Toodeloos! and Island Art and Hobby at 142 Main Street is year round fun. They’ve consolidated two long standing creative and well curated independent local stores together into one space: both a fabulous local toy store and a professional art supply shop.
Toodeloos! is between the Birdseye and Winslow Homer HarborWalk story moment markers, and a short jaunt to the summer cinema at I4C2.
gentleman reading the Winslow Homer plaque on the HarborWalk trail today, Gloucester MAJames Owen Calderwood and Cape Ann Art Haven murals are such a great pass through on Parsons between Main and Rogers (across the street from Toodeloos!)
And from the HarborWalk marker at St. Peter’s park, it’s easy to check out the new murals by Danny Diamond at Cape Ann Brewery 11 Rogers Street!
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Two great upcoming events to attend or be part of! Beauport Hotel will also be announcing the winners to their customer photo contest (deadline was yesterday) celebrating 10,000 likes on Facebook, an accomplishment reached in their first year!
ARTISTS: If you’re an artist from the Cape Ann looking to sell your paintings, this is a great opportunity to showcase your work! Interested? Pre-register by the end of day on August 15 by calling the Beauport Boutique at 978.282.0008 ext. 4. Up to five paintings may be submitted, and artists must bring their own easels.
This is a great opportunity to mingle, browse, and directly support your local artists. We look forward to hosting what we hope will become a regular event!
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June 17, 2017 stage review — preparation continues.
(and how it looked June 8, 2017)
St. Peter’s Fiesta 2017 poster with traditions and…Ravioli eating contest! Cape Ann Big Band! The volunteers are so amazing and on top of things; see next year’s dates printed along the bottom margin of the poster.
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We celebrate local culture, food and business daily in historic Gloucester.
That’s why GMG has a year round arts and events calendar, and another just for music. What if we decided upon the Same Saturdays once a month to call out some extra attention or add into special plans in the works? Gloucester Saturdays could be as simple as: Participants would be invited to submit events ahead of time– pretty much along the lines of how everyone programs already. Restaurants. Shops. Galleries. Museums. Everybody. This recurring day would give some more time for people to plan ahead or work together. It doesn’t have to be rigid. It could encompass folks who want to open early (Lee’s!) or stay extra late (Short and Main Tiki bar!) We’re lucky to have a mix of operational styles.
But which Saturday? cue unofficial GMG poll (poll closes in less than a week)
Double check the recurring annual events page to see if any of yours are missing. Some month for a Gloucester Literary Festival has been requested for years. January and February may be good months to consider.
Here’s more about the Saturday option from Gloucester’s downtown Harbortown cultural district and other downtown news:
“what do you think? There are numerous requests about downtown Gloucester committing to staying open late, ONE night each month, YEAR ROUND. The most recent request is from Jo Anne Chirico, owner of goodlinens, added into a list with suggestions back when the district was formed and in response to the first survey. The discussion also recently came up in the tourism commission. Lanesville, Annisquam, and Magnolia could be featured with their own night leading into that Saturday ( if not that Saturday.) If it were a Saturday, do you have a preference for First, 2nd, 3rd, or last Saturdays? Let us know.Boston has First Fridays. Plymouth, MA, offers “first Saturdays” as does Lowell (leans mostly arts related businesses). Hillsborough plans for Last Fridays (primarily art walks). Newburyport has special events and art walks 4 nights a year. Gloucester has the 3 block parties. Some towns that program around one night or series use a signifier to indicate which businesses participate (window cling/sticker/lights on/etc). Rockport has a great solution in using their lovely lanterns NIGHTLY in season, like so Each summer (June-September), enjoy Rockport at Night where galleries and shops keep their doors open from 4-8 pm. From Main St. to Bearskin Neck–the town’s merchants welcome you with hors d’oeuvres, wine, and beverages while you enjoy the renowned talents of this creative Art Colony (participating shops will have a lantern hanging outside)”
OPPORTUNITY FOR DISTRICT Forwarded from the Mayor: There is a $500 fall-winter festival grant from the MCC. St Peter’s Fiesta received one for this summer! Email possible suggestions by June 1. We’ll toss the list back out and decide together if there’s one to put forth as the district, or maybe there’s one that’s just right for a partner, as with St. Peter’s Fiesta.
From the MCC: Festivals Taking Place September 1, 2017 – February 28, 2018
Online application available: June 2017
Preliminary funding decisions begin: September 1, 2017
Application deadline: September 15, 2017 at 5 PM (ET)
Grants announced: October 2017 “Applications to the Festivals Program will be reviewed on a “first-received, first-reviewed” basis. Regional diversity will be taken into consideration as part of the application review process.”
Nutshell: It is hoped that the cultural district name will be shortened to Gloucester’s downtown cultural district, not Gloucester’s downtown Harbortown cultural district. Also, the footprint needs to be revised to reflect all downtown. We wanted both those things from the outset, and that is the feedback we continue to receive. Loud and Clear!
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Saturday May 6, 2017 is the official ribbon cutting re-opening of Stacy Boulevard by Mayor Romeo Theken. Thanks to the Mayor, Mike Hale and all Gloucester DPW, GZA, Essex County Landscape Assoc, Gloucester Community Preservation Act, Ann Giraldi Johnson, GFWA, Lieutenant Governor Karyn Polito, and groups like the Seaport Economic Council and Dir Carolyn Kirk, Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), Joe Lucido, Ed Parks, Mike Linquata, Donna Ardizzoni and One Hour at a Time Gang, Ringo Tarr, Bobbie Turner, YMCA and summer help, Wolf Hill, Generous Gardeners, and other volunteers!
Tulip Festival and bonnet parade Saturday 10AM
Ribbon Cutting 11:30AM
Party at Mile Marker Restaurant 6-10PM
Enjoy a closer look at the engineering and landscape plans for the expanded gardens and before/after comparisons.
Before April 2017 | After May 2017
Funding for future perennials funded in part by the Gloucester Community Preservation Act
CPA grant towards new gardens summary of design and details
PAPRIKA GRILL
185 Washington Street, Gloucester, MA
Featured Artist- Inaugural Exhibition Donna Ardizzoni
Photographs
May-July 2017
Featured in this post
Donna Ardizzoni Dories Gloucester Harbor
October 2015
Canvas, Cape Ann Giclee
16 x 20
Donna Ardizzoni Sun reflections on Kayaks
March 2017
Framed
11 x 17
About the artist: Donna Ardizzoni moved to Gloucester 13 years ago. “I have enjoyed every moment. After the move to Gloucester my family bought me a camera, which I have with me all the time. I have become a passionate photographer. Capturing the beauty of Gloucester and this city’s landscape, ocean and personality has been my desire and love.” You can see more of her photos on Good Morning Gloucester and at www.ardizzoniphotography.com.
Donna is a participating artist in the Spring Market Show at Magnolia Public Library on Sunday May 7.
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are just some of the featured and fitting design details coming into focus at Happy Belly, 3 Duncan Street, Gloucester, MA. The everyday casual restaurant will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. And small craft brew. And coffee. They’re roasting their own beans! What else? The floor’s been raised. A lengthy drink rail and counter stools gives one section a warm and chic soda-shop vibe. Nearby a massive antique metal lathe will be re-purposed into a showstopper pedestal table. The former Alchemy space is in its BEFORE stage as it undergoes a transformation by master builders, P Bevan Builders. They built Maggies Farm and other Serenitee Restaurant Group properties plus the recent renovation of the former Empire store.
photo caption (above): Peter Bevan, P. Bevan Builders, 617 356 7107
Happy Belly along with Minglewood Tavern and Latitude 43 brings the Serenitee restaurant count back up to 3 happy and popular eateries in Gloucester, MA, each with its own lively aesthetic and yummy grub.
Happy to see Happy Belly coming soon!
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Edward Hopper, Gloucester Houses, 1923, Whitney Museum of American Art, Josephine N Hopper bequest. You can match the boulders in Hopper’s drawing that the domiciles were built upon; Lee’s Breakfast Restaurant at the far right; and the stacked granite blocks to the left of #7.
I love stopping in to visit Maria and Nina at Caffe Sicilia anytime of the year, but especially during the holidays. The bakery was humming today, with their regular customers as well as regional and international travelers, and their refrigerator brimming over with special Easter orders. Folks are still purchasing raffle tickets for Caffe Sicilia’s giant chocolate egg to benefit children with autism. What a gorgeous day for shopping downtown Gloucester. Happy Easter and Happy Spring!
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Laura Tanguay is opening Phia Women’s Center at 242 Main Street, Gloucester, MA. Grand opening March 11, 12pm-5pm. She told me that Phia will provide “fun, energizing exercise classes along with meditation classes, massage, polarity, and support groups.” There will be loads of “activities for women such as day hikes, paint nights, craft parties, and ladies nights…Phia is for women from all walks of life, all ages, all body types, all backgrounds to come together, learn from each other, and be well.”
She also told me which translation for Phia has meaning for this new venture. Any guesses? Congratulations Laura and Phia!
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Plus a current Gloucester vintage store guide below the photographs
ADRIFT ON MAIN, 284 Main Street, Gloucester, MA (978) 515-7888
Adrift on Main, a new second-hand and collectibles destination, opened December 2016 on the east end of Main Street. Owners Ryan and Sarah Goyette reside in Byfield and chose Gloucester over their home town, Essex, and other north shore communities for their new store. Coaster sets are made by Sarah. Welcome to the neighborhood!
Gloucester MA vintage shopping guide
2016-17. Most are a mix of then and now objects, clothing, and collectibles; some with work by contemporary artists and artisans. Three mainstays:
Thanks to Janice Lufkin-Shea, Pauline Bresnahan, Hannah Morris, David Brooks Cape Ann Art Haven, Senator Tarr and others, Gloucester and its lobster trap tree and traditions have a place in the Massachusetts Senate President’s Office. Here are photos of Senator Bruce Tarr with Stan Rosenberg, the 93rd President of the Massachusetts Senate, in the Senate President’s Office. First two photos from inside the State House were from Senator Tarr.
David Brooks writes that he hopes the buoy will be a permanent ornament, “but I’m not sure how long it will last. Its made of a small plastic net buoy and plaster. We made it as an Art Haven team and tried to make it look like a kid did it so it fit the character of the tree.” Perhaps a bronze version may be commissioned from Cape Ann Art Haven one day.
There were special ornaments to discover on the tree in City Hall, too, in the rotunda outside the Office of the Mayor.
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The large white “X” — typically painted on a red background and placed on the front or roof of a building — serves as a clear warning for firefighters throughout the state that a building is unsafe. Also not Good for Downtown Businesses on Main Street.
Hi Joey- Cool interactive gateway this year on Cape Ann Art Haven lobster trap design! Great photo op for everybody.
If we ever have buoy overflow –or enough requests and funding– wouldn’t it be great to hang the buoys with the wreaths downtown? We used to have gold buoys with the wreaths.
The wreaths at the train station and along Railroad Avenue look wonderful this year with the new sidewalk.
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Funding for future perennials funded in part by the Gloucester Community Preservation Act
Good Morning Gloucester 