Sebastian Junger has made a career out of exploring questions he’ll never be able to fully answer: What happened to the crew of the Gloucester swordfishing boat Andrea Gail after […] The post Sebastian Junger’s Latest Book Tackles the Mysteries of Life and Death appeared first on Northshore Magazine ..read more

When Pablo Picasso said, “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary,” he was declaring his art as a record of his creative journey, each piece a snapshot of […] The post North Reading Gallery Show Is Like a Peek Into Artist Jan Roy’s Diary appeared first on Northshore Magazine ..read more

If you’re interested in adding some art to your summer rotation of beach days, ice cream, and drinks on the terrace, the North Shore is serving up some intriguing options the August. En Plein Air, Newburyport Art Association, Newburyport Through Aug. 25, 2024 Plein-air art is an often-dreamy and impressionistic style focused on capturing the […] The post Four New Art Exhibitions to Explore on the North Shore this August appeared first on Northshore Magazine ..read more

In 1962, a group of Marblehead residents, inspired by a failed attempt by the city of Boston to launch an arts festival, took it upon themselves to try it at home. “Doggone it, why can’t we do something like that?” asked Pat Goddard, then secretary of the Marblehead Chamber of Commerce. Well, they did. And now, celebrating its 58th year, the Marblehead Festival of the Arts has grown from a humble gathering of friends to a premier event. This multi-day arts extravaganza runs from July 3–7. The celebration of artistic expression draws thousands from around the region to the picturesque community ..read more

What does it mean to live in the world, coexisting with other living things great and small? What does it mean to be both stewards and residents of our shared planet? And how can we reimagine a future where everyone and everything can thrive in harmony? Those are some of the big ideas of “Our Time on Earth,” an ambitious, imaginative, and inspiring exhibition on view at the Peabody Essex Museum through June 9 that uses art and science to explore themes of conservation, cross-species existence, climate change, biodiversity, indigenous knowledge, and more. “The environment is a huge subject with ..read more

“Have you ever seen anything so blue?” Jonathan Sherman holds out a mason jar filled with a beautiful powder of the richest, most shocking blue. It’s ground stone—lapis lazuli from Afghanistan—and he’s using it to mix his own oil paint. He scoops a bit of the powder onto a marble board and adds a few drops of amber-hued Italian linseed oil that he thickened in the south-facing summer sun for three weeks. It’s a meticulous task but seems fitting for Sherman, an artist whose works, and even his Marblehead studio, feel of another time. “The fascinating thing about oil paint is the oil and the pig ..read more

For decades, the city of Lynn has had a vibrant hip-hop scene, with local performers and DJs contributing to an unmistakable sound. But by the 2010s, according to Edwin Cabrera, a local music promoter and founder of Grind House Recordings, gentrification of the industrial city and an association with violence and gang life threatened to overshadow the special culture, and he worried something unique was in danger of being lost. Cabrera reached out to the Essex County Community Foundation (ECCF), an organization supporting regional nonprofits with resources and funding. With a special projects ..read more

Classical music can have the reputation of being somewhat stuffy, a relic of the past confined to big city stages. Yoichi Udagawa, conductor and musical director for the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra, is out to show how misguided that idea really is. “We think of it as a living art with something to say to people today,” says Udagawa. “It’s full of passion, it’s full of energy, and it can be very exciting in the here and now—and we hope that we get that across in our performances.” For more than 70 years, in fact, the Cape Ann Symphony Orchestra has been gathering talented musicians to bring cla ..read more

If you’ve ever had a springtime stroll along the Newburyport boardwalk, Marblehead Harbor, or another North Shore seaside locale, you’ve no doubt encountered plein-air painters, photographers, and other artists inspired by our beautiful landscape and views. It’s no wonder, then, that the North Shore has an embarrassment of riches when it comes to art associations, which exhibit works from artists around the region—and even the country—in rotating galleries, exhibitions, and competitive juried shows that showcase the best of the best, while also providing education, public art, and connection t ..read more

Dr. Minji Kim, musical director of the Newburyport Choral Society, conducts with her whole body. It’s almost balletic, the way she moves around the stage, bouncing on the balls of her feet, swaying, waving, and clapping, with her hands elegantly swirling and fluttering. Music swirls around her as a hundred voices follow her every move, rising, falling, and pausing in tentative harmony. It’s the end of October, and the group of more than 100 singers is rehearsing at Belleville Church in Newburyport, about six weeks away from a winter concert performance, “A Celebration of Unity: Holiday Mu ..read more