A ribbon-cutting ceremony on Monday afternoon will unveil The Cut, a new, much-buzzed-about restaurant and performance venue in downtown Gloucester that the leadership team hopes will become an entertainment and dining destination for the entire North Shore and beyond. The space includes a 120-seat dining area and bar, a game room, and a performance area with room for up to 500 spectators to really enjoy the music. “We want the place to be kinetic,” says director of operations Travis Siewers. “Gloucester is a stand-up-and-dance kind of place.” To achieve this goal, Siewers and his partners tra ..read more

The mural is a surprising riot of color, covering a south-facing wall of the Tannery Marketplace in Newburyport. An arresting image of a heron, wings spread across a deeply saturated background, towers in lush contrast to the industrial brick of the surrounding buildings.  Painted by renowned muralist Felipe Ortiz, it’s perhaps the most obvious signifier of the ways that the Newburyport Art Association is stretching to welcome new voices as it celebrates 75 years in operation. “Our mission statement is huge and wide, and we’re trying to do a lot,” says Dr. Lisa Naas, executive director, w ..read more

The domestic arts of sewing, embroidery, and quilting result in beautiful, intricate creations that are bright, colorful, and intimate. But they’ve also been long associated with women and the home, and haven’t been given the wider artistic attention they deserve. Black women, too, are often overlooked, ignored, and left out of the rarefied world of fine art.  That’s not the case this fall at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM), which is showcasing 12 textile-based portraits by Gio Swaby, a young Bahamian-Canadian artist who uses fabric and thread to create colorful images of the women in her ..read more

On a tall brick wall overlooking the Tannery in Newburyport, a towering great blue heron spreads its wings, neck outstretched. Lower down, a spiny sturgeon undulates, while a pair of plovers flits above. Behind all the creatures, bold colors—vibrant cobalt, deep crimson, marigold yellow—splash across the brick.  “It’s very expressive,” says Boston-based artist Felipe Ortiz, contemplating his mural and preparing to add some finishing touches on a sunny late-July day. “There’s a lot of movement and energy.” The sprawling artwork is part of We Share One Sky, a public art project that is a c ..read more

Debbie Mueller discovered painting in February 2016 while stuck inside on a rainy day during a family vacation in Florida. With nothing else to do, her mother pulled out some acrylic paints and suggested making some art. Though Mueller had spent more than 50 years of her life convinced she had no artistic talent at all, she decided to give it a go. “I had nothing better to do, so I said OK,” she says. “I created a terrible painting, but I loved the way it made me feel. It was focused, it was meditative, it was creative.” Debbie Mueller When Mueller, then a full-time obstetrician and gynecologi ..read more

In late July, the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester opened the single most comprehensive collection of work by renowned artist Edward Hopper outside of the Whitney Museum, including some 66 pieces of artwork. What makes this exhibition unique and significant, however, far exceeds the number of pieces on display. Gloucester Beach, Bass Rocks, 1923-24, Watercolor, 11 x 17 1/2 in. (27.9 x 44.4 cm), Private Collection, Image courtesy Christie’s, © 2023 Heirs of Josephine N. Hopper / Licensed by Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY Hopper’s catalog of work across the scope of his career is firmly cemented ..read more

This weekend marks the opening of Edward Hopper & Cape Ann: Illuminating an American Landscape, the highly anticipated exhibition of works by the critically acclaimed American artist during a turning point in his life and career when he came to Cape Ann from 1923 to 1928.   This major exhibition is the first dedicated to Hopper’s formative development on Cape Ann, marking the pivotal summer of 1923 when Edward Hopper and his future wife, Josephine “Jo” Nivison, visited Gloucester. Edward Hopper & Cape Ann opens on Hopper’s birthday, July 22, runs through October 16, 2023, and ..read more

Science is objective; art is subjective. Science involves facts and figures, and art employs whimsy and creativity. But the Peabody Essex Museum’s exhibit Climate Action: Inspiring Change proves that science and art are just two sides of the same coin—often helping each other communicate information more effectively together rather than alone. Science and art are two of humanity’s most impressive hallmarks, and together they help inspire optimism about climate change at the exhibit in the museum’s Art & Nature Center. Curated by Janey Winchell, director of the center and curator of natural ..read more

Cirque du Soleil’s magnificent production of Corteo swung and leapt through New Hampshire last month and is returning to our region with seven shows in Boston from June 8 to 11 at the Agganis Arena. Tickets are available online at cirquedusoleil.com/usa/boston/shows. Hailing from Montreal, Cirque du Soleil brings a modern, whimsical, and often dark and strange sensibility with its high-flying circus performances that combine nail-biting aerial feats and acrobatics with live music, comedy, beautiful costuming, clowns and dancers, and otherworldly storytelling. This touring production, Corteo, h ..read more

Fashion and design permeate every aspect of our lives, from the clothes we select each day to the colorful food packaging in our local grocery stores. “Humans have an impulse to create and regardless of culture, of time period, or even materials, there is something unifying in the way in which we express ourselves through fashion and design,” says Petra Slinkard, the Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles and Director of Curatorial Affairs at the Peabody Essex Museum. Slinkard was hired in February 2018 to mastermind the contents of Fashion and Design, a 5,000-square-foot space in the ..read more