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Salem Holiday Window Contest Has Invitation for You

Contests, History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News No Responses »

Dec 052015

Holiday window from 2013. What will you find this year?

Picture taking is an activity that so many more people do these days, especially on their cell phones, that we have added another dimension to our annual Holiday Window Contest which encourages Salem merchants to decorate their storefront windows with images of the season.

Now everyone wins during the Holiday Window Contest! Share YOUR pictures of your favorite holiday windows on Instagram or on our Facebook page with ‪#‎salemholidaywindows‬ – we’ll pick 5 winners between today and Christmas to get a small prize from a local business! (Hint: your chances improve if it’s a window that’s officially competing!).

Holiday Window Participants

Cabot Wealth Management – 216 Essex Street
CinemaSalem – Museum Place Mall
Coon’s Card & Gift Shop / Penelope’s Pet Boutique – 226 Essex Street
The Coven’s Cottage – 190 Essex Street
Derby Joe – 142 Derby Street
Flying Saucer Pizza Company – 118 Washington Street
For Kids Only Afterschool – 194 Essex Street
Fringe Salon – 73 Wharf Street
Gulu Gulu Café – 247 Essex Street
The Happy Sunflower – 78 Wharf Street
Hedrington’s – 61 Wharf Street
The House of Seven Gables – 115 Derby Street
J. Mode – 17 Front Street
Kan.del –Museum Place Mall
Laura Lanes Skin Care – 242 Essex Street
LightShed Photography – 79 Washington Street
Melita Fiore – 83 Washington Street
Modern Millie Vintage & Consignments – 3 Central Street
The New England Dog Biscuit Company – 7 Central Street
Opus – 87 Washington Street
Pamplemousse – 185-189 Essex Street
Re-find – 72 Washington Street
Re-find Men’s – 244 Essex Street
RJ Coins & Jewelry – 68 Wharf Street
Roost & Company – 40 Front Street
Rouge Cosmetics – 322 Derby Street
Salem Arts Association – 179 Essex St
Salem Collective of Artists & Musicians – 179 Essex St
Salemdipity – 86 Wharf Street
Silver Moon Comics & Collectibles–Museum Place Mall
Tibet Arts & Healing – 230 Essex Street
Trolley Depot – 191 Essex Street
Turtle Alley Chocolates – 177 Essex Street
Village Silversmith – 186 Essex Street
Witch City Consignment & Thrift – 301 Essex Street
Witch Tee’s –173 Essex Street

From a downtown holiday tree in Lappin Park to evergreen wreaths with candy cane lamp posts, Salem is dressed for the season and welcomes you. Come, take part in our window contest as you do your holiday shopping.

Salem Literary Festival, a Writer’s Resource

Contests, History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, Uncategorized No Responses »

Nov 122015

You don’t write because you want to say something… you write because you have something to say —F. Scott Fitzgerald

So many, many people have had such a great deal to “say” over the years that a regular gathering of writers and readers was inevitable to share and discuss those thoughts put to words. These gatherings are called Literary Festivals and Salem has its own taking place right now, Nov. 12-18.

Among the highlights of this year’s Salem Literary Festival will be guest lecturers Frank Bidart, Stacy Schiff and Brunonia Barry, plus a full day of activities for writers that features an open mic session, a scavenger hunt and playwriting advice from the creators of the critically acclaimed local mainstay Cry Innocent.

11/12/15 – Frank Bidart
Kick off the festival at the Salem State Writer’s Series with a reading from poet Frank Bidart whose first books, Golden State and The Book of the Body, gained critical attention and praise. His reputation as a poet of uncompromising originality was made with The Sacrifice, published in 1983. The 2007 recipient of the Bollingen Prize for Poetry, he teaches English at Wellesley College.

(Time: 7:30pm at Salem State University, Martin Luther King Room, Ellison Campus Center. Admission is free of charge.)

11/13/15 – Stacy Schiff
Join Pulitzer Prize winning author Stacy Schiff for the keynote address and presentation of her new historical work, The Witches, Salem 1692 which she researched at Peabody Essex Museum’s Phillips Library. Schiff is the author of Véra (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov), winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Saint-Exupéry, Pulitzer Prize finalist; A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America, winner of the George Washington Book Prize. Named a 2011 Library Lion by the New York Public Library, she lives in New York City.

(Time: 7pm at Peabody Essex Museum, East India Marine Hall. Admission: PEM Members $7; nonmembers $10. Reservations must be made by November 12. For more info go to http://pem.org/calendar/ or call 978-542-1511.)

11/14/15 – A Day For Writers
Nestle into the beautiful Salem Athenaeum for the day. It will begin by bringing you prompt sessions to wake up your writer’s brain. Choose your guide from among fantastic local writers, such as Jaffa award-winning poet Danielle Jones-Pruett or Audrey Mardavich. Keep the creativity flowing with panels on writing adolescent characters for adults, YA, sci fi / fantasy, and poetry.

Learn how to start and run a literary magazine with The Critical Flame and Buck Off Magazine, and gain insights to the page-to-stage process of playwriting with Mark and Kristina Stevick, creators of the Salem theatrical institution, Cry Innocent.

Share your own work at the afternoon open mic, investigate Salem’s literary history and hidden gems as part of an ongoing scavenger hunt, and stay for a Movietelling Reading where fresh young poets will read their own versions of the script over such favorites as Disney’s Cinderella and Return to Oz.

(Time: 10am – 1pm and 2:30pm – 6pm at Salem Athenaeum. Admission is free of charge.)

11/18/15, Brunonia Barry
End the Salem Literary Festival by attending the last of the “Seven Lectures at Seven Gables” series with New York Times bestselling author (The Lace Reader) Brunonia Barry who will lecture on her book, The Map of True Places. Set in Boston and Salem, this well-crafted novel has been described as immersive and beautifully written as it explores finding one’s true place in the world.

Barry was the first American author to win the International Women’s Fiction Festival’s Baccante Award and was a past recipient of Ragdale Artists’ Colony’s Strnad Invitational Fellowship as well as the winner of New England Book Festival’s award for Best Fiction.

(Time: 6pm at House of Seven Gables. Admission: House of the Seven Gables members are free; Non-Members pay $7. For more info email groups@7gables.org, or call 978-744-0991 ext. 104.

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed – Ernest Hemingway

Come to the Salem Literary Festival where you will meet those who have achieved success as writers and mingle with those (such as yourself?) thirsting for that success.

Quality, Creativity, Customer Service – Nikky Bergman Jewelry at Artists’ Row

Salem Event, Salem Shopping 1 Response »

Oct 182015

Jewelry, like clothing, can be a way to distinguish yourself from others or to identify with others, but the owner, designer, maker, craftsperson, salesperson and marketing director of Nikky Bergman Jewelry at Artists’ Row in Salem MA feels “it can be an even more precious and personal thing.”

Nikky Bergman explains, “I am able to work one on one with clients to design and hand-make a piece of jewelry that they can’t find anywhere else! Because I am the one making every piece, I am able to truly customize designs. I also come at the jewelry discipline from an artist’s perspective, so the jewelry I make is far less traditional. This is a really relaxed environment, which is great if you have never had anything custom made before. You will not find any high pressure sales here.”

Bergman started as a metalsmith in 2001 using the techniques learned in art school (BFA in 2004 from the Massachusetts College of Art & Design and MFA in 2008 from SUNY New Paltz) to make fine-art-one-of-a-kind semi-wearable pieces.

She adds, “I loved — and still do — the art form because of its specific relationship to the body and the associations that come with wearing something. It is so rich! Now, talk about wedding & engagement rings and you add so much more meaning!”

“It is so rewarding for me to work with clients who are getting married— this is a special time in their lives. It is really neat to be part of their wedding process and make such a meaningful and lasting part of it!”

She is also excited to be included in the incubation process at Artists’ Row.

Bergman says “Artists’ Row gave me the opportunity to pursue my business full-time. I have been in business since 2011, but this is the first year I am able to devote completely to it and it has been so much fun and so rewarding!”

She continues, “It is the perfect combination of a retail venue and studio workspace for me. It is so lovely to be able to showcase what I make and show people how it’s made in the same space. It uses my time wisely, too. I can help a customer one minute and work on a new piece of jewelry the next! I think everyone on Artists’ Row is using the space as a small business, creative incubator. I know I am! I don’t know of another place like this and am so grateful to be a part of it!”

She shares her building space with candlemaker Liz Frasier the proprietress of Witch City Wicks and Bridget Alexander of The Pack Paper Company.

“Our customers benefit in that they get the latest and greatest from all of us,” Bergman explains. “I know when Liz introduces a new fragrance or I make a new design, we show it in our shop first! And we are here everyday to meet our customers, get input from them, answer questions, give them insights into how something is made.”

In fact, on Thursdays during the farmers market, she offered free fun kids activities, occasional workshops and hosted a series of visiting jewelers.

“It’s so wonderful to meet the person who made what you are buying! You realize you are truly supporting someone!”

Nikky Bergman Jewelry at Artists’ Row is located at 24 New Derby Street, Salem. For info go to www.nikkybergman.com or call 401-524-2412.

Nevermore? Not So. Poe Returns to Salem

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Oct 152015

Why didn’t someone think of this before? Transporting noted master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe and his chilling stories to Salem for an interactive event during Haunted Happenings. Makes perfect sense! Actually we did, or rather The Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery did last year and has opted for a return engagement Oct. 17.

Rebecca DeVries of Scarlet Letter Press reveals, “So many folks enjoyed the show that I was asked to repeat it this year. I actually booked the actor at the conclusion of last year’s event because it was so well received.”

The Scarlet Letter Press was participating in a national month of recognition to support the city of Boston’s installation of its life-sized Poe bronze in Oct. 2014. The Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston had sought to honor Poe in the city where he was born on January 19, 1809.  The installation was in Poe Square (intersection of Boylston Street and Charles Street South) which had been dedicated to the author in 2009.

“This year we are hosting two smaller seatings (5:45pm and 7:45pm) at the event room in Wynott’s Wands retail store on Essex Street in Salem,” she explains.

Campbell Harmon returns as Mr. Poe to perform dramatic readings of The Raven and A Tell-Tale Heart. The latter of which was reported to have been based upon a true tale of horror from Salem’s past– and little to do with witchcraft.

Last year’s presentation garnered rave reviews.

Rebecca says “The audience was inspired by the actor’s large wealth of Poe knowledge in addition to his theatrical story telling abilities. He spent a good portion of the after show last year discussing the mysterious circumstances of Poe’s death and gave perhaps the best theory I have heard to date. The audience was thrilled to participate with their own theories!”

Also note that Scarlet Letter Press & Gallery is offering a $5 online coupon code which makes tickets only $20 each. Code is: OCT15.

For more info or tickets go to TSLPress.com or call 978-741-1850.

Boston Woodturning Gallery: Wood is Good, in Artists’ Row Neighborhood

Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Shopping No Responses »

Oct 112015

Can you better appreciate the creation of a piece of art when you understand the process, the time invested, the devotion behind it, as well as the artist’s vision? That is the goal for Tommy Gagnon of Salem-based Boston Woodturning Gallery, located on Artists’ Row.

“What sets my gallery’s content apart from others is the medium itself, ‘woodturning’ was rarely shown as an art form until the recent exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum called Audacious. The PEM did a fantastic job of showcasing woodturning as an art form, opening the public’s eyes to the possibilities,”states Gagnon.

Woodturning is conceived using a lathe and varies from most other forms of woodworking in that the wood is moving. The lathe is stationary to give support to the piece wood that’s turning at a high rotation per minute (RPM); wood turners then use various chisels to carve out the designs in the wood, somewhat like sculpting but faster. This in turn leads to diverse shapes & designs.

Gagnon continues, “One of my goals is to further these efforts showcasing the art of woodturning by uniquely offering the public a woodturning gallery and working studio that the public can watch a practical commissioned piece being made or an artistic creation.”

The piece in left is the other half of the log on right made from maple

Piece on left is other half of log on right, made from maple

Additionally, he adds “wood is the main theme in the Boston Woodturning Gallery so that there is room for many other wood-themed creations, keeping the gallery fresh with new woodturning weekly as well as incorporating other local artisans work in the gallery in a complimentary way.”

Speaking of other artisans, why is Gagnon among the current crop staking a claim to physical space on Artists’ Row?

He explains, “The rich history and sense of community are unique to this venue. There is an unwavering support for the arts on the Row. It is one of those ‘grassroots’ historical Salem community spaces that has always supported the growing of artists. I selected this place because of my familiarity of the area, my connection to Salem as an artist and the opportunity to show my artwork/medium to the public.”

It’s quite possible that his is one of the few woodturning galleries & open studios on the North Shore that has presented the craft in such a way to the public.

And not just to adults.

Every Thursday, Boston Woodturning offers activities for families and kids to enjoy during the weekly Farmers’ Market. These include games that educate kids about wood, uses of wood, recycling/ up cycling, guessing the type of wood, guessing what shavings the wood is from, as well as introducing information by sight, smell, and touch. Gagnon also offers demonstrations during that 3-6pm time frame.

“There is something about wood in its finished form that whispers softly its artistic natural beauty,” reflects Gagnon.

You can visit his store website to explore the extensive photo collection of woodturning as well as general woodworking, paintings and sculptures. Or just carve time in your day to go to the Boston Woodturning Gallery which is located at 24 New Derby St., Salem MA. Hours are Tuesday – Sunday 11-6pm and on Thursday 11-7pm.

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