arts – Page 17 – Salem Main Streets

Slow Art Day— Time Well Spent at Salem’s PEM

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Workshops No Responses »

Apr 062015

Explore the Peabody Essex Museum as you possibly never have before— and be part of a global experience as PEM joins other museums & organizations world-wide in celebration of Slow Art Day, Saturday, April 11th.

Slow Art Day ? Yes, you are invited to “take your time” for a closer look at art. Too often “appreciation” of art is measured more by the moving strokes of your watch than the brush strokes of the artist. In other words, for this one day, the world is being asked to stop and smell the roses of fine art.

Championed by The New York Times’ art critic, Michael Kimmelman, Slow Art Day is part of a global, grassroots movement with a simple mission: help more people discover the joy of looking at and loving art.

PEM welcomes you to explore from 10 am -2 pm suggested works in the galleries at your own pace. It’s ok; spend as many minutes as you need. Choose your own favorite works, or join PEM for discussions in the galleries of three selected objects to explore, at 10:30 am, 11 am, and 11:30 am. Then, join fellow visitors for lunch in the Atrium at 1 pm to discuss what you saw and felt.

Yes, share your perceptions. Absorb what others saw from their points of view. An inanimate painting or sculpture will create some animated discussions.

This year’s program will be led by Rebecca Rohloff from the Art & Design Department at Salem State University.

Registration is required for this free event. The Peabody Essex Museum is located at East India Square (161 Essex St) Salem. For additional details, call 978-745-9500.

(Photo by Robyn Gesek/PEM)

Salem Arts Festival Fundraiser— Celebrate Our Growth!

Salem Dining, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

Apr 042015

A work of art is oft times a labor of love, so very true when it comes to the annual Salem Arts Festival. It takes time, planning, volunteers and your support to mount this fabulous popular free event which features over 60 artists and performers, and includes a variety of art, music, dance, and poetry performances. The Festival is set for June 5-7, 2015 and you are invited to join us for the Second Annual Salem Arts Festival Fundraiser this Thursday, April 9, 7:30-10:30 pm, for a night of local food, fashion, drink, dancing, and fun to support the Salem Arts Festival. Location will be at Old Town Hall at 32 Derby Square.

“The need for financial support is critical for the success of the festival, which doubled in size last year and welcomed over 5,000 attendees,” explains Kylie Sullivan, Manager of Salem Main Streets (SMS), the community non-profit organization which started the Festival. “We are committed to keeping the festival free and open to the public, but that means we need to raise some substantial funds.”

She adds, “Last year’s fundraiser was such an incredible party; it was the perfect way to introduce the renewed energy behind the Salem Arts Festival .”

We think this year’s fundraiser will kick off things on a high note as well.

The opening act will be Multiple Guys with Noise Machines, a group of teenage musicians that’s an offshoot of North Shore Jazz Project All Stars – – hooray for young musicians!

Party band, The Ward Eights will be returning again this year to get you on the dance floor.

Local boutiques will be participating in an onsite Fashion Show, including J. Mode, Ocean Chic Boutique, Addicted Fashions, The Boutique, and more! Make up will be provided by Rouge Cosmetics.

Food will be provided by The Lobster Shanty, Flying Saucer Pizza Company, the Hawthorne Hotel, Front Street Coffeehouse, and more to be announced soon.

The event will also include a number of great raffle prizes!

Tickets are $25 per person with a cash bar; proceeds directly benefit the Salem Arts Festival. Purchase by calling 978-744-0004 x15, visit 265 Essex Street (Salem MainStreets office), or go online.

The Salem Arts Festival is conducted as a collaboration of Salem Main Streets and a team of dedicated volunteers, including representatives from Creative Salem, Salem State University, the Peabody Essex Museum, and others.

The Salem Arts Festival is supported in part by a grant from the Salem Cultural Council, a local agency which is supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.

Last year this fundraising event sold out – so get your tickets early, get ready to dance and feel like a real patron of the arts!

(In fact, if you’re interested in sponsoring the Salem Arts Festival Find out more at http://salemartsfestival.com/sponsorship/ ).

(All pictures courtesy of Social Palates)

Music to Our Ears: City of Salem Jazz Appreciation Day

Salem Event, Salem Festivals No Responses »

Apr 012015

Providing talented students with an opportunity to perform musically at no cost to the public is the high note for the Salem Jazz & Soul Festival organization. And no where is that so obvious than during the City of Salem Jazz Appreciation Day, April 4 from 2-4 pm.

Performing this year will be the North Shore Jazz Project All Stars, a big band composed of the North Shore’s premier high school-aged jazz musicians, directed by professional saxophonist Mike Tucker.

Larry Claflin Jr., the festival’s executive director offers some extra insight, “The NSJP All Stars played our main festival last year, and the crowd was blown away by their talent, so we thought we’d invite them back to be featured at Jazz Appreciation Day.”

The event, which kicks off Jazz Appreciation month, is produced in partnership with the City of Salem. Salem Five, a major festival sponsor, has donated the performing space in the Salem Five Community Room at 210 Essex Street on the Walking Mall.

The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival is a nonprofit organization that produces free concerts and raises money to support music-education programs on Massachusetts’ North Shore. The season lasts May through August – when SJSF puts on monthly, free concerts in partnership with Berklee College of Music – and culminates in a two-day festival at the Salem Willows in mid-August, featuring local, regional and national bands.

The SJSF/Berklee Summer Series at Derby Square, Salem, with Berklee College of Music student bands, on May 9, June 13, July 11, and Aug. 8.
The Salem Jazz and Soul Festival, a two-day concert at the Salem Willows, with 10 bands, a music-education tent, kids tent, 21-plus beer garden and artisans selling hand-made goods, Aug. 15-16.

Since 2007, SJSF has raised $50,000 for music-education causes north of Boston.

Show your support for young musicians, and be entertained at the same time. A Salem Saturday well-spent, and at no cost!

For more info visit salemjazzsoul.org.

Twelfth Night Reaches Beyond The Stage

Salem Event No Responses »

Mar 312015

Community is a key element both on-stage and off in the current production of William Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night by the Salem Theatre. Running now through April 12th, it is a story of a community upended by a shipwreck and how those involved take to comedy and music to solve their dilemmas. And as a city almost entirely surrounded by the sea, Salem provides extra backdrop. But the Salem Theatre is also providing a community initiative: for every sold out performance (as last Saturday’s was) it will provide a performance to a local school, free of charge.

Who says Shakespeare can’t be relevant in the 21st century?

If you are not familiar with the play, it focuses on the hilarious and wild chaos caused by twins, Viola and Sebastian, displaced by the shipwreck. Salem Theatre’s production is directed by Artistic Director Matthew Gray who has stated that while parts of songs are used in many of Shakespeare’s other plays, those in Twelfth Night are sung in their entirety, thus contributing to the story.

The set is sparse, a few benches, a few props, a piano. There is sadness, comedy, and Shakespearean characters defined by their circumstances, all confined to a space that might seem like the hull of a 17th century ship.

Cast members include Salem residents and returning to the Salem Theatre stage Caroline Watson-Felt, Chris Martel and Ariane Grosse; members of Salem’s classical theatre troupe, Upstart Crows Diana Dunlap and Keith Trickett; and Rachel MacAskill, Zachary Reardon, Francis Norton and Christopher Noran.

Performances are on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 3 pm. Key dates to note:

Thursday, April 2: Student Night – $5 tickets available for all students
Thursday, April 9: LGTB Night – Discount Tickets offered.

Salem Theatre will also update daily the seating capacity for each show; if you want to see Twelfth Night and are open on the date, you might consider booking a near sell-out night to help activate the community initiative for school children.

Additional details are available at www.salemtheatre.com. Performances are held at 90 Lafayette Street.

(Photo courtesy CMB Photography)

Local Voices Sing Out for Salem Boys/Girls Club

Salem Event No Responses »

Mar 242015

Harmony of purpose will fill the air Wednesday night in Salem as 11 young ladies of music will be entertaining to help raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem’s Teen Girls Program. The event is called Rhapsody and you are invited by Creative Salem to attend Opus Underground for an “acoustic evening which will feature a wide range of singers and songwriters, ranging from local open mic legends to award winning artists. Though varying in genres and styles, Rhapsody promises to be an excellent exploration in artistry and musicianship for an incredible local cause.”

The Boys & Girls Club of Greater Salem program which will benefit from this fundraiser is geared to promote and enhance the development of boys and girls by instilling a sense of competence, usefulness, belonging and influence.

In other words, a worthy cause.

Donation is $5 to Rhapsody and in return you will be treated to a sampling of music styles currently making the rounds of the greater North Shore, Boston area— and beyond.

The performers will be: Kirsten Manville, Molly Pinto Madigan, Sarah Seminski, Priscilla Swain, Rachel Baldwin, Jade, Briana Paquin, Letriah Masters, Alyssa Grace, Leah Cirker-Stark, and Joey Phoenix.

Several of the performers are Salem natives or residents. Full details of performing styles and pictures can be found on this Creative Salem page.

The music begins at 8:30 pm in the Opus Underground venue, located at 87 Washington St, Salem. For more info call 978-744-9600.

(Image of microphone courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)

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