Wanted: Arts projects seek help for Ukraine, personal stories, ocean debris & music lovers
Cape Cod artists continue to use their talent and their compassion to create art to raise money for organizations that are on the ground in Ukraine to help citizens caught in the Russian invasion of their country. Here are two new efforts to make a difference there:
► Heather MacKenzie, an artist/photographer who grew up in Chatham, has been creating a special Ukraine Collection of art, with 50% of sales proceeds dedicated to the World Central Kitchen’s #ChefsforUkraine charity program. The work can be found at her website www.PicturePoet.com, and the images can be bought on prints as well as items like tote bags and mugs through Pixels.com: https://heather-mackenzie.pixels.com/collections/ukrainian+anti+war+statement+art.
MacKenzie’s first three pieces of Ukraine-inspired art were shown at the Harwich Cultural Center, and her studio there is open by appointment. Mackenzie says she was an anti-war activist in the 1960s and “the Ukraine situation has inspired my revolutionary spirit to create new anti-war art for the Ukrainian cause.”
► Nine local artists, who together have created the cooperative Coastal Craft Gallery in Orleans, are making specific art to sell to aid the people of Ukraine, with 100% of the sale proceeds helping the Medical Missions for Children (mmfc.org) that provides medical supplies for the Ukrainian people.
In the first few days of the campaign last week, the small gallery raised $500. Besides sales on its website, there is also an opportunity there to donate directly to the organization at the time of other purchases or through the gallery's Relief Fund.
“As artists, we each felt the call to find a way to support the people of Ukraine that extends past our art,” explained an email from the gallery, and artist/manager Roberta Anslow said Dr. Dennis Snyder, founder and CEO of Medical Missions for Children, was due to visit the gallery this past week and would receive the first check of what the artists hope will be many.
How to help: 'Shared creation': More art for Ukraine, more theaters reveal seasons, more arts news
MMFC first traveled to Ukraine in 1998, and since then they have carried out 42 charity trips to the cities of L’viv and Chervonohrad. The group has provided medical expertise, plus technology to care for children and young adults with craniofacial deformities and severe burn injuries, and established surgical programs at hospitals in both of these cities.
More information and to donate: https://coastalcraftgallery.com/.
Woods Hole theater wants your stories
Did you always want to say something to someone, perhaps in a letter, but never got up the courage or found the time? Woods Hole Theater Company is looking for just those sentiments left unsaid for a June 2-3 event called “The Letter I Never Sent.”
The show will be produced at the Gallery on Main in Falmouth with live music by Steve Gregory, starring people from the community whose letters are chosen to be read. The company is asking people to send in those letters by a May 20 deadline and a theater director will work with the writers of those chosen to create a show.
“Audiences get to share in your experiences, joys, sadness. Whatever you share will be treasured by all of us,” the call reads. “No distancing now. The Woods Hole Theater is putting community back into community theater.”
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Don’t know what to send? Here’s how the company describes what it’s looking for:
“Is there something you wish you had said to a parent, an ex, a boss, a friend, a landlord, an in-law, a teacher, a bully, a grandparent, a pet, a celebrity, etc.? You are not alone. We all have words we can't or couldn’t say. Maybe because the person has passed away, or has moved. Or perhaps the cost was too high. Or perhaps you haven’t tried to find the words yet. We want to give participants a moment to let it out and to let it go. And to share their story with an audience. Let’s stop the silence. Let’s start talking and listening.”
To participate: Those 18 and older, and willing to read the letter in person before a live audience, may go to woodsholetheater.org for the rules. Letters may also be submitted there, no longer than two pages, single-spaced. Don’t use real names or identifying information, but all stories must be true. Those chosen will be notified two weeks before production, with rehearsals May 24-25.
Tales of Cape Cod reveals its speakers
The Tales of Cape Cod program will present its season of weekly lectures and events starting Monday at its Olde Colonial Courthouse home in Barnstable. All programs begin at 7 p.m., with receptions following, along with book signings if applicable. Most admission is $15, $10 for members. Information: https://talesofcapecod.org/.
“That’s Amore,” a concert with singer John Murelle and pianist John Salerno, with guest Dennis Nobrego, will kick off the season Monday with songs, stories, food and wine celebrating music and history of Italy. (Admission is $25, $20 members).
Upcoming talks: May 16, historian and retired judge Gregory Williams discussing “Slavery & Segregation, Antebellum Massachusetts – The Law of Shaw”; May 23, author Michael Tougias, “The Untold Story of the Cuban Crisis: Four Incidents that Could Have Sparked World War III”; June 6, author William Martin introducing his latest book “December 1941”; June 13, Duxbury Historical Society archivist Carolyn Ravenscroft on “Women at Sea”; June 20, historian Dan Haslam on “Truro Highland Links”; June 27, author Nancy Rubin Stuart on her “Poor Richard’s Women.”
In July: July 7, historian Sloane Awtrey and others on “History Revisited: Updating Old Stories with New Information”; July 1, historian Nancy Viall Shoemaker on “The Women of Barnstable”; July 18, Williams on “Murder Myths: Medieval Europe to Osterville”; and July 25, actress Judith Kaloaora performing “Tinseltown Inventor, the Most Beautiful Woman in the World, Hedy Lamar.”
In August: Aug. 1, Author Eric Jay Dolin on “Rebels at Sea”; Aug. 8, author Casey Sherman on his new book “Helltown” about Provincetown serial killer Tony Costa and his connections to authors Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut; Aug. 15, “Cape Cod Modern Houses” with founding director of Cape Cod Modern House Trust Peter McMahon; Aug. 12, “New England Lighthouses & the People Who Kept Them,” with Jeremy D’Entremont, maritime historian and lighthouse expert; Aug. 29, author Vincent Miles on “Transatlantic Train: Boston, Liverpool & Cape Cod Captains.”
In September: Sept. 12, storyteller Marty Sandler on “Baseball’s Finest Hour”; Sept. 19, Joe Yukna, director of Cape Cod Military Museum, on “The Use of Animals in WWI”; Sept. 26, historian Paul Chesboro on “Oysters & Catboats: A Founding of a Village”; and Oct. 3, Williams on “Before Salem: ‘Witches’ in Massachusetts.”
Two summer concert series announced
There will be multiple ways to listen to music this summer, and the seasons for two options for concerts of classical music and other genres have been revealed, with one starting in just a few weeks:
► The Atwood Museum, run by the Chatham Historical Society, will host its first “Music at the Atwood” concert series at 7:30 p.m. on some Thursdays June 2-Aug. 25 at the museum’s Mural Barn at 347 Stage Harbor Road in Chatham. The programs will include jazz, contemporary, classical music and more by talent from around the region. Space will be limited.
The schedule: June 2, violinist Joshua Peckins and pianist Elikol Akahori; June 23, violinist Audrey Wright and pianist Yundu Wang; July 7, Crowes Pasture (guitarist Andy Rogovin and banjo player Monique Byrne); July 28, jazz guitarist Henry Acker; Aug. 11, contemporary vocalist Kim Moberg and violinist Heather Swanson; and Aug. 25, jazz vocalist Mozelle Andrulot.
Tickets: $25; www.chathamhistoricalsociety.org.
► The Meeting House Chamber Music Festival will begin its 48th season, offering seven 7:30 p.m. concerts over more than a month at Church of the Holy Spirit, 204 Monument Road, Orleans.
A series ticket is $90; single tickets $25 at the door when seating is available. Program and ticket details: www.meetinghousemusic.org or 508-896-3344.
Artistic director Donald Enos will play the piano for all performances. The concerts begin June 20 with him and Clark Matthews on horn for a program that includes music by Ries, Saint-Saëns, Franz Strauss and more. For full programs on that and subsequent concerts, check the festival website, with some musical choices yet to be announced.
Other performances with Enos: June 27, violinist Alexander Velinzon and harpist Elisabeth Remy; July 1, cellist Amit Peled; July 5, violinist Heather Goodchild Wade, viola player Laura Manko Sahin, and cellist Bo Ericsson; July 12, violinist Joyce Hammann and cellist Matthias Naegele; July 19, violinist Irina Muresanu and cellist Sergey Antonov; and July 25, violinist Katie Lansdale.
Seashore seeks art from marine debris
The deadline is June 8, World Oceans Day, for artists to submit proposals for a new outdoor exhibition that will feature marine debris to be set up at the Cape Cod National Seashore as a collaboration between the Center for Coastal Studies in Provincetown and the National Park Service.
Funding for the project, according to an announcement, is made possible by a link between the park service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Marine Debris Program in a nationwide effort to educate and inform about marine debris issues affecting national parks. The aim is to have the artwork raise awareness and encourage behavior changes that reduce or prevent marine debris.
Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of jurors with a range of expertise, from ocean science to art to engineering, and the work is expected to be on display for several years.
The chosen artwork will be revealed July 15, the announcement said, with installation of the piece completed by Earth Day in April 2023 and publicly dedicated on World Ocean Day 2023. To obtain the Request for Proposals: contact Laura Ludwig at lludwig@coastalstudies.org or Aleutia Scott at aleutia_scott@nps.gov.
Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.
This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: Cape Cod artists help raise money for those in Ukraine
