ART, COMMUNITY AND CULTURE The annual Newburyport ArtWalk is a citywide celebration of art, community and discovery. Taking place over four weekends in 2014, including June 19 and 20, this self-guided walking tour takes visitors to open house festivities at 17 galleries, five cafes and a historic inn. Newburyport is a classic maritime seaport whose history includes everything from fishing and shipbuilding to silverware manufacturing and rum distilling. Today, it is a cultural center that attracts a diverse group of artists, performers and craftsmen to Boston’s beautiful north shore. In the summertime, though the streets bustle with activity, Newburyport encourages young and old to slow down and enjoy the small pleasures. Visitors stroll the bricked sidewalks and wide boardwalk, watching street performers and enjoying frozen treats from Gram’s Homemade Ice Cream (40 State St.) or … [Read more...] about Newburyport Artwalk
Issue Articles
The Wild, Wild (Metro) West
A CORRIDOR OF CULTURE IN NATICK AND FRAMINGHAM Easy proximity to Boston by the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail line and major driving Routes 9, 135 and the Massachusetts Turnpike peg these two towns as desirable bedroom communities for commuters. However, a concentration of artists and creative organizers have negated the need for a drive into the city for a dose of culture — re-envisioning the industrial bones of the area as habitats for studios, performance spaces, boutique retail galleries and culinary incubators. NATICK CENTER CULTURAL DISTRICT Anchored by a classic, grassy town common capped by a wooden gazebo, the delightfully walkable town center offers quintessential late 19th-century, neo-gothic brick architecture filled with mom-and-pop mainstays and peppered with independent creative businesses. Just across from the town common, Renew Arts & Industry (19 … [Read more...] about The Wild, Wild (Metro) West
Interstate 93 in New Hampshire
YOU CAN GET THERE FROM HERE One of the best times of year in New Hampshire is the late spring and early summer. Trees are green with new leaves, flowers are in bloom and the black flies haven’t hatched yet. New Hampshire has many opportunities to see contemporary art while enjoying all of the state’s beautiful scenery — just follow Interstate 93 north and enjoy these stops along the way. MANCHESTER WHAT TO SEE: “Romare Bearden: A Black Odyssey,” through August 17 at the Currier Museum of Art (150 Ash St.). Colorful collages and watercolors recreate Homer’s Odyssey with imagery rooted in the African- American experience. Also on display are some of the Currier’s collection of American and European art works. “SHIFT: The Art of the Bicycle” celebrates National Bike Month from May 5-June 28 at Studio 550 (550 Elm St.), across the street from the Verizon Center. Studio 550 also … [Read more...] about Interstate 93 in New Hampshire
Connecticut Museums
RENEW YOUR SPIRIT WITH A DAY OUTING Finally, spring, with its mix of lime green and yellow and bright bursts of color, has arrived in Connecticut. It’s been a long winter. But alongside this gift of the season is an eclectic mix of exhibitions at the state’s major regional art museums. A few day trips seem designed to lift the spirits. It’s hard not to be charmed by “Click Clack! Ding! The American Typewriter,” one private collector’s look at the tool that transformed the American workplace, on view through June 1 at The New Britain Museum of American Art (56 Lexington St., New Britain). Be transported to the imagined site of a Katherine Gibbs secretarial pool, or perhaps a seedy mid-20th century newsroom, in this show that includes more than 20 machines, many of them manufactured in Connecticut factories between 1873 and 1966. One early model looks as though it morphed from a … [Read more...] about Connecticut Museums
Wanderlust: Southcoast Maine
MAKE A GREAT CATCH ALONG THE ROCKY SHORELINE Why are so many artists drawn to the South Maine Coast? Perhaps it’s some special quality in the glint of sunlight against the Gulf of Maine water, the sound of effervescent salt spray released as cold waves crash against rocky shorelines. Or something about the intermingling visual appeal of ramshackle lobster shacks and the rank stench of baitfish that stirs the creative juices and triggers the artistic urge. Whatever causes the phenomenon, the magnetic attraction of artists to the southern coast of Maine has established this region as a uniquely American cultural destination — a place worthy of a visit, if only to marvel at the giddy interplay between the enduring legacy of local art history and the continuing tradition of the present-day creative process. And if you happen to be an art enthusiast with a penchant for relaxing … [Read more...] about Wanderlust: Southcoast Maine
Johnson, Vermont
A TRANQUIL YET ENERGIZING CREATIVE CULTURE If it’s creative rejuvenation you seek, then a trip to Johnson, Vermont is in order. The Gihon River meanders through the heart of town — at times bustling, and at other times perfectly calm. It’s an appropriate metaphor for the experience one has while visiting this celebrated artistic community, a place where one may simultaneously be energized and find tranquility, whether gathering inspiration and ideas from visiting one of the many artists’ studios or simply sitting in the sunshine, relaxing in an Adirondack chair outside the Wolf Kahn Studios. WHAT TO SEE: Founded in 1984, the Vermont Studio Center (VSC) (80 Pearl St.) continues to be a vibrant community of visual artists and writers. Every month, it welcomes 50-60 new artists — painters, photographers, sculptors, writers and filmmakers — from across the country and the globe to … [Read more...] about Johnson, Vermont