D wall art or multiples of small 3D items.
• Submission of artwork previously shown at any other Cape Ann venue is not recommended.
• A maximum size of 24 inches in width is recommended in order to accommodate the art of most members. Larger pieces will be considered as space allows.
• 3-D work must fit on a 16×16” pedestal top.
• Accepted work must be delivered by hand, no shipping.

Entry Fee:

$20 per artist will cover the costs of mounting this show.

Commission:

There is a 25% commission on sales.

Images:

RNAC requires a number of good quality photos of work for publicity and web site promotion in JPEG format. Files are to be sized no greater than 2 MB, maximum 1,200 pixels for the longest dimension. Each image must be labeled with the following information: last name, first name initial, title, medium.jpg. Example: Smith_J_SunsetSymphony_acrylic.jpg

Please email images to Suzanne at director@rockyneckartcolony.org.

Size Requirements:

Submitted 2-D work of 24 inches in width and 50 inches in height, including the frame is recommended. 3-D work must fit on a 16×16” pedestal top. (3-D artists should be prepared to supply pedestals as needed.) Accepted work must be suitably framed and wired for hanging; no saw-tooth or sandwich frames allowed.

Accepted Work

• Deliver Art: Tuesday, March 14, 10:00 AM – 12 Noon at The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA.
• Art not installed must be picked up on Wednesday, March 15 at 10:00 AM- 12 Noon. (Email will be sent on 3/14 ONLY if you have artwork to be picked up.
• Pick-up unsold work: SUN, April 23, 4-5 PM or MON, April 27, 10 AM-12 PM

Contact Information:

If you have any questions, please contact entry@rockyneckartcolony.org

The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) and Backyard Growers will host FRESH, a six-week exhibition at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck February 2, through March 12, 2017 and accompanying workshops and presentations. 

This is an exciting collaboration by two inspiring non-profits—Backyard Growers, which cultivates an active relationship with food and the earth, and Rocky Neck Art Colony, which encourages and promotes excellence in the arts.

This partnership exhibit and events, are sponsored by Duckworth’s Bistrot, Short & Main, Artscope Magazine; as well as, Patty Knaggs Real Estate, Peter Dorsey North Shore Abodes and Neptune’s Harvest.

In this exhibition, artists from all over New England will present works that reflect on the theme FRESH, exploring the ways in which food connects us to the earth, nourishes us, and ties us to, warmth, family, friends, and memories. FRESH is the sense of new life that emerges as we leave the dark of winter for the optimism of spring. Contemporary, experimental and traditional art in all media will be on view. Artwork for the exhibit was chosen by juror, Dawn Southworth.

Backyard Growers is a Gloucester-based grassroots organization helping to reshape Gloucester’s relationship with food. They provide resources and support to establish vegetable gardens at homes, housing communities, organizations, and schools. Their mission is to create life-long gardeners inspired by the power of growing one’s own food.

 “If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.”—J.R.R. Tolkien

Rocky Neck Art Colony member artists and Backyard Growers volunteers have created lectures and workshops to accompany the exhibition.  Lara Lepionka, an artist and Executive Director of Backyard Growers, will give an artist presentation at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, on February 9.  Three workshops (February 16, March 2, and March 9), will be presented at the Backyard Growers headquarters, 271 Main Street. The closing reception on March 12, 2-4 p.m. will include a raffle of a wonderful basket of gifts donated by Gloucester and Rockport merchants.

FRESH Exhibit Companion Events At A Glance:

• Feb 4 – Opening Reception/Raffle Launch (6 Wonson Street) 5-7pm
• Feb 9 – From Paper Pods to Pea Pods, an artist’s presentation by Lara Lepionka, Artist and Executive Director of Backyard Growers (6 Wonson Street) 7pm
• Feb 16 – Pressed Flower Art Workshop and Free Seed Swap (271 Main Street) 7pm
• Mar 2 – Seed Starting and Eco & Produce Printing Workshop (271 Main Street) 7pm
• Mar 9 – Square Foot Gardening Workshop  (271 Main Street) 7pm
• Mar 12 – Closing Reception/Raffle Event (6 Wonson Street) 2-4pm

To register for workshops please visit http://www.backyardgrowers.org/events/. Proceeds from FRESH  events will be shared equally by Rocky Neck Art Colony and Backyard Growers.

 For More Information:

• Email RNAC at info@rockyneckartcolony.org
• Visit Backyard Growers’ website at www.backyardgrowers.org
• Dawn Southworth www.dawnsouthworth.com

SPONSORED BY:

Cape Ann Museum Offers Adult Drawing Workshop with Gabrielle Barzaghi

 The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to offer a three week drawing workshop with visual artist Gabrielle Barzaghi. The workshop will be held on Thursday February 2, 9 and 16 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Museum’s Activity Center and galleries.

Cost including materials is $85 for Museum members/ $100 for non-members. Space is limited, reservations are required. For more information please contact info@capeannmuseum.org. Tickets can be purchased by calling 978-283-0455 x10 or online at Eventbrite.

Drawing from still lifes and in the Museum galleries, participants will practice basic drawing skills such as visual measuring, line, value, composition and perspective. The class structure will remain flexible to allow for each individual’s drawing ability.

Gabrielle Barzaghi is a visual artist and former Senior Lecturer in Art and Design at Suffolk University. She is a Gloucester resident.

Workshop Schedule:

• Session One will meet in the Museum’s Activity Center. Basic observational drawing techniques will be covered by showing examples, demonstration, and practice.
• Session Two will involve drawing in the galleries from sculptural forms focusing on structural line, value, and volume.
• Session Three will include compositional analysis and the study and copying of a masterwork in the Museum’s collection.

 The Cape Ann Museum celebrates the art, history and culture of Cape Ann – a region with a rich and varied culture of nationally significant historical, industrial and artistic achievement. The Museum’s collections include fine art from the 19th century to the present, artifacts from the fishing, maritime and granite quarrying industries, textiles, furniture, a library/archives and two historic houses. For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.

The Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $10.00 adults, $8.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (18 and under) and Museum members are free. For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

The Cape Ann Artisans have set the schedule for 2017. The Spring Tour will be held Saturday and Sunday, June 3-4. The Fall Tour will encompass the entire three day Columbus Day Weekend, Oct 7-9. The tour time is 10AM-5PM. The Holiday Show will return during Rockport’s Main Street festivities on December 1 and 2nd.

The Artisans welcome back several members that were on sabbatical, Elizabeth Harty, Marcie Rae, and Bond Street Studio. One new studio will be on the tour, that of Deborah Gonet, a mixed media artist.

The Artisans thank the community for its continued support of its partner program that includes sponsorships on the brochure and online. Annually, the Artisans print and distribute over 12,000 brochures which are distributed throughout the region. A few of these coveted spots remain available if booked by February 6th. For information, please contact Sinikka Nogelo: snogelo@yahoo.com.

The Artisans have also launched a program called “CAA in the Community” where a small group of artisans will create an on-site display and mini-presentation to inform your group about the tour in more detail. It’s a chance to meet the artists and help share the story with your organization and to better inform both residents and visitors. To request a visit by the artisans, please send a note to Jackie via info@CapeAnnArtisans.com.
The Tour will include 20 studios and 22 Artisans. The 2017 Artisans are:

David Archibald
Cynthia Curtis
Rob Diebboll
Jacqueline Ganim-DeFalco
Deborah Gonet
Elizabeth Harty
Camilla MacFadyen
Anni Melançon
Sinikka Nogelo
Bond Street Studio: Terry DelPercio-Piemonte & David Piemonte
Marcie Rae
Margaret Rack
Mi Robertson
Pam Stratton
Bart Stuyf
Twin Lights Studio: Erin O’Sullivan & Scott Place
Mary Ann Wenniger
Beth Williams
Ruth Worrall
Sara Wright

Voicing the Woods: Jeremy Adams, Instrument Maker
Exhibit extended through March 5, 2017

The curator’s job sounds relatively simple: just surprise us. Show us something we haven’t seen before, or lately, or in such depth, or with such clarity. Try to avoid the predictable and familiar, the market approved or academically sanctioned, or what other curators have already done. Try to step outside your museum’s comfort zone or carefully manicured institutional persona with something eccentric, an intuitive leap. After all, there is plenty of art out there.
—Roberta Smith, “Museums Embrace the Unfamiliar” New York Times, September 16, 2016

The current exhibition at the Cape Ann Museum would be music to Ms. Smith’s ears. Voicing the Woods: Jeremy Adams, Instrument Maker is the unpredictable, eccentric delight she calls for. Indeed, the Museum has leaped forward with its intuition that Mr. Adams’s peerless craftsmanship has exactly the genius and beauty for the rapture of an unsuspecting public. And from all accounts, its public has agreed!

A formal lyricism in this exhibition commands attention to more than one art form. From the fabrication of brass hinges to bone keys (not to mention the skunk-tail sharps and cow-toenail couplers!), to sculptural stands and the exacting, exquisite joinery that must move unerringly to create music, the show reveals the prodigious skill and artistry of Jeremy Adams, one of the most gifted musical instrument makers in the United States. Meticulously presented in the Museum’s largest gallery, the exhibition showcases an impressive selection of harpsichords inspired by Flemish and French designs of the 17th and 18th centuries, a chamber organ, a clavichord, a demonstration organ chest, and a beautiful, witty silent keyboard, all built in their entirety by Adams in his Danvers, Massachusetts atelier. Curated from over 40 instruments built since the 1960s, these works reside in public and private collections around the world. The exhibit’s centerpiece is the stunning French (Blanchet) double-manual harpsichord with its very modern stand, which emerged from the Adams workshop this summer and is featured in events for the duration of the exhibit, sometimes in tandem with other instruments in the room. Also in the gallery, Paul Cary Goldberg’s elegant photographs, commissioned by the Museum, document the Adams workshop—the tools, details, atmosphere and the droll, quirky personality from which the instruments come.

In addition to the keyboards in the gallery, the Museum displays a selection of Adams’s furniture in the adjoining 1804 Captain Elias Davis House, offering an interesting contrast to the period furniture in the House. The design and construction of Adams’s furniture and objets d’art derive, in part, from the refined casework of his musical instruments, and in part from a lifelong interest in painting and sculpture. Commissions for new pieces show an ever-evolving freshness to his work, liberating Adams from the stringent requirements of instrument making, and resulting in highly individual and sometimes quite humorous treatments of materials both found and made. One might say that Mr. Adams has left the academy behind.

We hope you will be inspired and hasten to Gloucester for this unusual banquet of instruments and furniture now in felicitous proximity with Fitz Henry Lane, the Folly Cove Designers and all the other luminaries who inhabit this “jewel of a museum.”

In whatever way we could make your journey to Boston’s North Shore manageable, we would enthusiastically assist. The exhibition runs through March 5, 2017.

Gallery 53 on Rocky Neck is seeking new members for the 2017 season. A member-run, centrally located gallery under the umbrella of the Rocky Neck Art Colony, Gallery 53 exhibits and sells the work of about 30 Cape Ann/North Shore artists to a customer base of local, national and international visitors. Strategically located between the Studio and Rudder restaurants on Rocky Neck Ave., Gallery 53 is open seasonally from late May until mid-October. More than 14,000 art lovers and tourists visited to the gallery in 2016.

Detailed information on how to apply and an application form are available online at www.rockyneckartcolony.org/gallery-53-on-rocky-neck/. The deadline to apply is March 1, 2017 and work must be dropped off at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck for jurying on March 15, 2017.

“We are looking for artists and artisans who produce refreshing, provocative work and who are interested in helping to run the gallery,” said gallery manager Judy Robinson-Cox. All Gallery 53 members share in the duties related to operating the gallery – everything from strategic planning, marketing, party planning and record keeping to hanging the artwork, gallery sitting and cleaning the floors. The Rocky Neck Art Colony Galleries (the for-profit branch of the non-profit Rocky Neck Art Colony) pays expenses, collects rent from artists, and takes a commission on artwork sold. For more information call 978-515-7004.

The Rocky Neck Art Colony, a 501(c) 3 non-profit organization nurtures excellence in the arts through exhibitions, workshops, residencies and vibrant cultural events for its members and the public. Long renowned for its luminous light, this harbor and coastal location has been a magnet for some of the most revered realist paintings in American art and a catalyst for the progressive ideas of artists from Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Milton Avery, and Nell Blaine, among many others. Today Rocky Neck continues to attract artists and art lovers to a thriving creative community. For up to date information visit rockyneckartcolony.org