History – Page 17 – Salem Main Streets

Just Another Jam-Packed Salem Ma Weekend

Jun 262015

For those who might think the weekend before the 4th of July would be a quiet one in Salem, think again! Normally the Salem Main Streets blog focuses on single events to give you extra insights. But every so often we dip into the calendars of Creative Salem and Destination Salem to give you a flat out “Column A” of events to pick from when you visit. Here are just SOME of the options for Saturday:

8am-6pm Peabody Essex Museum has commissioned its first major outdoor installation, a Stickwork by internationally acclaimed artist Patrick Dougherty. This temporary site-specific installation is made entirely of saplings and constructed on the lawn of PEM’s historic Crowninshield-Bentley House, at the corner of Hawthorne Boulevard and Essex Street in downtown Salem

10am-4pm Join Salem 1630: Pioneer Village for the first Shakespeare Festival at Pioneer Village. Performances scheduled throughout the day. Performers include Rebel Shakespeare Company, Upstart Crows, Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe and more!

10am-5pm The Witch House is hosting its exhibit, “An Anatomy of Puck: Fairy Beliefs among Shakespeare and his Contemporaries”. Exhibit is included in cost of museum admission.

10am-5pm The House of the Seven Gables presents A Gracious Host: Visiting the Gables through the Years, an engaging exhibition showcasing the vibrant history of visitation at The House of the Seven Gables. Journey through the past, and experience the history of one of America’s most famous homes as it transformed from a residence into a cultural icon.

Noon-2pm The Derby Square Summer Series hosted by Creative Salem and Front Street Coffeehouse, continues this Saturday with local singer-songwriter Aspen Ridge. Come on down to Derby Square from 12-2 for some lunch and great music.

4-7pm, The Acoustic Series at Village Tavern presents DITTO which features the mainstream classic music of James Taylor, Neil Young, Harry Chapin, Simon and Garfunkel, Crosby Stills and Nash, The Beatles, and many others, showcases by the perfect blend of acoustic instruments and voices. Upright bass, cello, and acoustic guitar lend appealing visual interest while creating a big sound, often compared to that of a full band.

7:30-10pm Salem Theatre presents Larry Kramer’s award-winning social drama, The Normal Heart. The narrative follows one man’s fight to awaken the world to the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s in New York City.

9-11pm The Merj at Broadie’s Seaport, Eclectic, awesome club cover band on the North Shore of Boston!

What will you do? What will you do? Come to Salem Ma and have a good time no matter which you select. (And remember, this is only a partial list. Go to Creative Salem or Destination Salem for complete listings.)

Expansive Murals and Intimate Portraits – Thomas Hart Benton at PEM

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Jun 142015

Expansive murals, vertical spirals, size changes that make you feel like you are looking up & down into a scene, these are the calling cards of a man once called America’s best-known contemporary painter, Thomas Hart Benton— and the subject of a special Peabody Essex Museum exhibit.

In fact, this is the first major exhibition on Thomas Hart Benton (1889-1975) in more than 25 years and the first ever to explore important connections between Benton’s art and the movies. American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood was organized by the PEM in collaboration with the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art (Kansas City, Missouri) and the Amon Carter Museum of American Art (Fort Worth). It will be at PEM through September 7th in the Special Exhibition Galleries.

Benton’s art & style will also be the theme for “Epic Adventures,” this month’s PEM/PM late night evening party.

But first some background on Mr. Benton. According to PEM, Benton became acutely aware of storytelling’s shift toward motion pictures after working briefly in the silent film industry, and “developed a cinematic style of painting that melded European art historical traditions and modern movie production techniques.”

In paintings, murals, drawings, prints and illustrated books, Benton reinvented national narratives for 20th-century America and captivated the public with his visual storytelling.

Benton’s story is fascinating, the ups / the downs (an informal survey of museum-goers at all the participating institutions revealed that only 25% had even heard of Benton), how he perfected his technique and how he was received are all part of this PEM podcast.

And, if you have the time, this WBUR (90.9 FM, Boston’s National Public radio news station) feature story provides extra insights.

For example, besides the paintings to see in this exhibit, there is something you can actually touch. In the WBUR report, it is mentioned that “the artist fashioned clay models of characters and scenery that he would light up like tiny Hollywood film sets, then painting them. There’s a replica of a surviving Benton clay model (or maquettes) in the PEM show. The original was too delicate and valuable to ship, so in a first for the museum, curators actually created a 3-D print.”

This is interesting in itself as Benton once said, ‘I feel my paintings in my hands.”

The WBUR story also mentioned that Benton constantly traveled; his road trips sought out authentic stories, scenes and characters to populate his works.

As the great American road trip, from Easy Rider to National Lampoon’s Vacation, still inspires a sense of freedom and exploration, PEM/PM for June 18 from 6-9 pm invites you to follow artist Benton’s travels across America with map and postcard art, real-life road stories, a travel-themed beer tasting and gallery talks.

Also featured at this month’s PEM/PM evening are folk music sessions by Dan Blakeslee and Jennifer Evans, a visit from the Mobile Museum of American Artifacts and an author talk / signing with Andre Dubus III.

As always, a cash bar and refreshments available; members and Salem residents (with ID) free, nonmembers $10 at the door for PEM/PM.

The American Epics: Thomas Hart Benton and Hollywood exhibition was made possible in part by Bank of America and a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Celebrating 50 Years of Excellence. The National Endowment for the Arts and Carolyn and Peter S. Lynch and The Lynch Foundation provided generous support. Christie’s provided in-kind support. The East India Marine Associates of the Peabody Essex Museum also provided support.

For more info, go to PEM website or call 978-745-9500. The Peabody Essex Museum is located at East India Square (161 Essex St) Salem, Massachusetts.

(Cover photo “Bootleggers” Art © T.H. Benton and R.P. Benton Testamentary Trusts/UMB Bank Trustee/Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY)

PEM/PM Fosters Unconventional Gatherings for Creative Minds

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May 192015

Unconventional gatherings for creative minds is the best description thus far for what transpires in Salem Ma on the 3rd Thursday of each month when the Peabody/Essex Museum kicks open its doors to a party of entertainment & engagement (PEM/PM) beginning at 6pm. Coming up March 21st the event is simply called Run & Play. But believe us, there’s nothing simple about it.

Run with your imagination and play with what you find. Possibilities are limitless

Channel your inner child with the help of Project Adventure, Marbles: The Brain Store and the Salem YMCA. Play a game of foursquare and compete in a relay challenge, join Salem’s Wicked Running Club for its weekly No Rest for the Wicked 5K Fun Run, and then kick back and listen to music with a cool beverage.

As another example of imagination and playing with what you find, consider Stickwork artist Patrick Dougherty, who will be on hand for a meet & greet. What is Stickwork? It is something that has come to Salem. Listen to the thoughts of Dougherty leading up to the local project at the Crowninshield-Bentley House located at 126 Essex Street.

As always, cash bar and small plates by Hawthorne Hotel.

No admission charge for PEM members, Salem residents and Salem State students with an ID. Otherwise there is a $10 fee for non-members, payable at the door. For more details, go to pem.org or call 866-745-1876.

Salem Pedestrian Brick Walk Getting a Tattoo

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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)

Wars Through Letters and Words

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May 102015

While “war” is far from the light and entertaining topics/events we deal with in this blog, it is the common backdrop in two upcoming presentations in Salem, each using the written word as the form of expression.

As a play—

War and the written word are intertwined to create a musical tale of love, loss and the strength of family. Letters from War, written, directed and designed by Salem native Nate Bertone will be staged at Salem Theatre’s black box theatre, May 14-23.

Letters from War tells the story of Mae, a Mississippian grandmother in advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, who must move into a nursing home when her adult daughter, Lily, can no longer care for her. Mae’s granddaughter, Madison, uncovers a mysterious box of letters while cleaning out the home. As Mae reads these letters, she recalls her lost love in fragmented, clouded memories. With the help of Lily, Madison, and a young stranger, Mae must fight the effects of age and Alzheimer’s to uncover the truth of her past before time runs out.

Bertone, a storyteller by nature, works as a professional Scenic Designer in the industry, and writes beginning in a visually oriented nature. Letters from War was written in response to the affects of Alzheimer’s Disease on his grandmother and his family, utilizing images, memories, and stories from the past and present.

For more info, including which performances will include a talkback with the playwright and actors, write to info@salemtheatre.com or call 978-790-8546. The black box theatre is located at 90 Lafayette Street, Salem.

As a book––

War and the written word are used to highlight America’s earliest war correspondents. Historian and author Robert Patton (grandson of the legendary World War II General, George S. Patton) visits The House of the Seven Gables on May 20th to give a lecture on his new book, Hell Before Breakfast.

According to a profile by the New York State Writers Institute (State University of New York), Hell Before Breakfast: America’s First War Correspondents Making History and Headlines, from the Battlefields of the Civil War to the Far Reaches of the Ottoman Empire (the full title), is “an in-depth history of American war journalism between 1860 and 1910. Taking its title from a quote about reporters by General William Tecumseh Sherman, Hell Before Breakfast spans the globe, from the American Civil War and the Spanish-American War to conflicts in Europe and Asia, to celebrate America’s forgotten war correspondents and highlight the impact of their reportage on contemporary journalism and global politics as well as on literature and the arts.”

This is a part of the 7 Lectures at the 7 Gables series.

It begins at 6 pm. Admission is free of charge to Gables members and $15 for non-members.

To reserve seating, send an email to groups@7gables.org, or call 978-744-0991 ext. 104. The House of Seven Gables is located at 115 Derby Street, Salem.

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