Softscape…

Gloucester, MA — This October, Gloucester-based artist Deborah Read joins the Goetemann Artist Residency at Rocky Neck Art Colony with a deceptively simple but urgent inquiry: Does art have to be an object?

For Read, the answer has long been “not necessarily.” Her interdisciplinary practice—spanning installation, performance, writing, and collaborative projects—frames art as an act of generosity. As co-founder of Gallery RAG in Gloucester and the international foundation Art+Everywhere, she has created platforms that dissolve boundaries between artist and audience, centering collaboration, care, and mutual support.

Read’s projects invite participation and dialogue: immersive performances with Coco Haze that turn galleries into collective canvases, hybrid works with poet Joel Iwaskiewicz where language becomes performance, and community-based installations like Tejido Vivo, which weave craft traditions into living art. In each case, connection outweighs the object itself.

Her foundation Art+Everywhere embodies this vision, described by Read as “a global, artist-led ecosystem built on mutual generosity.” Its mission: expand access to funding, programming, and creative opportunities while removing barriers of gatekeeping institutions. “The challenge is not scarcity, but activation,” Read explains. “Compassion already exists—in hundreds of hands and eyes—ready to help.”

At Rocky Neck, her residency continues this ethos—not as a retreat into isolation, but as a public process of listening, generating, and sharing. “The question is never just ‘what did I make,’ but ‘what did we generate together?’ Generosity is generative—it can enrich lives, spaces, and even economies.”

Public Programs:

• Artist Talk — October 5 from 4-5PM at Rocky Neck Cultural Center
• Open Studios — October 27 and 29, from 12-2PM at Gallery RAG
• Culminating Talk — October 30 at 6PM at Gallery RAG

For Rocky Neck—a community shaped by both maritime labor and artistic innovation—Read’s residency is both a philosophical question and a practical experiment: What if art is not possession, but presence? Not scarcity, but abundance?

September 28 @ 4:00 Pm – 5:30 Pm

Eight artists focused on the health of the ocean and our relationship to it make up the multimedia exhibition, Navigating Art & Science, now showing at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck through October 13.

Incoming Ocean, a site-specific video installation by Georgie Friedman, splashes across the interior architecture of the Cultural Center. The waves, filmed at nearby Halibut Point State Park, break over walls and doors, advancing toward one’s feet while also washing across a school of 50 life-sized Ghost Cod, hand-carved by Jessica Straus. Meanwhile a soundscape of whale songs and ocean sounds, Sky Fathoms Water by Perri Lynch Howard, arrives softly, builds momentum, and ebbs quietly. The visitor is fully immersed in sight and sound.

Beauty is a key ingredient in artist Resa Blatman’s toolbox; her drawings and paintings reflect her reverence for the natural world. Her works are both contrary and compelling. Finally, visitors who have been drawn in by the captivating image announcing this show and the city-wide STAND UP for ART & SCIENCE initiative, can see more of Michelle Samour’s brilliantly colored hand-made paper works on
the walls at the Cultural Center.

The public is invited to join several of the artists at the Cultural Center on September 28, from 4:00-5:30 PM for a lively conversation exploring how connections between artistic expression, scientific understanding, and imaginative thinking can address the challenges of the changing ocean.

The panel will be led by Christopher Volpe, artist, writer and educator, whose paintings are literally created with the toxic waste from fossil fuels, tar and oil. Peaks Island, Maine sculptor, Daisy Braun, joins the panel, bringing her perspective on plankton, those sustainers of life that uphold the food chain and produce over half the earth’s oxygen. Michelle Lougee, who makes colorful playful sculptures of sea creatures out of post-consumer plastic a material that both “horrifies and beguiles” her, rounds out the panel.

Navigating Art & Science exhibition continues through October 13, at the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester. Gallery hours are 12-5pm, Thursday through Sunday.

The  documentary film, “ Plastic People : The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics” will be shown at the Shalin Liu Performance Center,  37 Main Street in Rockport on Wednesday, November 5 at 7pm. This award-winning feature documentary investigates our addiction to plastic and the growing threat of microplastics on human health.  The free screening is sponsored by the Interfaith Committee of the Cape Ann Climate Coalition. Doors open at 6:15 and the program starts promptly at 7 pm.  Brief presentations from four panelists and a short Q & A will follow the film.  Free! / No registration required. For more information contact:  info@capeannclimatecoalition.org

Grab your crew, swing for prizes, and join us for 7 weeks of fun at Harbor 9! * Starts Oct. 16 * Thursdays 6-8pm * $275 per player * 4-player teams * Register by Oct. 3 david@harbor9golf.com

Kelly

(for another post please)

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SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 BY ANGEL WINGS WELLNESS

Free Samples of Angel Butter! Angel Butter is an effective all natural anti inflammatory made with all organic ingredients. Stop by try it free! What do you have to lose, except joint pain.

Friday and Saturday 11-4 Or call for a free wellness consultation 978-985-4592

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🌮 Open positions:

• Late Night Cook
• Bartender

If you’re friendly, hardworking, and love a fast-paced environment, we want to meet you!

📍 Join us in downtown Gloucester and be part of something special.

👉 Apply by email today!

info@themachaca.com

Machaca
14 Rogers St
Gloucester MA

The Gloucester Elks on Atlantic Rd will be holding their Fall Craft Show Saturday Oct 5 from 10 am – 3pm. Pat D’s Photos will be there along with many other fine local vendors. It’s always a great show! Save the date.

SEPTEMBER 26, 2025 ~ SAWYER FREE LIBRARY

Graduates receive a Chromebook and one year of home Internet service

The Sawyer Free Library is now accepting participants for its new Computer Basics Course, a free, hands-on program designed to help adults build essential digital skills for everyday life, work, and learning. The 15-hour, self-paced course, which runs through December 12, 2025, is delivered in the Library’s new Digital Learning Lab. Upon successful completion, qualified participants will receive a free Chromebook to keep and a hotspot with one year of Internet service. 

“Digital skills open doors—to jobs, to services, to staying connected with family,” said Library Director Jenny Benedict. “The Sawyer Free Library’s Digital Learning Lab team provides welcoming, one-on-one support so adults with little or no experience can learn at their own pace and celebrate every milestone.”

Participants will gain foundational skills that include setting up and using a computer and the Internet, navigating websites and applications, practicing online security and safety, and using communication tools such as email and video conferencing.

The Computer Basics Course will be held in the Digital Learning Lab on the ground floor of Sawyer Free Library, located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. Drop-in training and practice hours are available on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 3:00 to 5:30 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

The course is designed for adults with limited computer access or experience. Priority will be given to applicants who qualify for benefit programs and have a defined learning goal. Eligible programs include, but are not limited to, SNAP, TANF, WIC, TAFDC, EAEDC, MRVP, RAFT, LIHEAP, MassHealth/Medicaid, and SSI/SSDI.

Interested participants can contact the Digital Learning Lab Service Desk by phone at 978-325-5546, by email at computerbasics@sawyerfreelibrary.org or in person at the Library and asking for Roger or Joe. 

Participants do not need to own a computer to enroll. A Chromebook will be provided for use during the course and may be taken home upon successful completion. In addition, a hotspot with a one-year Internet service plan will be included for eligible graduates.

“This is about access and confidence,” added Benedict. “With individualized coaching from our Digital Tutors and Librarians, adults can practice real-world tasks—safely setting up devices, applying for jobs, accessing health information, or connecting with loved ones online.”

The Sawyer Free Library’s Digital Learning Lab is a new community resource dedicated to digital inclusion—offering approachable training, devices, and support to help Gloucester residents thrive in an increasingly online world.  The Computer Basics Course is supported through a generous Digital Equity Initiative Partnership Grant from the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF).

Jump!

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🍕Buy any 18” Pizza get an 18” Cheese for $5
🍕Buy any 16” Pizza get a 16” Cheese for $5

🎉Additional Specials for today!
🦞$15.99 Lobster Rolls
🍔 $4.99 cheeseburgers w/ Chips & Pickles
ALSO FOR LONG BEACH DAIRY 🍦

🚨🚨🚨Half Off Special for 9/26🚨🚨🚨
Vermont Maple Cremee
Sprinkled with Maple Sugar
and
Pumpkin Soft Serve
🍁🍦🎃🍦

Half off only on these two flavors for soft serve, special subject to change

Happy Weekend !!!

Pre-orders are now live for Sunday, Oct 5th

www.saltysbagels.com

More days coming soon… stay tuned!

Bagel of the Week: Maple Salt and Pepper!

This Sunday, Apothecary Suil Crow is hosting a Psychic Fair from 10 – 5 and they will be setting up the parking lot early so please park in front of the Rockport Brewing Company. (Thank you, Ray!) or at the train station right behind the shop. Thank you for understanding!

As their season begins to wind down, we returned to the Atlantis Oceanfront Inn on Atlantic Road for breakfast at their lovely cafe. It’s a beautiful setting for a relaxing breakfast. The menu offers a great variety of your breakfast/brinch favorites. I was intrigued by the cheddar biscuits that same with the Country Breakfast, so I ordered that. The biscuits did not disappoint! GMG Jim got the famous pumpkin pancakes. We enjoyed our late breakfast very much and regret not visiting more often over the summer months, but you still have through October to make your visit.

September 25, 2025 ~ Hammond Castle Museum

Only a handful of tickets remain!
Museum Member savings apply! Learn more & reserve your seats at: https://bit.ly/FilmNightHCM