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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 )

A New Look for Salem Main Streets!

Uncategorized 1 Response »

May 202015

Salem Main Streets is pleased to announce a new brand and look! The local nonprofit, focused on the continued revitalization of downtown Salem, is updating its previous black and white logo of a building for a more modern, bold, and colorful vibrant look.

“When Salem Main Streets was first established in 2001, it was based on a traditional Main Streets model of historic preservation, so the building in our old logo made good sense,” says Kylie Sullivan, Executive Director of Salem Main Streets. “Salem Main Streets has evolved significantly since then. The current model is more dynamic, is more people-focused than building-focused, and, most importantly, is about creating a sense of place and identity. We needed a flexible new look to reflect that change.”

The logo and brand extension was created by local designer Elissa Von Letkemann. “Working with the Salem Main Streets staff and committee members on this was a fun challenge. The experience of being in downtown Salem is different for everyone, so the new logo had to communicate and support a sense of place while not focusing too heavily on any one aspect such as landmarks, restaurants, or otherwise.” Von Letkemann explains that the friendly, positive colors are meant as a nod to the culinary, historical, arts, and commercial destinations in town, while the map locator icon works double-duty as an exclamation point. Salem Main Streets’ materials and websites will be transitioning to the new brand over the next few days.

Salem Main Streets’ mission is the revitalization of downtown Salem as a vibrant, year-round, retail, dining, and cultural destination through business retention, recruitment, and the promotion of the downtown district. SMS produces and supports multiple community events and initiatives throughout the year, including the Salem Farmers’ Market, Salem Arts Festival, Salem’s So Sweet, and the October Information Booth. SMS operates thanks to the generosity and partnership of the City of Salem, the Salem Chamber of Commerce, Destination Salem, and many other local business sponsors and community volunteers.

The Salem Main Street Initiative is a preservation-based, volunteer driven strategy for commercial district revitalization. The Initiative is modeled on the National Trust for Historic Preservation’s National Main Street Program. Main Streets works because it involves all interested stakeholders in the downtown and provides a comprehensive strategy of work, tailored to local needs and opportunities of the community.

PEM/PM Fosters Unconventional Gatherings for Creative Minds

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

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

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)

Give Mom A Special Tour of Salem

History, Salem Event, Salem Shopping 1 Response »

May 102015

Whether you live in Salem Ma or in a neighboring community, or just happen to be here on Mother’s Day, there is an extra special treat you can give MOM. Besides the candy, flowers and breakfast / brunch / lunch at one of our many fine eateries, you can present her with a tour of the city, courtesy of The Salem Trolley which is offering a $5 discount to Moms on May 10th.

Moms are invited to sit back and relax on the 1-hour narrative tour through the streets of historic Salem, Ma. Oh, you may have driven through Salem and “seen” the sights, but now mom and you will discover & uncover history as you learn through fact, humor and even questions.

Weather forecast calls for a partly sunny day with temperature in low 80s, no rain and occasional 14 m/p/h breeze. Lovely day for a trolley ride.

The eight mile ride through Salem takes you past the Charter Street Burial Ground, the House of the Seven Gables, Witch Dungeon Museum, Salem Witch Museum, the historic waterfront area and other locations. Among those is Chestnut Street, which is considered to be one of the most beautiful streets in America.

One of the nice little extras about the Trolley is that you may get off and on at any of the 13 stops throughout the day and view Salem at your leisure, thus using the trolley as an almost personal shuttle service for you & mom on Mother’s Day!

Tours operate from 10am-5pm and begin at the National Park Service Visitors Center, 2 New Liberty Street, Salem. Convenient parking can be found across from the Visitors Center at 1 New Liberty Street.

To order tickets on-line click here or call 978-744-5469.

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