The Tree of Life has arrived and seems to be ready to start the Schooner Fest 2021 party! Welcome! We are looking forward to the weekend’s events and hope to see you all there. Further details available from Maritime Gloucester.

Community Open House: Friday, Sept. 10 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

GLOUCESTER, Mass. (September 2021) – After 1 ½ years of being closed due to the pandemic, a completely remodeled and repainted Library & Archives is reopening at the Cape Ann Museum at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester next week. “We are thrilled to welcome the public the new and improved Library & Archives,” said Oliver Barker, the Cape Ann Museum’s Director. “The Museum has been working hard, with the help of our Volunteer Team, to make the space more inviting, accessible and functional in the ways the public needs.”

A Grand Re-opening event for members will be held on Thursday, Sept. 9 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Librarian & Archivist Trenton Carls will give tours of the new layout, discussing projects from the past year, displaying recent acquisitions, and sharing what is on the horizon for the CAM Library & Archives. There will be live music by local jazz musician Steve Lacey, light refreshments, and a small used book sale taking place in the atrium. The CAM Library Volunteer team will be on hand to discuss projects they have been working on and will answer any questions.

The public is invited to a Community Open House on Friday, Sept 10 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Throughout the day, Carls will be on hand to discuss the newly updated and reopened Library, showcasing recent acquisitions, walking visitors through recent digital exhibits and introducing many of the CAM Library Volunteers, without whom, none of this would be possible. On that day, there will be an encore Community Conversations event with the CAM Librarian & Archivist at 1 p.m. to share changes and plans, and seek input from the community about how to make the CAM Library & Archives a welcome and useful resource to all. The Museum’s Librarian & Archivist Trenton Carls shared that, “This is the moment we have been looking forward to since last March. While we have been very fortunate to have had this past year to connect with the community virtually and by appointment, we are eager for everyone to come back in and enjoy this space and CAM’s incredible collections.”

For more information about the exhibit and other events happening at the Cape Ann Museum, visit www.capeannmuseum.org.

GLOUCESTER, MA, August 31, 2021 – BankGloucester is pleased to announce that voting in their 14th Annual “Banking for the Community” program will begin on September 1st and end on September 30th. Over the past thirteen years, through this program, the Bank has awarded $225,000 to dozens of deserving non-profit and community organizations. This year the Bank will award a total of $25,000 to 21 organizations. Community votes will determine how the funds are allocated. Last year over 9,000 community members participated in the voting process.

The organization with the most votes will receive $5,000. The organization receiving the second most votes will receive $4,000. The organization with the third most votes will receive $3,000. Organizations with fourth and fifth most votes will receive $2,000 each and sixth and seventh will receive $1,000. Fourteen other participating organizations will receive $500 each.

Voting will take place through BankGloucester’s website www.BankGloucester.com and ballots will also be available for completion at the Bank’s Gloucester, Essex and Ipswich branches for those without access to a computer. You may vote for up to three organizations on each ballot. One entry per person/email address or one ballot per person. Winners of this program will be announced at a reception at the Bass Rocks Golf Club, where checks will also be presented.

“BankGloucester is fortunate to be part of a great community and we feel it is important to be active in it and give back to it. Our Banking for the Community program is one of the many ways we do this and we are happy to be celebrating the 14th year of this event” stated BankGloucester President and CEO, Patrick Thorpe.

The following organizations are included on this year’s ballot: Action Inc., Backyard Growers, Cape Ann Animal Aid, Cape Ann Veterans, Care Dimensions, Essex County Greenbelt Association, Essex Shipbuilding Museum, Generous Gardens, Gloucester Education Foundation, Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center, Ipswich Animal Shelter, Ipswich Caring, NAMI, Three Sisters Garden Project, Open Door (the), Rose Baker Senior Center, Essex Senior Center / Council on Aging, Seaside Sustainability, Senior Care and Wellspring. There is also a space where voters may write-in an organization of their own choice. Information about the organizations is available on the Bank’s website and in the Bank’s lobbies located at 160 Main Street in Gloucester, 15 Martin Street in Essex and 143 High Street in Ipswich.

BankGloucester, with assets of $330 million, is a state-chartered mutual bank has been serving Gloucester and its neighboring communities since 1887.

BankGloucester is headquartered at 160 Main Street in Gloucester and has a branch at 15 Martin Street in Essex and 143 High Street in Ipswich. They are a member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and a member of the Deposit Insurance Fund (DIF); at BankGloucester, all deposits are insured in full.

For additional information please contact: Kathryn Wall, Marketing Specialist, BankGloucester kwall@bankgloucester.com – 978-675-9903

Thought this might interest some of you boaters out there. Can you imagine? Also, I highly recommend a follow on this Twitter account if you need a little smile every day.

Carmela Martin’s Solo Show at NSAA

AUGUST 25 – SEPTEMBER 9, 2021
RECEPTION: SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 4^TH FROM 1:00 – 400 PM

North Shore Arts Association
11 Pirate’s Lane, Gloucester, MA 01930
Open and free to the public

A new exhibition of paintings by Carmela Martin is currently on display at the North Shore Arts Association (NSAA) in Gloucester, MA, and will be on view through September 9, 2021. The exhibition features vibrant paintings rich in texture and color. Please join us on Saturday, September 4, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 PM for the opening reception. 

Carmela studied with many gifted and renowned artists from the North Shore and beyond. She works primarily in oil, adding cold wax and marble dust to create layers of texture, and incorporates pastel, acrylic, and monotype printing into her work.  

Her paintings are in numerous private and corporate collections in the United Sates and abroad.  She is a member of the North Shore Arts Association, Rockport Art Association & Museum, and the Experimental Group. To experience more of Carmela’s work please visit www.carmelamartinfineart.com. 

North Shore Arts Association is located at 11 Pirate’s Lane, Gloucester, MA 01930. For more information about events please call (978) 283-1857 or email arts@nsarts.org. Visiting hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM and Sundays 12 – 4 PM.  

Susan Hedman’s Solo Show at NSAA

August 25 – September 9, 2021
Reception: Saturday, September 4^th from 1:00 – 400 PM

North Shore Arts Association
11 Pirate’s Lane, Gloucester, MA 01930

Cost: Open and free to the public

A new exhibition of oil and watercolor paintings by Susan Hedman is currently on display at the North Shore Arts Association (NSAA) in Gloucester, MA, and will be on view through September 9, 2021. The exhibition features approximately forty-seven works highlighting intricate still-lifes, colorful florals, and local maritime scenes. Please join us on Saturday, September 4, 2021, from 1:00 – 4:00 PM for the opening reception. 

North Shore Arts Association is located at 11 Pirate’s Lane, Gloucester, MA 01930. For more information about events please call (978) 283-1857 or email arts@nsarts.org. Visiting hours are Wednesday – Saturday, 10 AM – 5 PM and Sundays 12 – 4 PM.  

Faces from the Past: 100 Years of RAA&M Artists in Portraiture museum exhibit at Rockport Art Association & Museum

The act of painting portraits – and self-portraits – is as old as art itself. Thus it is no surprise to find that over the course of the past century the artists of the Rockport Art Association & Museum (RAA&M) have applied their superlative skills towards crafting portraits of themselves and each other.

The selection of portraits featured in this show are all drawn from the Rockport Art Association & Museum’s permanent museum collection. Executed in oil, watercolor, and photography, these works document the diverse forms or artistic expression employed over the last century by our artist members. As well, they stand as a priceless means by which we can experience and get to know some of the faces that have made the Rockport Art Association & Museum one of the premier centers for the fine arts in America.

Faces from the Past: 100 Years of RAA&M Artists in Portraiture is running from NOW until Thursday, September 16 in our Wengenroth Gallery.  For more information please click here: https://www.rockportartassn.org/calendar-of-events/2021/8/27/faces-from-the-past

New Exhibition at Rocky Neck Art Colony Featuring Six Contemporary Artists Celebrating their Stories of Spirit, Perseverance and Vision 20/20 Vision, Curated by Kristine Fisher

Dates: September 16, 2021 – October 17, 2021
Artists’ Reception:
Saturday, September 18, 4-6 PM

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck,
6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA
Hours: Thursday through Sunday, noon to 5 PM

The six accomplished contemporary artists featured in 20/20 Vision share adventuresome approaches to materials, a commitment to experimental processes, and inspired engagement with Cape Ann’s extraordinary natural environment. 

Risk-takers all, and passionate lovers of their process, Donna Caselden, Terry Del Percio-Piemonte, Richard Crangle, Kristine Fisher, Kat Masella and Susan Guest-McPhail all work to keep excitement and freshness alive. In this exhibition, they have left safety and the ordinary behind to reveal their clearest artistic expression. These artists ask, “Does 20/20 vision really exist for an artist or for anyone as life evolves?” Affirming that “artistic pursuits, as with life, can be murky and full of risk,” they conclude that “In our creative journey, the only clarity that we really have is to be truly present and lean into our hearts.” Showcasing painting, mixed media and sculpture, this exhibition celebrates each artist’s story of spirit, perseverance, and vision. 

Artists in the Exhibition

Boston-based artist Donna Caselden has been creating experimental artwork over the past several years. Originally an interior designer, Donna blends her painting skills with her design knowledge, resulting in a perfect marriage of her two passions.

From his studio in Gloucester, Massachusetts, Richard Crangle creates refined wood sculpture and furniture that incorporate time honored craftsmanship and contemporary expression using local, reclaimed, and exotic woods. Crangle’s vocabulary of abstract and organic themes, innovative shapes, and surface treatments evoke the inclusion of visual grace and movement. His work is in the

Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, Massachusetts and in many private collections.

Painter and mixed-media artist Terry Del Percio-Piemonte is showing work from two completely different series. Her current paintings arrange complex patterns and shapes suggesting aerial views of cityscapes that abstractly reflect how we construct our communities from both a physical and political standpoint. On her other series, Del Percio remarks, “The year 2020 seemed to bring the world’s insanity to a volcanic head, and it has had a tremendous impact on me personally.” Using fabric and threads for a new collage series called “Frayed Around the Edges” Del Percio appears to be documenting her emotional reactions to the very disturbing times in which we live.

Kristine Fisher is a contemporary visual artist specializing in mixed media and photography. Her work is largely influenced by the coastal environs of living on Cape Ann. The sea’s rhythms, along with her many years of working with global design leader Herman Miller, are reflected in the graphic simplicity of her work. Fisher has exhibited with numerous North Shore art associations and the Jane Deering Gallery, Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Kat Masella paints energetic contemporary oil paintings full of emotion.  Her work evokes wonderment and joy through layers of rich imagery, colors and textures. Kat has exhibited nationally and internationally and has won numerous awards.

Susan Guest-McPhail is an award-winning artist, printmaker, and teacher who loves to create and share. Her work is intuitive, colorful, and changing.

 

Special Events

In addition to an opening reception on Saturday, September 18, from 4 to 6 PM, the following public programs will accompany this exhibition: 

September 22, 7-8 PM – Artist and teacher, Susan Guest-McPhail demonstrates mixed media techniques 

October 2, 2-4 PM – Rick Crangle will conduct a drop-in demonstration of wood sculpting and hand carving skills

October 9, 2-4 PM – Kat Masella will demonstrate painting techniques and discuss her process

To sign up, visit the Rocky Neck Art Colony Eventbrite page 

Consult the RNACExhibitions.com web page for details and updates.

The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) was founded in the mid-19th century and incorporated as a 501(c)(3) in 1973. With the creation of the Cultural Center at Rocky Neck in 2012, RNAC programs are reaching a wider demographic as the visual arts focus is expanding to include more diverse cultural and educational offerings. The Cultural Center is located at 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA 01930. For more information visit www.rockyneckartcolony.org.

A new take out window has been installed at Little Red Rooster on Rogers Street! Yeah!

Eventide….

NOAA Fisheries and our partners are dedicated to conserving and rebuilding the North Atlantic right whale population, which is endangered, declining, and experiencing an ongoing Unusual Mortality Event.

Entanglement in commercial fishing gear is a primary cause of mortalities and serious injuries of North Atlantic right whales. Working with the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Team—a group of advisors consisting of fishermen, scientists, conservationists, and state and federal officials—we have completed Phase 1 of the modifications to the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan to continue to reduce whale entanglements.

Today, we are announcing the final rule to modify the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan. The gear modifications required by the rule will go into effect May 1, 2022, which is the start of the American lobster/Jonah crab fishing year. The changes to the seasonally restricted areas will go into effect 30 days after the publication of this rule.

We would like to thank the many stakeholders who submitted more than 200,000 public comments on the proposed rule. The comments guided us in modifying the final rule to allow more flexibility for fishermen, while still achieving the necessary risk reduction to make a real difference for right whales. These measures will reduce the deaths and serious injuries to North Atlantic right whales due to entanglements in U.S. commercial fishing gear, and will contribute to the recovery of this endangered population.

Final Rule Measures

The rule modifies regulations for the Northeast lobster and Jonah crab trap/pot fisheries as follows: 

• Modify gear marking to introduce state-specific colors for gear marks and increase the number of gear markings and areas requiring marked lines.
• Modify gear configurations to reduce the number of vertical lines by requiring more traps between buoy lines.
• Require weak insertions or weak rope in buoy lines.
• Modify existing seasonal closure/restricted areas to allow ropeless fishing.
• Add two new seasonal restricted areas.
• Following changes made by Massachusetts, extend the Massachusetts Restricted Area (MRA) to add state waters north to the New Hampshire border.