Yearbook Memories

Posted on by Pat D

Congratulations to the Gloucester Class of 2018! It’s probably hard to imagine that your 2018 yearbook will be meaningful in 50-60 years but I can attest that it’s possible.

Fairly often, I get to visit the archives at the Cape Ann Museum.  Recently, I was looking for records pertaining to widows and orphans of lost fisherman, but what I found was my Dad’s high school yearbook: Flicker 1944-45.  This yearbook has been available on eBay for some time but I was not willing to pay $65 for something I was pretty sure we threw out when we emptied our parents attic a number of years ago.

Our father was a cheerleader in college as well as in high school.  He’s the guy in the white pants here (you probably figured that out).  Look at the crowd behind them!

This is the Boys Glee Club.  I think these are ROTC uniforms. (Reserved Officers Training Corps).  In the mid 1940s, it would have been very common as World War II raged overseas.

I saw this senior picture and couldn’t help but think there was a time when such a character would find himself stuffed in a locker every single day.  If you read his summary, you’ll see our Dad Paul Ryan’s ambition is “to go around the world in the Merchant Marine with Umbriago at the wheel.”  Umbriago was apparently an imaginary sidekick to Jimmy Durante.  I don’t quite get it either, but I’ll bet it’s clever.

A few days after I got these, GMG Jimmy found another copy of the yearbook in the Dogtown bookstore.  Someone had very handily labeled all the seniors in the book and this verified that “Paddy” appeared several other times in the yearbook as well but I think these pictures are a fair reflection of Gloucester high school in the 1940s.  It’s an interesting study in social history to review old yearbooks.  I hope this year’s graduates find yearbook gems sometime around 2078!!!!

THANK YOU GLOUCESTER DPW AND HUGE SHOUT OUT TO PHIL CUCURU AND MIKE TARANTINO!

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

Phil Cucuru

THE NEW FOOTBRIDGE LOOKS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! Phil and Mike have been doing the finish work the past few days and a deep layer of sand was added to the beach end for safety sake. I think it looks super sharp with the diagonal cuts across the pilings.

It’s been a really tough spring for the DPW after the extensive damage caused by back to back nor’easters, but getting the bridge completed before the summer crowds was made a priority. Thanks so much to Phil and Mike for working though the weekend. If you see these guys around town, please tell them how great the footbridge looks!

Mike Tarantino

GOOD MORNING GLOUCESTER BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE FIERCELY PATIENT LITTLE GREEN HERON

Posted on by Kimsmithdesigns

You never know what gift of beauty you will encounter in the “wild woods” of Cape Ann. I never leave home without my cameras and today was a perfect example why. Traveling the scenic way between jobs, I passed a stunning little Green Heron whose rich teal and maroon colored feathers were shimmering in the mid morning sun. I had to pull over, thinking I would at best take a few snapshots because in previous encounters, Green Herons usually fly away quickly. The bird tolerated me for some time as I watched him do a slow, stealthy dance around the pond’s edge, catching small minnows as he went. Imagine how delightful to then see him catch a fish as large as his dagger-like bill!!

The Plunge!

Green Herons eat a wide variety of fish and small creatures including minnows, sunfish, catfish, pickerel, carp, perch, gobies, shad, silverside, eels, goldfish, insects, spiders, crustaceans, snails, amphibians, reptiles, and rodents.

One large fish devoured in one large gulp!

The Green Heron is found throughout the US but is a species in decline in most regions, except California, where the bird appears to be increasing. Green Herons breed in Massachusetts coastal and inland wetlands.

Thacher Island Association 2018 Annual Meeting

Posted on by James Eves

Thacher Island Association 2018 Annual Meeting Date Set for Monday June 18.

The Thacher Island Association will hold its annual meeting on Monday, June 18 at 7 pm at the Rockport Community House on Broadway in Rockport. The public is welcome.

A presentation of the work completed on both Thacher and Straitsmouth Islands in 2017 along with special video presentation on recent activity and plans for 2018 on Straitsmouth Island. Admission is free, and refreshments will be served.

Artists Explore SERIES, Curated by Barbara Moody

Posted on by James Eves

Artists Explore SERIES

June 28 – August 12, 2018

Artist Reception: Friday, June 29, from 6 to 8 PM

The Cultural Center at Rocky Neck
6 Wonson Street, Gloucester, MA 01930
Gallery Hours: Thursday – Sunday, 12-6 PM

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The Rocky Neck Art Colony (RNAC) is pleased to present an exhibition of eighteen regional contemporary artists who work in series. These artists oftenstart with an idea and move through a sequence of separate works…exploring the fulfillment of an idea and visual goals. By viewing several closely related works by each artist, audiences can observe and experience the process of art-making. Artists Explore SERIES is on view at RNAC’s Cultural Center Gallery, 6 Wonson Street, Gloucester from June 28 – August 12, 2018. The public is invited to meet the artists at a reception on Friday, June 29, from 6-8PM. Weekly gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 12-6 PM.

RNAC is pleased to introduce Barbara Moody as the Guest Curator of Artists Explore SERIES. Moody has an M. Ed. and Ed.D. from Harvard University. She is currently a professor at Montserrat College of Art, where she also served as Dean for nine years. Moody says of her artistic process “I work in series to explore one idea from different perspectives. Keeping the same feeling or mood, I can change the subject and color to examine a range of possibilities.”

Artists Explore SERIES collaborators include Kathleen Gerdon Archer, Joan Bediz, Morgan Dyer, Conny Goelz-Schmitt, Julie Graham, Mark Hoffmann, Nancy Legendre, Kevin Lucey, Maria Malatesta, Barbara Moody, Ruth Mordecai, Rose Olson, Lynda Schlosberg, Deb Schradeick, Martha L Swanson, Len Thomas-Vickory, Helen Tory and Alyssa Watters.

 

When asked to comment on working in series it was found that the artists have varying ideas about their artistic process. According to artist Morgan Dyer, “This painting series informs ideas of landscape through a lens of personal experience. Color dictates the subject, exploring emotional connections within these experiences and speaking to moments in time similar to a journal.”Kevin Lucey adds, “I work in a series to thoroughly investigate an idea or concept. In most cases, the series ends up being autobiographical, as I am constantly trying to better understand myself, and the people around me.” For Maria Malatesta, “Working in series allows me to explore an idea or direction more deeply. This can lead to unexpected and surprising places. Color, marks and space are all important investigations.” And, Ruth Mordecai sums it up with, “Working in series helps to explore and to simplify.”

This exhibition includes between two and eight works by each artist, for a total of over 80 works of art, representing painting, sculpture, installation, photography, printmaking, and illustration. This exhibition includes between two and eight works by each artist, for a total of over 80 works of art, representing painting, sculpture, installation, photography, printmaking, and illustration.

 

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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 painters in US art. Edward Hopper and Emil Gruppe are examples. It has as well been a catalyst for the progressive ideas of Stuart Davis, Marsden Hartley, Theresa Bernstein, Milton Avery and Nell Blaine, among others. Today, Rocky Neck continues to attract artists and art lovers to a thriving, creative community. rockyneckartcolony.org

Meet the New Rotary in My Life

Posted on by Nichole S.

In case I should ever feel that Blackburn Circle and Grant Circle aren’t enough, now I have a 3rd rotary to navigate each day.  This one is miniature and kind of cute….oddly enough.

This is Route 22 off of Exit 18 in Beverly.  It is the younger sibling to the one that was added last year on Brimbal Ave near what will soon be the new Whole Foods….further ensuring that I have the joy of encountering drivers who don’t know how to navigate a rotary no matter which direction I head.

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Treasure Found at Second Glance

Posted on by Pat D

I’d like to introduce my new friends Abbott and Costello.  I rescued them from the recent vintage sale held at the Second Glance for the princely sum of $16.  For some reason, I was drawn to them and needed to bring them home.  Of course my first instinct was to do some research and I learned they are majolica monk pieces and their value online appears to be at least twice what I paid–perhaps more.  (So a big shout out to Second Glance pricing!) This pottery style is quite popular and I can see why.  I think I have a new obsession and I have Second Glance to thank for it. And GMG Jimmy is REALLY happy to have new brick-a-brack around!!