Christmas by the Sea, the annual holiday weekend in Manchester-by-the-Sea, takes place this Saturday and Sunday, which includes a traditional pancake breakfast at The Landing and Santa's arrival at Masconomo Park followed by the Jingle Bell walk on Saturday. On Sunday afternoon, there will be the traditional treelighting. The weekend offers a variety of activities for children, sponsored by numerous groups in the community. Other events are the Sacred Heart Church Fair and open houses in the shops.
Holiday Hoedown
Everlution Art and Design Studio is holding a Holiday Hoedown on Saturday, Dec. 6 from noon to 5 p.m. at 1 Station Square next to the Rockport train station and hardware store. The event features a studio open house with work from several local artists. The event features fresh new work from the creative couple of Karen and Jon Conant of Everlution Forms, as well as work from other local artists/makers. There will be sculpture, photographs, jewelry, paintings, glass, odd creatures, sewn goods, sweet treats and more.
Advent Noisy Day
St. John's Church, at 48 Middle St., hosts Ana Hernandez in a two-day program for Advent on Dec 6 and 7. In a workshop on Saturday morning from 9:30 a.m. to noon, she will lead a program aimed at children, singing and drumming music of the Advent and Christmas seasons. Adults are welcome, but the focus is on children from reading age through high school. In an afternoon session on Saturday from 1 to 4 p.m., she will continue the program focusing on adults and older teens. On Sunday at the 10:30 a.m. service, Hernandez will lead the choirs and congregation. Saturday's event is billed as an "Advent Noisy Day," a word play on a common practice in Episcopal churches having "Quiet Days" during Lent and Advent. The public is welcome. There is a $5 charge for the morning session on Saturday, and $10 for the afternoon session. Snacks are included. Sunday morning is free. The church is handicapped accessible. For information, visit www.stjohnsgloucester.org or call 978-283-1708.
A gardener's delight: Meet author Kim Smith
Local landscape designer and author Kim Smith will discuss her new book "Oh Garden of Fresh Possibilities! Notes from a Gloucester Garden" at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 10 in the Rockport Public Library. Illustrated with the author's own watercolors, this gardening book illuminates every aspect of garden planning and planting. Sensitive to the plants' forms, hues, and horticultural demands, Smith advises how to establish a succession of blooms and a selection of plant material that eliminate the need for pesticides and herbicides. The author is equally interested in the intangibles of a garden: its moods and ambiance, the butterflies and birds, the harmonious patterns of color, light, and texture. The book is as much about how to visualize a garden as about particular native, and well-behaved ornamental, trees, shrubs, vines, perennials, and annuals. The book, which cites poetry and quotations from Eastern and Western sources, challenges the reader with an artist's eye while drawing from practical experience. Smith attended The School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Massachusetts College of Art, and the Landscape Institute of the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University.
seARTS presents an art show and salon evening
In a collaboration between an arts group and a private organization, seARTS is showcasing 26 of its members at an Art Show at Bass Rocks Golf Club's new facility on 34 Beach Road in Gloucester titled "Something for Everyone." The show was curated by Mary Beth Bainbridge, assistant to the Chief Curator to the Peabody-Essex Museum. The show opens Dec. 9 with a special event. The public is invited to participate in the salon program to be led by three artists whose styles are distinct from each other. Leslie Bartlett, Yhanna Coffin, and Marilyn Swift will talk about their artistic approach. The evening begins at 6 p.m. with an open hour to view the works and the program begins at 7 p.m.
Artists on exhibit include: Trudy Allen, Sara Elizabeth Austin, Les Bartlett, Lawrence Bittman, Michelle Cangemi, Yhanna Coffin, Anna Coniaris Comolli, Paul S. Cultrera, Sr., Vicki Diez-Canseco, Devera Ehrenberg, Rose-Marie Glen, Paul Cary Goldberg, Jamie Keshet, Adrian Lauterstein, Ruth Mordecai, Marty Morgan, Christy Park, David Piemonte, Max Schenk, Richard Seeley, David Stotzer, Marilyn Swift, Anna Vojtech, Martha Wakefield, Jan Walker, and BJ Wayne. The show runs through Dec. 19. A portion of the sales goes to seARTS.
Two nights of original music
The Blackburn Performing Arts presents two evenings of original music on Friday and Saturday. Friday night features Tom "Satch" Kerans, a singer/songwriter/guitarist/rocker, who will perform songs from his new album "Riverboys" with his band. Opening will be Gloucester's Acoustic Firetrucks. Saturday features Salem's Machine 475 that offers an eclectic mix of electronica. Opening will be Free Range Experiment. Both evenings begin at 8 p.m. The arts center is at One Washington St. in Gloucester. Admission is $10. For reservations, call 978-281-0680.
Christmas bazaar
The First Congregational Church of Rockport at 12 School St. in downtown Rockport will hold its annual bazaar on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The event features handcrafted gifts, Christmas wreaths and decorations, knit items, aprons, dolls, holiday ties, tools and tool boxes, bird houses, ornaments, jewelry, baked goods, snacks and lunch. The School Street entrance is handicapped accessible.
Open holiday studio
The annual holiday studio sale at Catherine Wygant Designs takes place on tomorrow and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 16 Rocky Hill Road¬ in¬ Essex. Her work includes mix-and-match earrings with reversible removable jackets, brooches with magnets, and a large selection of¬ neck-wires with adapters. There are also custom designed¬ plexiglas stands for displaying one's brooch or earrings as a sculpture.¬ There will be complimentary gift boxes, bags and polishing cloths.¬ Call 978-853-5188 for more information.
A view of a busy waterfront
"Fresh Ideas for Our Harbor," a community forum on Gloucester's waterfront on Monday, will unveil a film made by Gordon Baird, which offers a panorama of present life and marine industrial activities on the waterfront. The screening takes place at City Hall on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. Baird will speak about the inspiration to make the film, and also serve as moderator for the forum. The film will be followed by a short presentation by Gloucester native Peter Anastas titled "The Lights are on in Gloucester Harbor." There will be a question and answer period.
A dog's day with Santa
The fifth annual Santa Paws event to benefit Cape Ann Animal Aid will take place at Good Dog! Gallery at 36 Bearskin Neck in Rockport where one can have their dog's picture taken on Santa's lap. Hours are Saturday, Dec. 6 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Sunday, Dec. 7 from noon to 2 p.m. For a $10 donation, pet owners take home a holiday photo, and receive an email of the image. There is an open house with refreshments all day. For information, call 978-546-1364 or visit GoodDogGallery.com or CapeAnnAnimalAid.com for more details.
seARTS film series
The seARTS film series continues on Sunday, Dec. 7, for the screening of "L'Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio," at 4:30 p.m. at the Cape Ann Cinema. A discussion after the film will be led by guest speakers David Benjamin, from Cape Ann Symphony and Gloucester Public Schools, and Mark Warhol, a Gloucester-based composer. Piazza Vittorio is a working-class neighborhood in Rome with a large population of immigrants and which is home to an aging theater, The Apollo. Determined to save the theater from becoming a bingo hall, two friends started an organization to transform the Apollo into a community arts space. The documentary follows L'Orchestra di Piazza's journey as it grows into an orchestra of musicians. Variety called the film contagiously upbeat and a "rousing call to arms for world-music aficionados, with strong appeal to those who believe in the mini-miracles of neighborhood cultural initiatives." For information, call 978-281-1222.
The Scopes-Monkey trial
The fall Rockport High School production of "Inherit the Wind," by Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee, will be performed Dec. 11 to 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the RHS auditorium. The work is based on the famous Scopes-Monkey trial. Tickets are $7, $5 for students/seniors.
A lecture on Gershon Benjamin (1899 — 1985)
The Cape Ann Museum will present a lecture by Lisa Peters of the Spanierman Gallery titled "Working Alone Together" about Gershon Benjamin and the circle of artists around Milton Avery in Gloucester in the 1930s. The free lecture takes place on Saturday at 3 p.m. The program is presented in conjunction with the current exhibition. The lecture will examine the experience of these artists, considering why the artists chose to come to Gloucester at that time, what they created during their stay, how they fit into the existing art community, and the impact their Gloucester visits had on their work. Peters is director of research and publications for the Spanierman Gallery in New York City. She has written several exhibition catalogues including one for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She has also written for the American Art Journal, American Art Review and Plein-Air Magazine. The museum is located at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester. For information, call 978-283-0455 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.
Merging generations in music
Toni Ann Enes, a local vocalist, suggested merging the generations for a crossover of music on one stage, an event which will take place on Saturday, Dec. 6 at 9 p.m. at Cameron's in Gloucester. The musicians will be Enes, Dave Keon on guitar, Peter Malaquias on drums and lead vocals, Kevin Walker on bass, Deby Wantman on vocals who will pair up with Carlos Menezes Jr. and Tim Klopotoski of Mile 21. Enes watched Menezes grow into a professional musician from his beginnings with the Docksiders of Gloucester High School. Enes noted that Menezes and Klopotoski have become the "horn section to see."
Borsari book back in print
Andrew Borsari will sign copies of "Rockport, A Village By the Sea," now back in print, at 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Toad Hall Bookstore in Rockport. Call 978-546-7323 for more information.
Author of "The Serpent Came to Gloucester"
The Cape Ann Museum invites families to a free event with the reading of "The Serpent Came to Gloucester," by author M.T. Anderson on Saturday at 11 a.m. The book recounts the 1817 sightings of a sea creature in Gloucester Harbor. Anderson is the author of "Traitor to the Nation, Volume 1: The Pox Party," which won the National Book Award for young people's literature in 2006. Some of the museum's archival materials will be available for viewing. Elementary school students will have their serpent inspired artwork on display. The museum is located at 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester. For information call 978- 283-0455 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.
Kirov ballet's Nutcracker and more on film
The Cape Ann Cinema shows "Trouble the Water," winner of the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, tonight at 7:15 p.m. The film tells the story of an aspiring rap artist and her streetwise husband, trapped in New Orleans by deadly flood waters, who survive the storm and then seize a chance for a new beginning.
Other shows this weekend are: Friday, Dec. 5: "Trouble the Water" at 5 p.m.; and "A Girl Cut in Two" at 7:15 p.m. This is the latest film from French master Claude Chabrol about a jaded novelist and a too happily married "ladies man" whose latest conquest is TV weathergirl Gabrielle. The story takes as its starting point a famous Gilded Age crime of passion, the murder of Madison Square Garden architect and notorious womanizer Stanford White.
Saturday, Dec. 6: "The Nutcracker" in HD will be shown at 2 p.m. This 2007 production showcases the costumes and startling staging designed by Mikhail Shemiakin, a renowned avant-garde artist and sculptor, who reinterpreted the historical ballet. Also on Saturday are "Trouble the Water" at 5 p.m. and "A Girl Cut in Two" at 7:15 p.m.
On Sunday, "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" will be shown at 2 p.m.; "L'orchestra di Piazza Vittorio" at 4:30 p.m. and "A Girl Cut in Two" at 7:15 p.m. Films are shown at Gloucester Stage Company. For information, go to www.capeanncinema.com.
Wilson at the Greenery
The work of Jud Wilson is on display for the month of December at the Grennery¬ Restaurant¬ in Rockport. There will be an opening reception tonight from 7 to 9 p.m. The show continues through Christmas.¬
Last week to bid on art
The Unitarian Universalist Society of Rockport is in its last week to view an art exhibition for a silent auction featuring paintings by well-known Cape Ann artists. The work is open for silent bidding until Dec. 10. The artwork can be viewed on line at www.uusr.org. Bids can be placed in person or by phone at 978-546-2989.
Musical of "Narnia"
The Theatre of Light will present "Narnia the Musical" based on C.S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" on Dec. 6, 7, 13, 14 on Saturdays at 7 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m. in the auditorium at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Salem. Tickets can be reserved by calling 978-210-9818. The cast includes 37 actors, ages 6 to 17, from several North Shore communities. Jape Payette plays the lead role of "Aslan." The musical has light-hearted moments interspersed with drama.
Flatrocks opens new show
Flatrocks Gallery's holiday show "Small Gifts" will present a selection of "wrappable art," which the owners see as small scale paintings, sculpture and ceramics as well as jewelry and clothing items. Modest in price as well as size, these artistic stocking stuffers will add a dash of whimsy and creativity to the shopping season. A portion of the proceeds from the opening will benefit the Gloucester Education Foundation. Hours are Dec. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. The show runs through Jan. 4. The gallery is at 77 Langsford St. in Lanesville, and is open every week Thur through Sun, noon to 5 p.m.
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Around Cape Ann is a column devoted to events happening on Cape Ann and artists from Cape Ann performing elsewhere. If you would like to submit an item, contact reporter Gail McCarthy at 978-283-7000, ext. 3445 or gmccarthy@gloucestertimes.com, or fax to 978-281-5748.
