culture

A Librarian Falls for Niagara Falls: Travel Presentation at the Sawyer Free

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join the Sawyer Free Library Assistant Director Lisa Ryan on Thursday, August 8 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm for an engaging presentation on Niagara Falls feature breathtaking photos and videos captured throughout the seasons. Explore this majestic natural wonder’s formation, cultural impact, hydroelectric development, and ecological considerations. For fun, Lisa will also delve into tales of famous daredevils and offer travel tips.

The presentation will take place at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in Downtown Gloucester. Open to all to attend. No registration needed. If you have questions, email Lisa at lryan@sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

Culture Splash at the Sawyer Free Library – Thursday evenings

~ Sawyer Free Library

To celebrate Discover Gloucester’s Culture Splash, the Sawyer Free Library will be giving away goodies related to all things arts and culture, including a poetry 101 kit, paint your own birdhouse, DIY diamond art coasters, and more! Giveaways are for 18+ participants and are first come, first serve. Limited quantities.

Every Thursday starting July 11 through the end of August | 4-7pm | Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in Downtown Gloucester.

For more information visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or contact: lsvensson@sawyerfreelibrary.org

An Afternoon with “The Color of Light” – this Saturday at the Sawyer Free Library

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join Heather Atwood as she presents her video series “The Color of Light” on Saturday, January 6, 2024 at 2 pm at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester.

Cape Ann’s past and present swells with important artists who have responded both to history’s artistic movements and to this region’s specific inspiration.  Many of these artists’ works are represented in museums and collections around the world, but history has dimmed our awareness of them.  “The Color of Light” is a series of videos telling the lives and exploring the works of many of these artists, making certain their influence and significance on Cape Ann endures.

Artists have been coming to Cape Ann for over 200 years, inspired by its alchemical mix of rock, sea, and air. In “The Color of Light,” Atwood tells the stories of some of Cape Ann’s most talented artists, some of whose influence has been at the national level but about whom little is known. By sharing these stories, Atwood seeks to demonstrate how rich and significant the Cape Ann artistic tradition has been and continues today.

Join us Saturday, January 6 from 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. at the Sawyer Free Library at 21 Main Street. The free event is open to all to attend. No registration is needed. For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or 978-325-5500.

Sawyer Free Library Kicks Off 2023 Annual Appeal “Create the Future” to fund critical programming, resources and services

~ Sawyer Free Library

The SAWYER FREE LIBRARY has kicked off its 2023 Annual Appeal campaign, “Create the Future.”

Operating in its temporary location at 21 Main Street in downtown Gloucester, the Sawyer Free Library is a vibrant hub where the future comes alive through education and cultural enrichment and where knowledge is accessible to all, free of charge. From early literacy programs nurturing the youngest minds to cutting-edge STEM after-school programming for students to assisting digital learners in finding their way in the online world to a plethora of local community events for every age, the Library plays an integral role in shaping Gloucester’s educational, cultural, and social fabric.

The Sawyer Free Library relies on this important yearly fundraising effort to provide a wide range of new collections and resources, technology, innovative programming, and critical services to respond to the changing needs of the greater Gloucester community.

“The Library enriches, informs, and strengthens every corner of our city,” said Mern Sibley, President of the Library’s Board of Trustees. “We hope the community will carefully consider our appeal and join us in supporting the vital work of the Sawyer Free Library. Every contribution ensures that the Library can be exceptionally agile, relevant, and inventive while remaining completely accessible and free of charge.

“We provide library services that make a significant difference in the lives of our patrons and our community,” said Sawyer Free Library’s Director Jenny Benedict. “Every contribution to the Annual Appeal is a direct investment in the Library’s meaningful programming, diverse resources, and crucial services that create opportunities for individuals of all ages to connect, learn, grow and thrive throughout Gloucester and beyond.”

Contributions to the year-end Annual Appeal can be made online at www.sawyerfreelibrary.org or by check to the Sawyer Free Library, Annual Appeal, P.O. Box 415, Gloucester, MA 01930.

Cape Ann Museum and the Sawyer Free Library present an Afternoon of Painting and Poetry this Saturday!

~ Sawyer Free Library

Join the Cape Ann Museum and the Sawyer Free Library this Saturday, April 2nd for an afternoon of painting and poetry.

At 1:00 pm, Patrick Doud will give a presentation at the Cape Ann Museum at its Downtown Campus, located at 27 Pleasant Street, in conjunction with Cape Ann Modern on the paintings of Thorpe Feidt.

Created over more than half a century to date, Thorpe Feidt’s vast, unified body of work is discussed by poet and novelist Patrick Doud. Drawing on multivalent influences including poetry, jazz, fiction and alchemical intuition/lore, Feidt’s praxis results in numinously powerful paintings in which oppositional forces birth new energies. 

Then at 2:30 pm, head to Sawyer Free Library, located at 2 Dale Avenue, for an afternoon of readings by local poets Nadine Boughton, the author of the recently self-published book “In the Lap of the Night,” Jay Featherstone, the author of “Glass,” and Jim Dunn to celebrate the start of National Poetry Month.

For more information, visit sawyerfreelibrary.org or call 978-325-5500.

Cape Ann Museum launches “Virtual Vault” lecture series and more stay-at-home activities during temporary closure

~ laurenren

Cape Ann Museum Logo

Virtual programming from the Museum’s exhibition lectures, educational programs, and archives offers at-home opportunities during closing for COVID-19

Cape Ann Museum Video Vault

GLOUCESTER, MASS. (May 20, 2020) – Although the Cape Ann Museum is closed temporarily during the pandemic to protect staff and visitors, there are many rich opportunities to experience the Museum virtually with a new initiative called CAM Video Vault, which features 60 lectures, programs, and archival material dating back to 1992.

The wide range of offerings include exhibition and program lectures by curators, artists, community leaders, educators, and others. Featuring discussions about past museum exhibitions, well-known artists with Cape Ann roots, natural environments and habitats around Cape Ann, as well as the region’s maritime history all 60 programs are accessible via the Museum’s website.

To help at-home educators and parents looking for a variety of online resources for their children, the Museum is also adding educational content from its robust programs, using art and the region’s history as the basis for art-making activities, reading adventures, and virtual tours and experiences. From the Museum archives and library, there is also now online content called “Stories from the Stacks.”

For more information about the exhibition and related programming, please visit the Museum’s website www.capeannmuseum.org.

The Cape Ann Museum has been in existence since the 1870s, working to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore welcoming more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, three historic homes, a Library & Archives and a sculpture park in the heart of downtown Gloucester. In June 2021, the Museum will open a new 12,000-square-foot collection storage and public exhibition space in Gloucester as part of its Cape Ann Museum Green campus. The campus includes three historic buildings – the White Ellery House (1710), an adjacent Barn (c. 1740), and the recently acquired Babson-Alling House (c.1740) which are located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.  Visit capeannmuseum.org for details.

The Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. While temporarily closed due the COVID-19 pandemic, regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sundays from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is $12.00 adults, $10.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (under 18) and Museum members are free. Cape Ann residents can visit for free on the second Saturday of each month.  For more information please call: (978)283-0455 x10. Additional information can be found online at www.capeannmuseum.org.

For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press.