Tag: walking tours

rocky neck art colony walking tours october 2021 #gloucesterma

Posted on by Catherine

Courtney Richardson shares news from Rocky Neck Art Colony:

New Spin on Walking Tour of Rocky Neck Art Colony

Location: Tours meet in parking lot at entrance to Rocky Neck

Dates: October 2021- 9, 23 & 24

Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rocky-neck-art-colony-walking-tour-tickets-182611825887

Explore Rocky Neck Art Colony with a guided tour of the neighborhood focusing on earliest residents, fishermen, artists and more!

The Rocky Neck Art Colony is pleased to offer guided walking tours of the neighborhood on Saturday, October 9, 2021 at 1 PM; Saturday, October 23 at 1 PM and Sunday October 24 at 10:30 AM. These tours are free for RNAC members or $10 for nonmembers. Tickets can be reserved at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/rocky-neck-art-colony-walking-tour-tickets-182611825887

In appreciation of the unique continuum that is Rocky Neck today, the walking tour showcases both the rich history of Rocky Neck and the contributions and achievements of the present community. Building on the original Rocky Neck Historic Art Trail (https://trail.rockyneckartcolony.org/), the tour takes visitors on a journey from the time of Native Americans to today. The path includes many of the diverse subjects that have enriched today’s community: Native Americans, fishermen, industry, ships, tourism, transportation, celebrations, education, entertainment, and ,of course, the artists. The tour is informative and enjoyable for both guides and visitors. Tours begin at the Rocky Neck Parking Lot, end at the Cultural Center, last 1 to 1.5 hours and are limited to 10 people. Participants are encouraged to park in the parking lot located at the entrance to Rocky Neck.  Comfortable shoes are encouraged. Be prepared to walk on uneven terrain. Water is available. Free for RNAC members; $10 nonmembers. For more information email rnac.director@gmail.com or call 978-515-7004.

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.

Image credit: Edward Hopper (American, 1882-1967). The Mansard Roof, 1923. Watercolor over graphite on paper, 13 7/8 x 20 in. (35.2 x 50.8 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Museum Collection Fund, 23.100. © artist or artist’s estate (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, 23.100_SL1.jpg).

Boston Globe good news – art critic weighs in on Cape Ann Museum walking tours and #GloucesterMA planning

Posted on by Catherine

Boston Globe “Walking Through History With Some of History’s Greatest Artists” by Murray Whyte published 2/9/2021

“Gloucester’s rich history feels carved into the very stone that lines its harbors, and the Cape Ann Museum has done well to seize on all of those elements this winter to craft a series of walking tours that fix the town firmly with its cultural heritage.”

Murray Whyte for Boston Globe on Cape Ann Museum winter walking tours, 2/9/2021

“…an around-town stroll to the many houses and scenes painted by Edward Hopper on his five extended painting journeys here. They’re captivating, and in one case, crushing: The spectacular mansard-roofed captain’s house perched high on a Rocky Neck cliff that Hopper painted in 1924 now shares its view of Gloucester Harbor with a sprawling McMansion next door whose aesthetic might best be described as haute Florida strip mall.”

Register for Cape Ann Museum upcoming walks like Feb. 20 (Spiritual history) and Feb. 27 (Edward Hopper) HERE

Happy to see the Cape Ann Museum guided walking tours featured!

Not to worry! The historic house on Clarendon is gorgeous. Edward Hopper customized his take on Gloucester vistas, as did artists before him.

Here is the Gardner Wonson home (built circa 1873) in horse and buggy days, a scene cropped for commercial keepsake photographs published by the Procter Brothers who were flying high in the 1870s [collection New York Public Library].

This home was an architectural attraction Hopper may have seen before he stepped foot off the train for his first visit to Gloucester.

In 1846 entrepreneurial publishing dynamos and developers, brothers Francis with George H. Procter, set up a book and printing shop. By 1850 they moved to Main Street. As the business grew, their news dispatch morphed from “Procter’s Able Sheet” to “Gloucester Advertiser” to “Cape Ann Advertiser”, and then in 1888 to “Gloucester Daily Times”. By 1892 the printing press for the newspaper branch alone could churn out 4000 papers, eight pages long, every hour (see Pringle). Any small business operating for decades and successive generations will suffer its share of adversity. Procter Brothers was leveled not once but twice by fire, and rebuilt. They published or were the go to printers for all manner of media: books, periodicals, photographs, lithographs, even a circulating library from their headquarters in 1874; building back and then some after that 2nd conflagration. The Wonson home was featured in a tourist photograph series, “Cape Ann Scenery”.