Uncategorized

This Weekend: Stamp Out Hunger Cape Ann & Ipswich!

~ todtheopendoor

Donate food without having to leave your front yard this weekend through Stamp Out Hunger!

If you live in Gloucester, Ipswich, Manchester-by-the-Sea, or Rockport, you can help put food on the table for people in your community by leaving a bag of food donations by your mailbox on the morning of SATURDAY MAY 14. Donations will be transported to The Open Door by your local letter carrier.

Stamp Out Hunger is an annual Food Drive organized by the National Association of Letter Carriers.

Most needed items include: coffee, condiments, cooking oil, peanut butter, and tuna.

Please, no glass containers!

“Stamp Out Hunger is a unique opportunity for members of the community to make a food donation, without having to leave their front yard. It’s traditionally a hugely successful food drive for us, and it’s all possible because our local letter carriers are willing to go the extra mile to put food on the table for others,” President and CEO Julie LaFontaine said. “We’re deeply thankful to partner with them on this event and for their dedication to alleviating the impact of hunger locally.”

The Open Door is also seeking volunteers to sort donations on Saturday, and those interested in volunteering may email volunteer@foodpantry.org.

“This is the largest single day food drive in the United States,” said Bruce Johnson, a retired Gloucester letter carrier who continues to help coordinate NALC Branch 25’s Stamp Out Hunger food drive on Cape Ann. “The timing is crucial because food pantries can face shortages in the spring and summer months after a long winter, and most school programs are not available in the summer. It’s a good time to fill the shelves at the food pantries.”

If you live outside the above communities, contact your local post office to learn if they are participating in Stamp Out Hunger.

More information about The Open Door is available at FOODPANTRY.org.

Seaside Garden Club Annual Auction

~ Dot Sieradzki

Tuesday, May 10 at the Manchester Community Center. Doors open at 6:30, auction starts at 7pm. We have many items, perennials, hanging baskets, gift certificates, garden paraphernalia. There’s something for everyone. Don’t miss it.

2018 auction

Virtual workshop: How to grow your own vegetables in containers

~ backyardgrowersgloucester

Learn how to grow your own fresh food in containers. This training is perfect for gardeners working with a small or unusual growing space – e.g. a driveway, porch, or sideyard. Program Manager Jess Reid will walk participants through how to plan, care for, and harvest from their vegetable container garden, with a special focus on growing in Backyard Growers’ GrowBags.

May 18, 6-7pm on Zoom

FREE admission to Backyard Growers Program Participants (e.g. 2022 Community Garden, Backyard Garden & GrowBag Garden) as well as Backyard Growers Community Consulting Clients

$15 General Admission

Register & purchase tickets.

Proceeds support Backyard Growers‘ work empowering people to grow their own food in schools, backyards, community gardens, and GrowBags.

WELLFEST: A GREATER CAPE ANN COMMUNITY WELLNESS FAIR IS IN TWO WEEKS!

~ oliviaperezodess

The Greater Cape Ann Chamber of Commerce’s Health and Wellness Group is proud to announce their first annual WellFest, a Greater Cape Ann Community Wellness Fair on Sunday, May 15 from 11am to 2pm at the Glen T. MacLeod Cape Ann YMCA.  WellFest is an event that will showcase the Cape Ann region’s broad range of health and wellness services. From yoga and massage to general health resources and youth development, this event will provide something for people of all ages. In collaboration with WellFest, the Red Cross will be conducting a blood drive from 10am to 3pm. 

The event is free, open to people of all ages, and will be easily accessible. Mark your calendars, and gather up your friends and family for a beautiful Spring Sunday at WellFest! A Greater Cape Ann Community Wellness Fair. To learn more about WellFest visit capeannchamber.com.

Not to miss GloCon’22 Workshops – this Saturday at the Sawyer Free Library!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Come check out Sawyer Free Library‘s first annual comic con event, Glo Con on Saturday, April 30 from 10am – 3pm! We’ve got artists, authors, crafts, workshops, cosplayers, snacks, a photo booth, MarioKart on the big screen, and other superhero/comics/graphic novel activities all fun for the whole family!  Visit: SawyerFreeLibrary.org for all the details!

Be sure to sign up ahead of time for these cool workshops:

10:00 – 11:30 a.m. Make Your Own Comics! Come have fun while drawing your own comics! In this workshop, students will play silly drawing games, generate ideas for their own characters, and start to write their own comic book stories. All levels of experience are welcome! The workshop is run by Cathy G. Johnson, Providence-based writer and artist of the graphic novel The Breakaways. REGISTER HERE.

10:30 a.m. – Storytime: We Dig Worms – Young children and their families can enjoy a fun science-filled story time with author and illustrator Kevin McCloskey. No registration needed.

11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Cartooning Workshop with Mark Parisi Recommended for grades 2-7, but all ages will enjoy this fun event with Marty Pants author Mark Parisi. There will be lots of funny cartoons, live drawing, writing and drawing tips and an author Q & A.

Mark is a Gloucester native and the cartoonist behind the comic panel Off the Mark, which is syndicated nationally and appears in The Gloucester Times. He has also authored and illustrated humorous middle-grade books. Mark will be signing books after his presentation.  No Registration Needed.

1:00-3:00 p.m. LightSaber Training – Dabble in the Dark Side or learn how to fight it with the 501st Legion! No Registration Needed.

2:00 – 3:30 p.m. Your Story Matters – Explore storytelling through writing and drawing exercises with Leela Corman, the Providence-based, award-winning artist, cartoonist, and author of the graphic novel Unterzakhn. This program is best for teens and adults.  REGISTER HERE

And that is just the start! From MarioKart, oversized Mad Libs, and a Pokemon Scavenger Hunt to cool crafts, fantastical prizes, graphic novels, and comic books, it will be a day filled with fun activities for all ages to discover.

The Sawyer Free Library is located at 2 Dale Avenue in Gloucester. All Glo Con 2022 presentations and activities are free and open to the public. To register or for more event information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.  


Celebrating Wellspring’s 40 Years of Supporting Families with “Voices of Belonging, Immigration Stories in Light & Sound” public art event

~ madelinegamlen

Artist Stephanie Benenson’s Harbor Voices Public Art creates immersive family-friendly sound and light experience: May 6 & 7

For 40 years, Wellspring has supported hundreds of families from all ethnic backgrounds and walks of life achieve employment and financial security through stable housing, education, job training and career readiness. To mark its four-decade anniversary, the Cape Ann-based nonprofit organization is hosting “Voices of Belonging: Immigration Stories in Light & Sound” to bring the stories and sentiments of immigrant families alive with music, spoken word, and laser lighting for a captivating, participatory immersive experience.

Inspired by collective storytelling and powerful personal histories, Stephanie Terelak Benenson, a sound, light, and social impact artist, founded Harbor Voices Public Art  Art in 2017. Her laser and sound installations feature more than 100 global stories of recent and ancestral immigrants to Cape Ann, ages 6 to 86, as choreographed lasers immerse you in a multilingual sound & light public art experience. 

The works celebrate empathy, cultural identity, diversity, inclusivity, and resilience from the past to the present. The stories and experience then become a vehicle for social change. Her installations have been shared in Lynn, Worcester, Boston, Gloucester, Salem, and New York City.

The “Voices of Belonging” Friday Night Opening Party will be May 6 from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $100 and can be purchased online. On Saturday, May 7, “Voices of Belonging” will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. to the community at no charge for the family-friendly, all-are-welcome event. Free, timed tickets are strongly encouraged but walkups will be accommodated.

Floral Arrangements Paired with Artwork, on Display at Cape Ann Museum

~ madelinegamlen

Cape Ann Blossoms brings together 20 floral designers to create arrangements that are paired with artworks, on view Sat. May 14 & Sun. May 15, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

To celebrate the beginning of spring, 20 North Shore and Cape Ann floral designers will create eye-catching, beautiful arrangements that will be paired with art works around Cape Ann Museum as part of the popular Cape Ann Blossoms event on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Cape Ann Blossoms will open with a ticketed Gala preview party on Friday, May 13 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. The party will include hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, and a chance to have the first view of the inspired floral compositions located throughout the Museum. Tickets are available online at capeannblossomspreviewparty.eventbrite.com. Free guided tours will be offered on Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with Museum admission. Space is limited and is first-come, first-served.

The show also dovetails with Judi Rotenberg’s exhibition at the Museum, featuring large-scale paintings, many of them colorful, grand floral designs. Among the artists in the Museum collection who will be paired with local floral designers are: Walker Hancock, Virginia Lee Burton, Umberto Romano, John Sloan, Frank Stella, Fitz Henry Lane, and others.

Among the designers and garden clubs participating will be: All Purpose Flowers, Audrey’s Flower Shop, Backyard Growers, Cape Ann Garden Club, Celia’s Flower Studio, Danvers Garden Club, Generous Gardeners, Glass Onion Floral Design, Ipswich Garden Club, Maia Mattson, Manchester Garden Club, Melon Rose, Meredith McCarthy Floral Design and Event Styling, Rockport Garden Club, Sage Floral Studio, Two Finches, and Vidalia’s, Leslie Pope & Mary Ethel Stuck, and Rumphius Flowers.

Tickets for the Cape Ann Museum can be purchased here: https://www.capeannmuseum.org/visit/hours-and-admission/

Vibrant contemporary work by Judi Rotenberg, well-known Cape Ann painter and gallery owner

~ madelinegamlen

Large-scape paintings on view: April 30 to July 3, 2022

In time for spring, the Cape Ann Museum will proudly host an exhibit of the vibrant, large scale works of Judi Rotenberg. Life-long Rockport summer resident and highly-respected gallery owner, Rotenberg has spent 40 years creating vivid, colorful floral still life paintings that capture the fragility and strength of life. Her works will be on view from April 30 to July 3 at the Museum at 27 Pleasant St., in Gloucester.

Working primarily in acrylic, Rotenberg’s recent paintings are unabashedly beautiful, alive with color and motion.  Each composition is vibrant and fresh and represents a new challenge for her. Her canvases are rich in detail, from the foreground and the table on which a vase and bouquet sit, through the center of the canvas with its explosion of blossoms, to the top of the composition where she often includes the view across her studio or out over Rockport Harbor.     

The tradition of women artists working on Cape Ann is a strong one and through her work Rotenberg has earned a place among the most accomplished of them.  Although long overshadowed by their male counterparts, women have consistently made important contributions in the field and continue to today. Many women painters have focused on still lifes, perhaps most notably Nell Blaine, but none have endowed their work with the color and power that Rotenberg has.

In connection with this special exhibition, the Cape Ann Museum is pleased to be presenting an encore of its 2019 program, Cape Ann Blossoms, May 14 and 15. Gallery talks are also planned and information on them can be found at www.capeannmuseum.org.

Tickets for the Cape Ann Museum can be purchased here: https://www.capeannmuseum.org/visit/hours-and-admission/