Author: James Eves

Book launch for
Phoenix of the Seas, by Chester Brigham

The saga of the Gloucester schooner
Ernestina-Morrissey, State Ship of Massachusetts

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to welcome author Chester Brigham to the Museum on Saturday, June 13 at 3:00 p.m. Brigham will be reading from and signing copies of his latest book, Phoenix of the Seas (books will be available for purchase in the Museum Gift Shop). This program is free for members or with Museum admission.

Phoenix of the Seas recounts the journeys and travails of the Ernestina-Morrissey, State Ship of Massachusetts. The schooner, repeatedly written off as doomed, is now undergoing complete restoration thanks to a combination of state and private funding,

The Ernestina-Morrissey’s story is one of wide-ranging maritime adventures, lived by a remarkable cast of captains, crews and voyagers. Launched in Essex in 1894, she sailed to the Grand Banks from Gloucester for cod in the 1890s, voyaged to the Arctic every year for almost two decades on scientific expeditions, served under both the U.S. Army and Navy in the Arctic during World War II, crossed the Atlantic a dozen times as a packet ship, linking Cape Verdean-Americans in New England with family members on their home islands, then back in America under sail out of New Bedford she was a floating schoolroom where boatloads of school children learned about the wonders of their ocean environment.

Behind it all has been the ship’s indomitable spirit, sensed by all who have sailed her: Gloucester fishing captains Bill and Clayton Morrissey, Arctic navigator Bob Bartlett, Henrique Mendes on Cape Verde, round-the-world captain Dan Moreland. And by those whose lives she has touched: dory-trawling fishermen on the Grand Banks, hardy field scientists, Inuit hunters, GIs at remote weather stations, Atlantic islanders, volunteers who have sacrificed much for love of the ship.

Gloucester author Chester Brigham has written three other books relating to the maritime and cultural history of Cape Ann: On Opposite Tacks (2011), Gloucester’s Bargain with the Sea (2007) and The Stream I Go A-Fishing In (2003).

Saturday, June 13, 7:00-9:00 pm
261 Main Street, Gloucester, MA

Join Eastern Point Lit House in welcoming local authors J.D. and James Scrimgeour for a special father and son reading of their work. There will be an open mic at 7 pm, followed by the Scrimgeours at 8 pm. Everyone is invited to read!

For more info: http://www.easternpointlithouse.com 

65 Middle is opening it’s doors as Gloucester’s first gallery and project space featuring new and contemporary art culture. Founded in 2015 by Elizabeth Randlett, a former Brooklyn based creative director with strong Gloucester roots, 65 Middle is a multi-disciplinary project space in the downtown area of the city. The contemporary raw gallery is a platform for emerging and established artists from LA and New York, offering it’s patrons a look into a new time and culture of art.

Please join us in welcoming Los Angeles based painter and multi media artist Harrison Driggs Fraley to 65 Middle where he will be presenting his solo exhibition, Take Care & Control.

HARRISON DRIGGS FRALEY

“Take Care & Control”

June 5 – July 5, 2015

Inaugural Opening Reception: Friday June 5, 4pm – 7pm

Harrison Driggs Fraley’s work incorporates pharmaceutical beeswax, dye concentrates and processed drawing. “Take Care & Control” is a survey of material, and ultimately the remnant thereof, and explores how painting functions within a living experience. Performative and saturated, he implements wax and dye as a nod to the formal objectives regarding the ‘act’ and process of painting, while each surface is sized and titled after the French Neo-Classic painter Jean Ingres’ troubled lesser works. Combining the cynicism of new media culture and historical “baggage,” Take Care & Control encompasses a formal concern with painting’s relevancy, signature materiality, and a healthy disregard for the historical lineage of painting itself.

Harrison Driggs Fraley (b. 1986) currently lives and works in Los Angeles. He received his education at the Savannah College of Art and Design and Atlanta College of Art, 2005-2009.

Recent and upcoming solo exhibitions include Take Care & Control, 65 Middle, Gloucester, MA, 2015; Best Wishes/Revenge, Western Canon Projects, Beverly Hills, CA, 2010, 2012

Upcoming and group exhibitions include Landschaft (Heresy) LDC, Joshua Tree, California 2015; Moving Spaces, traveling from OAK DTLA, Los Angeles to OAK, New York City, 2015; Ryobi Room: Miami, Darlington Resort, Miami, Florida, 2014; Starving in the Middle of Nowhere, Werkarts, Los Angeles, 2014.

The exhibition is open to the public Tuesday – Friday 10 to 2 and Saturday – Sunday from 12 to 5.
For further information and/or images, please email elizabeth@65middle.com
65 Middle St, Unit 1 Gloucester, MA
Elizabeth Randlett, Owner / 508-838-5920 / www.65middle.com / @65middle

MASON DARING and JEANIE STAHL:
Celebrating 40 Years!

Saturday June 13, 7:30pm

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck • 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA 01930 • 978-515-7004

Tickets: $15 at the door, $10 Rocky Neck Art Colony members.  Limited seating – call ahead to reserve!

Gloucester MA, May 21, 2015:  The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) Only Excellent Music series is pleased to present Mason Daring and Jeanie Stahl, celebrating forty years of musical collaboration and a brand new release!

Daring and Stahl, core members of the Passim All-Stars, will bring their sweet harmonies and humor to the Cultural Center stage with bassist Richard Gates on Saturday June 13. Their new album, entitle “40” features songs ranging from folk and jazz to a little country, original tunes and some classics.

Mason is a noted film and TV composer and record producer and Jeanie a premier vocalist. In the 70’s they were the darlings of the Cambridge folk scene, recorded two albums together and garnered national attention with Mason’s song, Marblehead Morning, which also got them a spot on the Today Show. Mason went on to become an award winning composer for film and TV (The Secret of Roan Inish, Eight Men Out, Music of the Heart, themes for Frontline and Nova and more). Jeanie continued performing as a featured vocalist on videos for Masterpiece Theatre and for films, and in addition recorded solo albums on the Daring Records label. In collaboration with her husband, John Jacobsen, she executive produced the Oscar nominated IMAX film, The Living Sea.

“Mason and Jeanie still sound great together…There’s a timelessness to the songs on the album and [their] originals stand tall next to the classics.”  FolkRootsFolkBranches

Check them out on Facebook (Daring and Stahl) and at their website www.daringandstahl.squarespace.com/

 Link to ePressKit including 5 songs from the new CD 

Welcome:
Cape Ann Museum
SchoonerWooden Boat and Shipbuilding Events
Gloucester Area Astronomy Club Calendar

Friday June 12 @8:00 is our annual
Welcome to Amateur Astronomy Night
at GAAC!

The Lanesville Community Center is at 8 Vulcan Street in Lanesville.

We’ll have telescopes of every size and description set up inside the LCC for you to inspect and ask the owners about. What are the benefits of that particular scope? What can you see? How much did it cost? And that’s not all:

At this meeting we’ll have six quick ten-minute visual presentations on different Astronomy topics for you to enjoy, and of course the usual goodies and wonderful conversation you’ve come to enjoy from GAAC.

Don’t miss this annual overview of everything you need to know in order to enjoy exploring the cosmos in the company of very nice people.

NORTH SHORE ARTS ASSOCIATION OFFERS, “Capturing the Living Landscape,” an outdoor oil painting workshop with Mark Shasha, Saturday, June 13 and Sunday, June 14, 10 – 4 pm at NSAA.  Sign up online through the NSAA website, by phone or by mail.

In this two day workshop, award winning painter Mark Shasha will help you learn to manage the challenges that clouds, wind and sea offer when attempting to paint with oils out of doors.  Sharing insights from his thirty years of painting experience, he will discuss composition, traditional techniques, and special methods of reaping aesthetic rewards when capturing on canvas the natural color, light and mood of living landscapes.

The North Shore Arts Association’s galleries are open, free to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m.

More information on all North Shore Arts Association events is available by visiting  their website at, and by email at arts@nsarts.org, or by telephone 978 283-1857.

Sign Up Today for
Summer at Cape Ann Art Haven!

Summer is right around the corner and we can’t wait for it to start! Click on the icons below to find out more about each of our awesome weekly programs here at Cape Ann Art Haven.

BUILDERS & SCULPTORS WEEK: June 29-July 3

DRAWING & ILLUSTRATION WEEK: July 20-24

MIXED MEDIA & PRINTMAKING WEEK: August 10-14

ANIMATORS WEEK: July 6-10

CERAMICS WEEK: July 27-31

FASHION & FABRIC ARTS WEEK: August 17-21

NATURE ART WEEK: July 13-17

PAINTERS WEEK: August 3-7

BOOKMAKING & PORTFOLIO WEEK: August 24-28

In addition to our morning programs, we are also excited to launch the Cape Ann Creative Crew, which will run Monday-Friday from 1-3pm.

If you have any questions about our programming or registration, please call us at (978) 283-3888, or e-mail Laura@arthaven.org.

GLOUCESTER’S ACCLAIMED NORTH SHORE ARTS ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES JURIED MEMBERS SHOW, Thursday, June 4, through Saturday, June 27.  ALL ARE INVITED TO  the Opening Reception, June 7, 2 – 4 pm.  Open and free to the public.

North Shore Arts Association’s artist members are renowned both nationally and internationally.  Come view over 150 oil paintings, graphic arts, sculptures and watercolor works created by our own New England master artists.

Enjoy visiting tree lined peaceful ponds, local harbors, beaches and inlets, snow covered hills, European countrysides, and wooded glades as interpreted and captured in exquisite light, shadow and glowing color by noted local artists.  And then consider adding one of these exquisite art works to your personal collection.

Come join us as we celebrate the NSAA’s “Year of The Artist!” with its second major exhibition of the 2015 season.

The North Shore Arts Association’s galleries are open, free to the public, Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Noon to 5 p.m.

More information on all North Shore Arts Association events is available by visiting  their website at www.nsarts.org, and by email at arts@nsarts.org, or by telephone 978 283-1857.

Magnolia Historical Society is once again hosting the biannual Art In The Schoolhouse and you’re invited. The art reception is at Blynman Schoolhouse June 5 from 6 to 9 pm, with the show running June 6 noon to 6 pm and June 7 from noon to 4 pm. Join us for light beverages, hors d’oeuvres and fun.

The Cape Ann Museum is pleased to present Peggy’s House, a Cape Ann Cottage, a photographic series by Robert Lerch. The one-day exhibit will take place at the White-Ellery House on Saturday, June 6 from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The White-Ellery House is located at 245 Washington Street in Gloucester at the Route 128 Grant Circle Rotary. This program is free and open to the public.

Peggy’s House is a collection of photos, primarily interiors, all taken in one particular house in Annisquam. Built in 1761, “Peggy’s House” is one of only 65 or so known surviving Cape Ann cottages. Typically referred to as a story and a half with a gambrel roof, it was the vernacular house of the time. During the Colonial period, approximately 350 Cape Ann cottages dotted the coastline around the island, and were home to the many families who made their livelihood fishing and farming.

Robert Lerch said of working on this project, “I am fortunate and grateful that I was given the opportunity to photograph inside a very special Cape Ann Cottage, within the current owner’s daily living space.”

Robert Lerch is a contemporary fine art photographer who has owned and operated a gallery on Bearskin Neck in Rockport for 35 years. His work is sensitive, soulful, and full of substance. He uses all found material and works only with natural light.

The White-Ellery House, located at 245 Washington Street in Gloucester at the Route 128 Grant Circle Rotary, was built in 1710 and is one of just a handful of First Period houses in Eastern Massachusetts that survives to this day. Unlike other structures of this period, the largely unfurnished house has had very few interior alterations over the years. Stepping inside today, visitors enter much the same house they would have 300 years ago. The historic home will be open this year on the first Saturday of June, August, September and October as part of Escapes North 17th Century Saturdays. Parking is available off Poplar Street in the field behind the house.

Victoria Petway at Cape Ann Museum just set up a Google Calendar for museum events, made it public and shared it with me, jameseves3@gmail.com giving me  access to “Make changes AND manage sharing”. I then added her calendar to the ever growing calendars on the GMG “Cape Ann Calendar”. Now when ever she adds and event or makes changes to an event it immediately shows up here on GMG.

This calendar is permanently hosted and can be viewed when ever you want at capeanngiclee.com on the ‘events’ page.

To submit entries for this calendar email text only to james@capeanngiclee.com the following:

A Title
A Date and Time
A Place including complete address
A Short description (no more than a paragraph)
and a link for more info

I post regular Arts related PR and announcements directly to GMG daily, so send those to me too.

Magnolia Historical Society is once again hosting the biannual Art In The Schoolhouse and you’re invited. The art reception is at Blynman Schoolhouse June 5 from 6 to 9 pm, with the show running June 6 noon to 6 pm and June 7 from noon to 4 pm. Join us for light beverages, hors d’oeuvres and fun. Sell your pieces, mingle with friends and support a great cause – the Blynmann Schoolhouse Restoration Project. Spacing is limited and demand is high. So what are you waiting for? Register Now and visit our web site for more details.

Join us on our Terraced Lawn for
JUDITH SPEAKS

June 4, 2015, 5:30-7PM • $5 suggested donation

Come hear Cape Ann Students read Judith’s words that are brilliant, profound & hilarious. One of America’s most influential thinkers, Judith Sargent Murray’s ideas still resonate. Hear Judith on writing, capital punishment, prejudice & female politicians.

We are honored to present Joseph Stiliano, Artistic Director of the Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe, and Patricia Bridgman, living-history interpreter, performing selections from The Mingling of Souls, from Sorrow to Joy, by Jay DiPrima: a love story of Rev. John Murray and Judith Sargent Murray.

http://www.sargenthouse.org | Sargent House Museum | 49 Middle Street | office@sargenthouse.org

Will reschedule ASAP. We are hoping to do it next Monday, June 8. Mike and Tom are available and Harold is attempting to juggle his schedule to make it happen. Hopefully we will have an answer tomorrow as to the new date.

We’ll get you better weather for helping us keep schooner history alive! Thanks for your understanding.

ESSEX SHIPBUILDING MUSEUM

We’d like to thank Mary Kay Taylor of the Schooner Ardelle, who has agreed to manage a calendar for Schooner, Wooden Boat and Shipbuilding Events. She’s got it going and it has now been added to The “Cape Ann Calendar”

Rockport Gallery, iartcolony has three very unique pieces that were tailored to honor Cape Ann specifically.

Owner/Artist, Jill Armstrong says,

“I believe there is an audience who would love to know these were created – and would love to see them – and at only $675 – maybe take one home.  One of our clients from Gloucester represented in Swampscott artist Samara Pearlstein’s art, played against Jeff Juden in highschool – got a hit off of him, during a two-hitter game.  Not that long ago.  And, I love the Stuffy McInnis Card – there must be an audience for them.”

Artist statement:

When considering Motif #1, it is impossible to not think about what it means to represent place.  Motif itself has been represented over and over again, but it’s as much about an iconic image of the North Shore and its associations as it is about the building itself.

The baseball cards represented here all belong to Major League Baseball players who were born on the North Shore.  With the figure removed from the baseball card, what is left are the aesthetic signifiers of a specific era, baseball’s relationship to design in that era, and a focus on place over person— a reversal of the usual role of a baseball card.

Each card also prominently features red as a design element, a selecting factor that serves as an additional nod to Motif, arguably the most famous use of red on the North Shore and in landscape painting.