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Derby Wharf on the 4th at the Salem Maritime National Historic Site

Jul 012014

Celebrating the 4th of July is an emotional event, be it on The National Mall in Washington DC or the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular on the Esplanade— or right here in historic Salem Ma. If you’re looking to honor the founding of our great nation, Salem Ma is very much worth the trip. Just consider this as an exciting backdrop for the festivities: a dozen historic structures, nine acres of waterfront land, all making up the Salem Maritime National Historic Site, which by the way was the first National Historic Site in the National Park System!

Now that we’ve got your attention what exactly are we doing in Salem at Derby Wharf on the 4th of July?

9am – You are invited to join Mayor Kimberly Driscoll on the Salem Common for a patriotic kick off event. “The Star Spangled Banner” will be sung by members of the YMCA of the North Shore Glee Club. The Declaration of Independence will be read by Dann Anthony Maurno, a Salem resident and actor who has appeared onstage in a variety of area venues. Musical selections will be performed by Robert Kendall on keyboard. Salem resident John Howard will lead the audience in singing “America the Beautiful.”

4pm – Children are included in the fun. Kids’ Space, where young ones can play games and get their faces painted, will be provided courtesy of the Gathering, the MeetingHouse Church and the First Universalist Society of Salem. Food tents on site also open at 4pm with hot dogs, French fries, fried dough, kettle corn, and other fair favorites.

5pm – Things begin to heat up as live entertainment begins on the Main Stage with the Pocket Money Orchestra. This amazing young funk group from Salem features energetic original music by Brian Cogger (trumpet), Seth Bailin (tenor and baritone sax), Aidan Scrimgeour (piano), Ben Siwak (bass), Derek Hayden (drums), and Danny Dugan (percussion). The Pocket Money Orchestra has a growing presence on the North Shore music scene and plays regularly at local venues.

7:15pm – Opening Ceremonies! Mayor Driscoll and other local dignitaries will lead a parade down the wharf accompanied by the Salem Veterans Honor Guard and Salem Boy Scout troops. The National Anthem will be sung by Grace Bigus, Sam Bigus, Danielle Lovasco, Chloe Panico, Jacob Pini, Mariella Robinson, Delaney Sprague, and Aly Yanishevsky from the YMCA of the North Shore Glee Club. This is an a cappella group for children ages 12-18 directed by YMCA Music Director Samantha Gambaccini. These students work as a team to create and sing a wide variety of repertoire from classic to contemporary.

This leads up to what we hope will be a Pops experience you will never forget, kicked off by Maestro Dirk Hillyer and his orchestra. This year soloist Jean Danton joins the orchestra with musical selections from Sondheim. Her singing has been described as “stunning,” ”outstanding,” “wonderfully controlled and full-voiced,” and “stylishly stellar.” She is a favorite soloist with Pops orchestras including the Boston Pops Orchestra, North Shore Music Theatre, North Shore Philharmonic Orchestra, and New England Light Opera.

9:15pm – Salem ends its Independence Day celebration with a fireworks extravaganza, accompanied by the Hillyer Festival Orchestra playing the 1812 Overture and other patriotic music throughout the entire fireworks display.

“Salem is fortunate to have such a generous business community that continues to support this celebration,” Mayor Driscoll commented. “I’d like to express a special thank you to Footprint Power – Salem Harbor Station and to Salem Five, along with Aggregate Industries, Tache Real Estate, Market Basket, Eastern Bank, and KV Associates.”

“There is no better place to be than Salem on the 4th,” Mayor Driscoll stated. “We have consistently put together one of the most spectacular live concerts and fireworks extravaganzas anywhere in Massachusetts.”

For more information go to www.salem.com or call the Salem City Hall at 978-745-9595, ext. 5676. For traveling to Salem we advise taking the mbta.

Get here early. Have a nice meal. Enjoy the day and evening. (Photo courtesy Social Palates)

Drink Up Art at PEM’s British Pub Night

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Jun 172014

Drinking is on tap at the Peabody Essex Museum this Thursday night as the next edition of PEM/PM takes place from 6-9pm. Drinking in terms of British beer tasting and drinking in the art of celebrated British artist J.M.W. Turner.

We are quite lucky here in Salem, having not only a quality museum in town, but also a very creative one that makes every effort to be accommodating to the community in the ways it approaches self-promotion.

To do this, every month the PEM has a party series, staying open into the night to shine a spotlight on a particular exhibit. This month: J.M.W. Turner, the British artist celebrated in Turner & the Sea, a new exhibition of more than 100 paintings on view this summer. The evening will feature gallery talks, The Jovial Crew singing folk songs of the sea and shore, a British beer tasting in the Asian Garden, the opportunity to play darts and other pub games and an art-making activity to decorate your own coaster.

Other refreshments will consist of a Cash Bar, with special small plates menu from the Hawthorne Hotel.

In the midst of this swirl of activity, guests will have the opportunity to explore the works of Turner who was one of the most original painters of landscapes and seascapes in Europe.

“Turner lived in one of the world’s most powerful nations at the water’s edge for much of his life, at the very peak of British sea power. As any great artist will do, he embraced the atmosphere of his time and presented it through his work. Turner’s talent was such that he went a step further and also redefined marine painting, and perhaps all painting, forever,” said Daniel Finamore, PEM’s Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History.

Dramatic, contemplative, dangerous and beautiful, the sea was the perfect subject to showcase the singular talents of Turner.

Guests will see iconic works spanning the artist’s career from his transformative Academy paintings of the late 1790s and early 1800s to the unfinished, experimental seascapes produced toward the end of his life. Paintings by European and American masters — such as Constable, Whistler and Sargent — illuminate how Turner influenced generations of artists.

Admission is free of charge to PEM members and Salem residents (with ID); Nonmembers $10 at the door. For more info call 866‐745‐1876 or visit their Web site at www.pem.org.

Hoop Over to Salem Arts Festival

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Jun 072014

Photo Credit – Karen Scalia

You are now joining our program already in progress— if you are coming to Salem Ma. this Saturday or Sunday to participate in our annual Salem Arts Festival. But that’s ok. There are more than enough events and creative arts presenters to satisfy your viewing interests.

Now in its sixth year, the Salem Arts Festival boasts attendance numbers in the thousands and celebrates all the arts: painting, photography, sculpture, dance, music, writing, film, new media, performance, theatre, poetry, culinary, and more.

This year’s event also includes a street fair, plus live entertainment on two performance stages (located in Derby Square and on Artists’ Row).

One of the more colorful events, which already took place, but you can join in progress is

the HulaArt project. “Re-use of recycled materials to create diverse art expressions” is one way used to describe what essentially was the presence of “over four hundred hula hoops, a fifth of which were transformed into HulaArt, form a colorful canopy above Salem’s Artist Row.”

But true to this being a part of an Arts Festival, even the delivery and installation of the hoops to create the canopy was performance art. You can walk under the canopy of hoops. You can look up and marvel at the circles and shapes. And you can even try your hand (or waist) at hooping yourself.

We feel this is a great representation of our hopes for the Arts Festival, it is something you can participate in as well as just view.

Kylie Sullivan, Manager of Salem Main Streets comments “The amount of love, imagination, and hard work that has gone into the HulaArt is absolutely incredible, especially on the part of our partners at the Salem Public Space Project and the Phoenix School, in addition to our sponsors and the support of the City of Salem.

She adds “This project exemplifies so much of what we’re trying to accomplish with this year’s Arts Festival – collaboration, community, and transformation of space.”

No need to bring your own hoop, we have plenty to spare and share.

Bring Your Bike To Salem

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May 152014

Bicyclists may outnumber pedestrians and motorists in Salem Ma this Thursday from 6-9pm as the Peabody Essex Museum presents Free Wheeling: Bike Night as the next entry in the PEM/PM monthly evening party series.

Bike enthusiasts will mingle & network as they celebrate the art, design and style of the bicycle with music, art making, food, cocktails and conversation. These are the staples of PEM evening series.

And for this particular night, The Peabody also encourages B.Y.O.B. — bring your own bike!

According to the 2012 National Survey of Pedestrian and Bicyclist Attitudes and Behaviors, 18 percent of the population age 16 or older, rode a bicycle at least once during the summer of 2012. The same survey also reported the average length of a bicycling trip taken on a typical day during the summer was 65.2 minutes.

We bring this up because with temperatures rising, more people will be hitting the road on their own or as part of a bike club. This PEM experience will give them the opportunity to “see decked out art bikes, meet folks from the area’s bike scene, help create an interactive biking map and add a little bling to your own two wheels.”

Featured PEM/PM guests include:

Bikes Not Bombs — Based in Jamaica Plain, this organization shares how to use the bicycle as a vehicle for social change.

SCUL — A bike chopper gang based out of Somerville brings sculpted cycle masterpieces and tall bikes to Salem. The group has appeared on the PBS show Design Squad.

Salem Bike Path Committee — Members share their favorite bike routes and information about Salem Spins, a bike share program.

Forrest James — an American dreamwave recording artist, producer, composer and DJ provides live music.

Local bike shops demonstrate how to fix a flat and provide safety tips.

Cash bar and a special small plates menu from the Hawthorne Hotel will be available for purchase. This month’s PEM/PM is sponsored by MINI of Greater Boston. For more information, visit www.pem.org.

A Day of Learning, A Day of Fun

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May 102014

School is in session this Saturday as Education Day breaks out all over Salem Ma. But it will be unlike anything you’ve seen before. Classes are in skin care, recycling, rope making, mixology, Farmers Market, photography and more.

The Salem Education Foundation is presenting the “2nd Annual Hats Off to Education Weekend” as a way of promoting community involvement and investment in the public schools of Salem, Ma.

The schedule as posted by SEF includes:

Workshops and Fun Activities, at Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・   The Community Development Coalition will host a bilingual scavenger hunt in Old Town Hall and visitors can take part in a session titled “Journey through the Immigrant Experience”
・   TD Bank will offer finance classes for teens and adults
・   John Andrews of Social Palates and “we_are_Salem” will offer a photography class
・   The House of The Seven Gables will offer bilingual “Dominican Tales”
・   Salem Historical Tours will speak about the city’s rich history
・   The North Shore Career Center will offer workshops on how to build a resume and find a job
・   Henry Miller’s Architecture Lab at Boston Architectural College will offer two hour long workshops on how to build a speaker for your handheld device. Space is limited for this workshop. Please register by emailing Henry.Miller@the-bac.edu
・   Additionally, children will have the opportunity to look at gemstones, learn about beekeeping, brush up on their Harry Potter facts, learn about the importance of recycling, healthy food and gardening and engage in arts activities

Free Community Read Book, Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・ The Community Advisory Board will give away copies of “The Good Thief,” written by Hannah Tinti, a Salem native. This is the book selected for the city of Salem’s first Community Read.

Activities at the Salem Common will include:
・   The Hogwarts Hustle Kids’ Fun Run at 10:30am This is a half-mile fun run for kids age 12 and under. There will also be a dash for kids 4 and under. Kids are encouraged to dress as their favorite Harry Potter characters. Finisher ribbons will be awarded to the first 100 runners
・   12 noon Basketball Tournament! Email Andre at adaley@bgcgs.org
・   Adults and children alike can have a Zumba experience with the energetic Gina Grinarml
・   Learn circuit training with Kerry Murphy
・   Play in a basketball game with Mayor Kim Driscoll
・   Hula hoop and free dance to the rhythms of Mamadou’s drummers!

Performances, at Old Town Hall, 10am – 3pm
・   The Salem High School Jazz Band
・   Destination Imagination team Challenges
・   School-age Latin and African dancers from Greg Coles and his Salsa for the Schools program
・   A theater group and other local talents

The SEF mission is to provide funding for projects that further students’ educational experiences in science, mathematics, the arts and humanities. It supports projects that go beyond the scope of those funded by the Salem Public School Department. And it works with the larger community to make schools a true community enterprise by promoting and coordinating volunteerism and participation in the schools.

Learn something and have a lot of fun.

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