Artists & Authors on display at the Hawthorne Hotel

The art scene of Massachusetts’ North Shore area has always been progressive and trend-setting. Artists like Winslow Homer and Mark Rothko visited often for inspiration and relaxation. The Salem Arts Association, relatively new to the North Shore arts association community, is active and helping the other more established arts associations continue to cultivate artists from Salem to Gloucester and from Rockport to Cape Ann. 
 

The Hawthorne Hotel, always active in the local community, has a great way to brighten up this long, cold winter. The hotel will host An Evening with Artists and Authors on Thursday, February 24 in the Grand Ballroom. From 5pm-9pm, the hotel will showcase some of the area’s most talented artists and authors, both new and established, while local orchestra Special Edition provides musical entertainment. 

An Evening with Artists and Authors is free and open to the public. Some of the artists available to meet and greet and who will have their work on display include: Ellen Hardy, Wendy Snow-Lang, Charles Lang, Elaine Snow, Jan Condon, Nancy Barnes, Dan Browne, james bird, Vicki Ryder, and Karen Hallion. Authors include: Christopher Jon Luke Dowgin, Matthew Fraser, Kristie Poehler, and the North Shore Writers Group. Salem poet, Claire Keyes will be doing a poetry reading.

Books and art work will be for sale. 

Specials will be available in the Tavern and Nathaniel’s that evening and visitors are encouraged to have a bite to eat after they have spent time in this exciting exhibition.

Salem Film Fest is two weeks away

We have an amazing festival schedule in Salem.  I know I'm biased, but really... arts, literature, heritage, Halloween, holidays, Chocolate & Wine, film... we know what and how to celebrate!

Next on the agenda is the Fourth Annual Salem Film Fest (Four, already! It seems like just yesterday the red carpet was being rolled out for the first time.), which will open on March 4.  Salem Film Fest is emerging as a leading American all-documentary film festival, showcasing a rich and diverse collection of the year's best work from all over the world. 

This year, the week-long festival (March 4-10) will feature a remarkable selection of films that tell stories from our global community, including Pakistan, Russia, Tibet, New Zealand, Finland and Mexico. Topics include art, poetry, religion, and love, to name a few. There will be Jihad, Cabaret, imprisonment, gardening, music, drugs, and nudity.

I'm painting a big picture. These are broad strokes.  Visit SalemFilmFest.com to get excited for the festival.  You'll find everything you need on the web site, including ticket information, schedules, and interviews with filmmakers.



Come to Salem. See the world.

Make reservations for the annual Princess Tea!

Calling all moms, aunts, grandmothers, godmothers, and fairy godmothers!  Bring your princesses to tea at the Hawthorne Hotel. . . . And by the way, dads, uncles and grandfathers are welcome too!-- as the historic Hawthorne Hotel, a member of Historic Hotels of America, announces the Annual Princess Tea on Saturday, February 19, 2011 from 12-2pm.  

The event will take place in the hotel’s Grand Ballroom and will include tea, music, and photos with the “Hawthorne Hotel” Princesses. Songs provided by Princess Kate. Children are encouraged to wear hats, gloves and pink attire, and although it is optional, it is always in good taste. 

Ticket Prices

Children 3-12 are $18.50

Children 3-under are $12 

Grownups are $28

Reservations can be made by calling 978-825-4311.  
 

Still Making History

On Thursday, Destination Salem unveiled its new logo and tag line, and we can't wait to use it just about everywhere we can!

Click here to see our announcement video.   

Salem is...

If you are not seeing the video / slide show, please click here to see it online. 

17th-Century Dutch and Flemish Paintings Debuts at PEM

Get out your passports, because this month the Peabody Essex Museum is transitioning from China to the Netherlands.  The incredible Forbidden Palace exhibition, which closed in January, brought thousands to Salem and to the museum. As sad as we were to see it leave for New York, we always knew it was a seasonal romance, and that we would have to say goodbye after the holidays.

Still Life with Roses in a Glass Vase, c. 1619

Ambrosius Bosschaert the Elder (1573-1621)
Oil on copper
11 x 9 inches (28 x 23 cm)
The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection
Image courtesy Peabody Essex Museum

And say goodbye we did.  And then it snowed.  And it snowed some more.  And it the temperatures dropped to downright frigid levels.  Our focus turned to shovels and ice melt.  But spring is coming!  And it is being heralded by tulips. Fabulous Dutch tulips!

On February 26, the PEM will open the world premiere exhibition of the complete Van Otterloo Collection of Dutch and Flemish Masterworks.  This is one of the world's best private collections of 17th-century Dutch and Flemish paintings, and includes masterworks by Rembrandt, Frans Hals, Gerrit Dou, Jan Steen and others.

The PEM describes the exhibit, Golden: Dutch and Flemish Masterworks from the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection, as a collection of paintings, furniture and decorative arts exceptional for their quality, superb condition, and impeccable provenance.  As exemplars of the Dutch Golden Age, the works are distinguished not only for the glowing quality of light achieved by the most talented artists of the time, but also for their place in an unsurpassed period of artistic, cultural, scientific, and commercial accomplishments in the Netherlands.


You can read the entire release on PEM.org. 

Golden opens on February 26 and runs through June 19.

Portrait of Aeltje Uylenburgh, 1632.

Rembrandt (Harmensz.) van Rijn (1606–1669)
Oil on panel
The Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Collection
Image courtesy of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Harlem Quartet to play at Salem State University

Here is one of the many reasons we are so lucky to have Salem State University - the Center for the Creative and Performing Arts brings fantastic talent to Salem throughout the year.

Tonight, the Harlem Quartet will perform.  This young, urban, diverse and nationally acclaimed group advances diversity in classical music while engaging young and new audiences by featuring a varied repertoire and highlighting works by minority composers.

Here's the how, when, and where:

Monday, February 14, 7:30 pm. 

Salem State University Recital Hall

Central Campus, 71 Loring Avenue

$20 general / $10students and seniors / Free with Salem State student ID

Purchase online at www.salemtstatetickets.com.  (If available, tickets will be sold at the door one hour prior to performance) 

Additional information: 978-542-7890.