Volunteer Opportunities – Page 4

Salem Arts Festival: A Living Portrait of the Local Arts Scene

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

Jun 052015

Living, growing, expanding— the 7th Annual Salem Arts Festival (which takes place this Friday, Saturday and Sunday here in Salem Ma) will have several firsts this year.

The musical acts on Friday night will be outside on Derby Square for the first time! Yes, music is a lively element woven into the fabric of our Salem Arts Festival. Music is entertainment. Music is also art.

Speaking of art, the annual Juried Art Show had a twist on the submission process that apparently super-charged the number of entries, according to Kylie Sullivan, Executive Director of Salem Main Streets, (SMS), the community non-profit organization which started the Festival.

“I’m very excited about the juried gallery this year,” she says. “I think it’s the most diverse range of media and styles that we’ve ever had. This was our first year doing an on-site jury process, and we had more applications than ever before.”

And another “first” type event at the Festival is the “Front Yard Street Art” collaborative public art installation. It is one of the most anticipated events this year as it will transform Front Street into a temporary green space and masterpiece during the festival. “Front Yard Street Art” is a fiber arts project that was completed through the leadership of local artist Kate Babcock and the open participation of community members and groups of all ages and abilities.

In total, Salem Arts Festival will feature over 80 artists and performers, and includes a variety of art, music, dance, and theatre performances. The family-friendly event also includes art-making for all ages and artisan vendors selling their creations.

“There’s been a tremendous amount of collaboration between so many local groups and individuals to continue to improve and expand the festival every year. We’re so excited about the phenomenal energy and talent that will be on display this year,” adds Sullivan.

The Festival is spread out at a variety of venues in downtown Salem, with the focus primarily on Old Town Hall, Derby Square, Front Street, and Artists’ Row.

The Festival kicks off with an opening reception at Salem’s Old Town Hall on Friday, June 5th at 6 pm. The free event allows visitors to enjoy beautiful art work while being entertained by renowned local performers Briana Paquin, Siren of the Circle, and headliners The Squeezebox Stompers.

This year, the Salem Arts Festival also celebrates the launch of Liz LaManche’s piece “Salem’s Connected World,” the first commissioned public art project completed by the City of Salem’s Public Art Commission and Public Art Planner Deborah Greel. It will be visible all throughout the festival grounds.

In addition, the Festival marks the return of vendors to Artists’ Row, with all new tenants for the 2015 season.

The goal of the Salem Arts Festival is to promote all the arts in Salem and to provide the entire North Shore arts community an opportunity to showcase their talents. The Festival is run in collaboration with Salem Main Streets by a team of dedicated volunteers, including representatives from Salem State University, the Peabody Essex Museum, Creative Salem, and many more.

Visitors interested in attending the Salem Arts Festival can find easy access to the downtown by public transportation or parking at one of the many downtown lots in the City. For more information, please visit www.salemartsfestival.com.

2015 Salem Arts Festival Schedule

Friday, June 5th – Old Town Hall Gallery Reception – 6 pm to 9 pm
7:00 – 7:50 pm, Briana Paquin
7:50 – 8:00 pm, Siren of the Circle
8:00 – 9:00 pm, The Squeezebox Stompers

Saturday June 6th – Gallery, Street Fair, and Art-Making – 11 am to 6 pm

Derby Square
11:30 am – 12:15 pm, The Bordellos
12:30 – 1:15 pm, Witch City Belly Dance
1:30 – 2:15 pm, Brooks Young Band
3:20 – 4:05 pm, The Othership
4:15 – 5:00 pm, Dark Follies
5:15 – 6:00 pm, Poppa Cigar

Artists’ Row
1:00 – 1:30 pm, Olivia Gale
2:15 – 3:00 pm, The Whiskey Sippers
3:00 – 4:00 pm, Right Mix Quartet
4:00 – 5:00 pm, JAMINIC
5:00 – 6:00 pm, Art Attack

Old Town Hall Upstairs
2:30 – 3:15 pm, History Alive!
4:00 – 4:30 pm, Brady Kenny O’Brien Academy of Irish Dance
4:55 – 5:15 pm, Aurora Borealis Dance Company

Sunday June 7th – Gallery, Street Fair, and Art-Making – 11 am to 6 pm

Derby Square
11:30 am – 12:15 pm, Strange Interlude
12:15 pm – 1:00 pm, Pete and Chris Amusements
1:00 – 1:45 pm, The Coteries
2:00 – 4:00 pm, Linda Peck, around Old Town Hall
2:00 – 2:45 pm, True Monks
3:15 – 4:00 pm, Jumpin’ Juba
4:15 – 5:00 pm, Absolute Gentleman
5:15 – 6:00 pm, Machine 475

Artists’ Row
12:15 – 1:00 pm, Carubia Brass Bands
1:30 – 2:00 pm, 1+1
2:15 – 2:45 pm, The Ridiculous Project
2:45 – 3:15 pm, Jennifer Evans
3:15 – 3:30 pm, “Up”: A Play by Michael Jaros
4:00 – 4:45 pm, The High Meadow Howlers
4:50 – 5:10 pm, Christopher Noran

Old Town Hall Upstairs
2:45 – 3:05 pm, Jackie Bowden

*All times are approximate and subject to change.

Mid 60s temperatures and partly to mostly sunny days are in the forecast for the Salem Arts Festival . We invite you to bring the entire family for a most entertaining and enlightening day.

(Photo courtesy John Andrews at Social Palates)

Get a “Marketing Degree” in Derby Sq, Salem

Salem Event, Salem Farmers Market, Salem Festivals, Salem Shopping, Volunteer Opportunities, Workshops No Responses »

Jun 022015

Knowledge is power, and what you learn from speaking directly with the vendor/instructors at the upcoming “semester” of the Salem Farmer’s Market will make you a better student of food, better cook, and all around better at marketing (…the study of going to the market…). “Classes” are held Thursdays from 3-7pm, June 11- Oct 22 at Derby Sq on Front St. — rain or shine.

Seriously, where else can you talk to a person about which tomatoes go best with a hamburger vs a salad (there is a difference). Or talk about lobsters. Yes, did you not know that lobstahs are in our yard? The Salem Farmer’s Market is not your grandma’s farmer’s market. Local produce, things from the ground, the sea, and more await you. Plus there are musical performances (not by the vendors, although you never know) by talented singers & bands.

And just like attending school, you will see familiar faces/booths from previous Salem Farmer’s Markets, as well as new businesses that wish to “sign” you up for their “classes.”

The Salem Farmer’s Market participates in SNAP and accepts the EBT card. SFM is currently looking for volunteers to help with set up and break down of the market. Click here for more info. SFM is a Salem Main Streets project in partnership with the City of Salem, the Salem Ma Chamber of Commerce and Mass in Motion Salem.

Pub Crawl Takes on Roadside Rubbish to #CleanSalem

Salem Event, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

May 272015

What makes Salem Ma so interesting is the diversity of people and ideas and how they can twist “that’s been done before” into something new here. In keeping with what we said in a recent blog about Salem Main Streets re-branding to being “more people-focused than building-focused” the Wicked Pickah pub crawl fits that bill.

Simply put, it is a pub crawl fundraiser event on May 31st to wipe the streets clean of our roadside rubbish! Alex Lacy, who grew up in Salem (and has a B.S. in Environmental Science) and Garrett Gilbert have merged the sometimes self-indulgent pub crawl with a community waste clean up day to create what sounds like a lively undertaking.

“I’ve had this trash pick-up pub crawl in my head for a long time,” explains Lacy. “Downtown Salem is a great layout for a restaurant-restaurant hop. It could also use a clean sweep. After voicing the idea to close friends who still live in Salem, they helped me plan and organize the Wicked Pickah.”

She points out that “This #cleansalem event is a way for friends to gather and work (but it really feels like play) together to rid our downtown streets of their built up rubbish. We had a rough winter and now that the snow has melted, the evidence of our strife is tangible.”

She continues, “Everyone involved in the planning has been great: creating T-shirt designs, posting videos, helping to pick routes, distributing flyers, and just by being positive about the event and its outcome (please no rain!).”

(Full disclosure: if there are enough participants, Lacy & Gilbert have offered to donate proceeds to support the projects of Salem Main Streets, but it is such an interesting concept that we would be blogging about it anyway.)

Lacy says “Upon arrival at Artists’ Row at 11am, participants will receive sturdy trash bags, fool hardy gloves, and surefire hand sanitizer. Throughout the crawl, bagged dreck will be hauled to the final location of our crawl so that we may marvel at our streets’ new found purity and bask in our new- (and old)- found sense of community.”

The entry cost for the #cleansalem Wicked Pickah is $15 and can be purchased at www.gofundme.com/cleansalem. Those signing up early will receive a finely woven and originally designed T shirt as well as a few drink specials at the bars they will visit along the way.

For updated info on Wicked Pickah go to the Facebook event page or send questions to cleansalem@gmail.com .

Every city & town has roadside rubbish. How you deal with it sets you apart. Wicked Pickah sounds like our style. Let’s #cleansalem together.

Volunteers Needed for Salem Arts Festival

Salem Event, Salem Festivals, SMS News, Volunteer Opportunities 2 Responses »

May 232015

Inclusion. That is one of the things we strive for in events taking place in Salem. For example, last year you may have attended the Salem Arts Festival for the first time or for the 6th. This year, you can be a part of it as a volunteer.

Volunteers are being sought to assist with set ups, break downs, greetings, handing out brochures, assisting at performance stages and other duties as needed. The Salem Arts Festival takes place June 5-7.

Over 5,000 people attended last year’s family-friendly Festival which transformed downtown Salem, MA into an opportunity for the arts community to showcase a wide range of talents: painting, photography, sculpture, dance, music, writing, film, new media, performance, theatre, poetry, and more!

Volunteering is a great way to meet the artists and interact with fellow supporters of the arts.

Just as an FYI, there is also research pointing to volunteering as a provider of individual health benefits in addition to social ones. “The Health Benefits of Volunteering: A Review of Recent Research,” by the Corporation for National & Community Service established “a strong relationship between volunteering and health: those who volunteer have lower mortality rates, greater functional ability, and lower rates of depression later in life than those who do not volunteer.”

Help the community and you help yourself.

The Salem Arts Festival needs assistance in the following areas.

Friday, June 5
Gallery Installation
10 am to 2 pm. Seeking shifts of 2 hours, as many as possible.

Opening reception set-up
4 to 6pm. Seeking 4 volunteers.

Gallery sitters & greeters
6 to 9pm. Seeking 4 volunteers to gallery sit during the opening reception and help direct guests.

Opening reception clean-up
8:30 to 10 pm. Seeking 4 volunteers.

Saturday, June 6
General set-up
9:30 to 11am. Seeking 6 volunteers. Duties include hanging signs and putting out A-frame signs, setting up info tables, preparing the gallery, assisting at performance stages, and assisting street fair vendors.

Greeters (outdoors)
10:30am to 6pm (broken into four shifts of 10:30am to 12:30pm, 12:30 to 2:30pm, 2:30 to 4:30pm, and 4:30 to 6pm). Seeking 4 volunteers per shift. Duties will include handing out arts festival programs and assisting guests with directions, etc. Greeters will be stationed at specific locations.

Gallery sitters/greeters
Indoor Gallery. 10:30am to 6pm (broken into four shifts of 10:30am to 12:30pm, 12:30 to 2:30pm, 2:30 to 4:30pm, and 4:30 to 6pm). Seeking 2 volunteers per shift. Duties will include greeting guests, directing them to other activities, offering other general directions and keeping an eye on the work in the gallery during gallery hours.

Information table
Derby Square. 10:30am to 6pm (broken into four shifts of 10:30am to 12:30pm, 12:30 to 2:30pm, 2:30 to 4:30pm, and 4:30 to 6pm). Seeking 2 volunteers per shift. Duties will include handing out programs and other literature as well as directing people to Arts Festival events or around Salem. Volunteers at this table will also assist in the sales of merchandise for any SAF performers.

Performance stage help
11am to 6 pm, Derby Square and Artists’ Row. Duties will include helping bands get on and off these stages as quickly as possible and include moving some equipment. Seeking 2 volunteers to commit for the full day.

General breakdown
5:30 to 7/7:30pm. Seeking 4 volunteers. Duties include taking down signs, picking up A-frame signs, tidying up gallery, bringing in information table, helping out at performance stages to close them up for the night.

Sunday, June 7
General set up
9:30 to 11am. Seeking 6 volunteers. Duties include putting up signs, setting up info tables, preparing gallery, assisting at performance stages, and assisting street fair vendors.

Greeters (outdoors)
10:30am to 6pm (broken into four shifts of 10:30am to 12:30pm, 12:30 to 2:30pm, 2:30 to 4:30pm, and 4:30 to 6pm). Seeking 4 volunteers per shift Duties will include handing out arts festival programs and assisting guests with directions, etc. Greeters will be stationed at specific locations.

General breakdown
5:30 to 7/7:30pm. Looking for 6 volunteers. Duties include taking down signs, picking up A-frame signs, cleaning up gallery, assisting with art pick-up, striking information table, helping out at performance stages to close them out for the festival, gathering any festival related things that are outdoors, packing up any festival materials. Breakdown will include some jobs that require the ability to lift.

Please contact Kylie Sullivan at Salem Main Streets at kylie@salemmainstreets.org with your name and your date/time availability.

The Salem Arts Festival is organized by Salem Main Streets and a collaboration of Salem organizations which provide support for the festival, including the City of Salem, Salem State University Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, Peabody Essex Museum, Salem Arts Association and Creative Salem.

( Photo courtesy John Andrews of SocialPalatesPhotography )

Salem Pedestrian Brick Walk Getting a Tattoo

History, Salem Event, Salem Festivals, Volunteer Opportunities No Responses »

May 172015

What is going on in Derby Square? What are those people doing to the sidewalk? And why are they having a good time? Those people are volunteers assisting artist Liz LaManche who is creating a public art installation titled “Salem’s Connected World.”

From her blog LaManche explains “City of Salem is commissioning a Connected By Sea companion piece as a temporary installation for their summer arts festival season, to be painted on the pedestrian brick walks of Derby Square around the Old Town Hall and down through Artists’ Row.”

Art interpreted & rendered in the form of a tattoo!

She continues, “It will highlight Salem’s seafaring history, cultural inputs and world connections, informed by the fantastic collection in the Peabody Essex Museum, where I’ve learned a tremendous amount over the years from their Native American and Asian trade goods collections.”

The schedule for the installation is as follows:

Layout of artwork taking place May 15-21
Inking in to happen May 21-30
Both phases can use people of varying skill levels
Layout can have people holding and moving things,
Inking needs people comfortable handling a brush, but can be either making good lines or inking in defined areas.

In discussing the first day, LaManche remarked, “Excellent day kicking off tattoo project in Salem!! Half the ground prepped, placement decisions decided, volunteers found and met, a fantastic bunch of people up here with a desire to make cool stuff!”

For more info on the project, check out this Creative Salem feature story.

Intrigued? Interested? To join the volunteers, contact Deborah Greel, the Public Art Planner for the City of Salem at dgreel@salem.com or call 978-619-5681. “Salem’s Connected World” is funded by the City of Salem in association with the Public Art Commission.

(All pictures courtesy of John Andrews at Social Palates Photography)

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