Good Morning Gloucester

Gloucester artist Vanessa Michalak gives free talk May 3

GLOUCESTER, Mass. — The Goetemann Artist Residency (GAR), part of The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC), welcomes local artist Vanessa Michalak as its 2021 Gloucester Invitational Resident. Michalak will present a free talk via Zoom, on Monday May 3 at 7 PM. The program is open to the public. For more information and a link, visit rockyneckartcolony.org/event/vanessa-michalak-opening-talk/.

Vanessa Michalak has an MFA in painting from Tufts University and School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.  She also has a BSN in Nursing from the University of Maine, Orono. She was scheduled to participate in the GAR program in May 2020 but due to Covid-19 the residency was postponed to 2021. During that time Michalak continued to explore her surroundings in Gloucester, spending many days plein air painting within Dogtown, while also continuing to visually advocate for the nursing profession.

Michalak refers to her painting as “the vehicle through which I can best experience this world.” According to her artist statement, “painting helps me understand who I am, where I am and what calls my attention and expression. It is not necessarily about subject matter, although as I make my way through life there are certain themes that I have repeatedly chosen to paint: my love of the outdoors and my relationship with the profession of nursing.”

Michalak’s “The Nurse Project,” is an ongoing portrait series that honors the spirit, courage and the heart of nurses during this difficult time.

Michalak begins her residency with her talk on May 3, and wraps up her residency with a talk on Thursday, May 27. She observes, “as I continue to paint, I simultaneously proceed with both grit and surrender and in so doing, explore the world and myself.” Her stay on Rocky Neck will give her the time and space to continue this exploration. 

The Goetemann Artist Residency at Rocky Neck Art Colony celebrates diversity and creativity and seeks a range of the art of our time. It provides each of five visual artists and one teacher with a four-week stay in a two-level, live-work studio with access to the rich cultural community of Gloucester. Selected artists demonstrate a high caliber of work, originality and seriousness of purpose. Celebrating its 17th year in 2021, the Goetemann Artist Residency was founded by Gloucester painter and teacher, Gordon Goetemann (pronounced GET-a-min) in 2004 and renamed in his honor in 2010.

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.

Spring has really sprung and this will be the final update to our joint Reopenings list (thanks Bex Borden!) Changes since last week are in bold. More reopenings to come and we will handle them on an individual basis as we come across them.

Join Us For The Live Stream Of GloucesterCast 498 At 9AM Friday April 30, 2021 http://www.facebook.com/goodmorninggloucester

If you subscribe to the GloucesterCast Podcast it will be emailed to you so if you miss it you can still access it through the free email! Link to subscribe here

It’s a mostly cloudy, rainy and foggy week. The deer are out in the mist foraging for a healthy marine diet in the seaweed. But there are cheery spots of color at the bird feeder, and at the tulip beds down on the Boulevard.

On the straight and narrow….

Adventure got underway yesterday for the first time in eighteen months. Just a short trip across the harbor to Gloucester Marine Railways on Rocky Neck, but it felt wonderful to be on the water again after not being able to sail last year.

We will be hauled out for a few weeks for maintenance, inspection, and bottom painting, then we’ll return to Maritime Gloucester to begin uprigging for our sailing season. We plan to be ready to sail with the public on board in early July.

Join us aboard this fast and able vessel for an experience like none other.

Thanks to Jim Diedrich for these photos.

The City of Gloucester will be hosting 2 upcoming COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics in cooperation with the Gloucester Family Health Center. The Gloucester Health Department encourages all eligible residents to get the vaccine as soon as possible. We will be administering the Moderna Vaccine which is available to everyone 18+. Please register for your 1st dose using one of the links below. 
If the clinic fills up before you have a chance to register, please add yourself to the waiting list as we frequently have cancellations, and we will also reach out to those on the waiting list should we receive additional vaccines. 
Friday April 30th– 10am-1pmhttps://www.maimmunizations.org//reg/3269570921

or
Thursday May 6th– 2:30pm-5:30pm
https://www.maimmunizations.org//reg/6012923569