Welcome to our July/August issue; while it took longer than usual for temperatures to reach the level that causes New Englanders to abandon their spring (and in some cases, winter) clothing, as June took hold, crowds started to fill the streets of summer resort and vacation locations throughout the region.

We received wonderful feedback on our May/June issue’s extended wanderlust presentations; you’ll find the second half of our New England art road trip suggestions in the pages ahead: Jamie Thompson runs down the galleries along Maine’s Coastal Route 1 in Freeport, Brunswick and Bath; J. Fatima Martins introduces you to Northern Connecticut’s not-so “Quiet Corner,” while further south, Kristin Nord visits the state’s midcoastal region; and Alexandra Tursi gives you a series of reasons to spend a good part of August in Vermont’s Mad River Valley.

It’s no surprise why so much of the region’s most memorable and beloved art is inspired by shore settings; we’re hoping you’ll be encouraged to take a trip down to Westport, Massachusetts and Tiverton, Rhode Island — part of what’s known as the “South Coast,” through Don Wilkinson’s guide to the area, while I have the pleasure of introducing you to four artists (out of nearly 90) who’ll be opening their studios over two weekends in July and August for the South Coast Artists Open Studio Tour.

The artscope staff has been on a wanderlust of its own over the past two months, including hosting a table at the annual Cambridge River Festival, of which we are a sponsor, as well as being on hand at several exhibition openings.

Publisher Kaveh Mojtabai and I attended the Eighth International Encaustic Conference in Provincetown, where we met up with our Cape Cod correspondent, Laura Shabott, who contributes two stories to this issue — a preview of August’s Sarah Lutz and Richard Baker: Amuse-Bouche exhibition at the Truro Center for the Arts at Castle Hill, and a look at the summer’s more enticing Provincetown shows and new galleries.

In early May, my wife, Louise, and I took a whirlwind visit to P-Town, during which time, through a window display at Bower- sock Gallery, I fell in love with the work of Bear Kirkpatrick. During a second visit, co-owner Steve Bowersock showed Kaveh and me Kirkpatrick’s work from his August show there — which includes “Taryn,” the work which graces this month’s cover. You can also see Kirkpatrick’s work as part of the “Portraits in Contemporary Photography” exhibition on view through July 20 at the Drift Gallery in Portsmouth, NH.

Amongst the other stops on Mojtabai’s journey: The Unifier Transformational Healing and Expressive Arts Festival in Lebanon, Conn., of which we were a sponsor; the Liquid Art House’s multi- media “Sole Delay” pop-up gallery opening in Boston, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch on Broadway, where he caught up with drummer Peter Yanowitz, whose magnetic poetry wall was a popular feature at our Light Up the Arts! Anniversary Celebration at Adelson Galleries Boston in April, as well as the Global Poverty Project in June at the Merriweather Post Pavilion in Maryland, and last year’s Healing Newtown opening.

Kaveh also juried two shows that’ll be on view this fall: the New Hampshire Institute of Art’s New England Wax exhibition and the Milton Art Museum’s annual juried exhibition.

I attended “The Art of Transformation,” a discussion on how major cultural institutions can attract today’s changing audience, with Worcester Art Museum director Matthias Waschek and Philippe de Montebello, Director Emeritus of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, as part of WAM’s annual Salisbury Society Gala, which coincided with the museum’s annual Art All-State Weekend. While there, we were excited to see our pictures of some of Massachusetts’ top teen artists gain their attention — and following — on Instagram, as one of our key missions as a magazine is to serve as a stepping stone to a successful artistic career.

It was ironic, however, to hear a discus- sion on how museums can attract, build and hold audiences at a time when so many of the New England institutions we’re in touch with, in terms of advertising or listing their exhibitions or events, tell us they’re either cutting back their budgets in this regard or have decided not to focus on the part of the audience they believe already knows they are there — working artists, collectors, cultured arts enthusi- asts, and the sector of the public who are looking to participate in the arts and who are picking up each issue of artscope at over 700 retail locations — and are looking for new audiences outside that spectrum.

We’d like to argue this segment of the New England arts community are the ones who bring their friends and family to our heralded museums and performance arts venues when they’re in the area, packaging a museum visit with a meal at their cafe or restaurant or dance or theater performance with supper at a nearby venue. If you don’t see a museum or gallery in artscope that you frequent or are a member of and you think they should be, please let them know that a united cultural community that supports each other is the strongest cultural community.