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FULL EPISODE: December 17, 2021
by NEPM | Dec 17, 2021 | Full Episode, Show Segments | 0 comments
Glass Artist Josh Simpson reflects on his fifty-year career of blowing lumps of molten glass into intricate, cosmically inspired works of art. Learn how the New Music Alliance fosters the careers of talented local musicians in western Mass.
Then, visit the First Friday ArtWalk, where local artists, musicians, and more come together on North Street in Pittsfield's Cultural District for a walking art tour. Franklin County journalist Richie Davis talks about his new book, "Good Will & Ice Cream."
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Escape the cold and venture east to one of Massachusetts' most popular travel destinations: Cape Cod tonight at 7:30pm on @nepublicmedia and streaming at https://nepm.org/connectingpoint.
There may be snow in the forecast, but we're escaping to the sun, sands, and seas of Cape Cod tomorrow at 7:30pm on @nepublicmedia and streaming at https://nepm.org/connectingpoint.
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In the early days of the pandemic, many of us found comfort in hobbies like baking bread or taking up knitting. @HolyokeCC student Avery Maltz found solace in tending the lush oasis that is the HCC Greenhouse.
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What's on deck at the @UMassFACr? Director Jamilla Deria previews some of the shows you can catch at the FAC this spring.
After taking a break from school, Avery Maltz found a welcoming and inclusive community at @HolyokeCC.
Maltz shares how receiving a @PointFoundation @WellsFargo Scholarship is helping them amplify marginalized voices and use natural sciences to create a more accessible world.
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Divided: Scenes from Inauguration 2021
A Photo and Interview Series by Barry Goldstein
In America, the inauguration of a Commander In Chief is traditionally a time of celebration. Politicians, special guests, and everyday Americans converge on the National Mall in front of the U.S. Capitol building to mark the swearing in of the next President of the United States. Full of pomp and circumstance, inaugurations are an important democratic ritual and a symbol of the peaceful transfer of power.
Explore Cape Cod: Highland Light
Once known as the biggest and most powerful light on the East Coast, Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse, the Highland Light, sits perched 120 feet above the ocean in Truro, MA.Moved to its present location in July of 1996 due to the eroding shoreline, the Cape's tallest lighthouse is now owned by the National Park Service as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and still serves as an active aid to navigation to this day.Producer Dave Fraser takes us
Once known as the biggest and most powerful light on the East Coast, Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse, the Highland Light, sits perched 120 feet above the ocean in Truro, MA.Moved to its present location in July of 1996 due to the ero
Once known as the biggest and most powerful light on the East Coast, Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse, the Highland Light, sits perched 120 feet above the ocean in Truro, MA.
Moved to its present location in July of 1996 due to the eroding shoreline, the Cape's tallest lighthouse is now owned by the National Park Service as part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, and still serves as an active aid to navigation to this day.
Producer Dave Fraser takes us there.
This story originally aired on August 6, 2021.
Read the full transcript:
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: Once known the biggest and most powerful light on the East Coast, Cape Cod's oldest lighthouse, the Highland Light, sits perched 120 feet above the ocean in Truro, MA.
Dan Sanders, Highland Lighthouse President: The Highland Light was, at one time, the biggest and most powerful light on the East Coast.
I think it's part of our American heritage, and I think people tend to be drawn to it for that reason. But I also tend to think there's an attraction of a lighthouse by the sea to most people, because people do climb it. It puzzles me a little bit because I'm an older guy.
And when I was a little kid, this lighthouse and the other lighthouses were very big parts of our maritime heritage, because global positioning systems and things like that hadn't come in yet. And the lighthouse was still critical to navigation.
We are sitting right now on 42 North latitude and 70 West latitude, 2,900 miles dead east is Portugal. Eight hundred and forty is the Titanic.
So, there's four lights out here telling you how to navigate yourself around Cape Cod. Now, why? Because we stick way out to sea. And if you don't have those kinds of navigational lights, then you could run into the Cape, thinking you were headed for Boston. And many, many ships did.
What you see is two balconies. The light in the lighthouse is swinging round and round so that it glows on the horizon all the time. And every five seconds it flashes bright. And if you're a ship captain coming in from Europe in a sailing ship on your way out to sea, that five second flash identifies that you are on the Highland Light.
Right now we're 65 feet above the ground, but the ground's 120 feet above the ocean, so we're one hundred and eighty four feet above the ocean. And this light can project 16.3miles to seaward.
There's no doors in the light room, because if you were to open that door one hundred years ago, and high wind -- it might blow out the light. And if it blew out the light -- big, huge, expensive light -- and the ships coming in from Europe didn't pick up the light, that would be a disaster. So you go out to lower gallery, walk around climb a ladder on the back.
And the original location, of course, is where that stone is in 1797. It's moved back 16 years ago.
But a couple of years before that, the Coast Guard guy sitting in a lighthouse in a big storm, suddenly found a banking to our left going over the side. The banking is steadily eroding. The lighthouse is as far back from the bank now as it was from the banking in 1857 when it was built.
So they see this banking let go, and the Coast Guard says this lighthouse is going over the banking and we're going to abandon it cause we can put a light on a pole. And everybody gets together and they raise the money to move it back to save it. And so, you see it further back.
I doubt that the ancient critical navigation matches, but somehow the lighthouses are a connection with the past. And and I think they're preserved for that reason. That's one of the reasons we try to preserve this one.
Portrait of the Cape Cod National Seashore (Digital Extra)
Cape Cod, or "the Cape" as it's affectionately known by locals, is a favorite summertime vacation destination for families across New England and beyond. And this past summer marked 60 years of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was established on August 7th, 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. If you're dreaming of warm sands, sea, and sunshine during this frigid week and weren't able make it there yourself this year, have no fear – Producer
Cape Cod, or "the Cape" as it's affectionately known by locals, is a favorite summertime vacation destination for families across New England and beyond. And this past summer marked 60 years of the Cape Cod National Seashore, whi
Cape Cod, or "the Cape" as it's affectionately known by locals, is a favorite summertime vacation destination for families across New England and beyond.
And this past summer marked 60 years of the Cape Cod National Seashore, which was established on August 7th, 1961 by President John F. Kennedy.
If you're dreaming of warm sands, sea, and sunshine during this frigid week and weren't able make it there yourself this year, have no fear – Producer Dave Fraser takes us there in this beautiful video essay.
Watch more stories about the Cape Cod National Seashore.
This story originally aired on July 9th, 2021.
Province Lands Reservation (Digital Extra)
The Cape Cod National Seashore was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The protected seashore encompasses 44,000 acres of forest, marshland, bogs and salt ponds along with a 40 mile stretch of pristine beach from Chatham to Provincetown. Within this National Park is the 3,000-acre Province Lands Reservation in Provincetown. This area is hailed as the second-oldest common lands in the country, second only to Boston Common. Producer
The Cape Cod National Seashore was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The protected seashore encompasses 44,000 acres of forest, marshland, bogs and salt ponds along with a 40 mile stretch of pristine beach from Cha
The Cape Cod National Seashore was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The protected seashore encompasses 44,000 acres of forest, marshland, bogs and salt ponds along with a 40 mile stretch of pristine beach from Chatham to Provincetown.
Within this National Park is the 3,000-acre Province Lands Reservation in Provincetown. This area is hailed as the second-oldest common lands in the country, second only to Boston Common.
Producer Dave Fraser takes us on a tour of this unique area of Cape Cod.
Watch more of our series on the Cape Cod National Seashore.
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: The Cape Cod National Seashore was established in 1961 by President John F. Kennedy. The protected seashore encompasses 44,000 acres of forest marshland, bogs, and salt ponds along with a 40 mile stretch of pristine beach from Chatham to Provincetown.
Within this National Park is the 3,000-acre Province Lands Reservation in Provincetown. This area is hailed as the second oldest common lands in the country, second only to the Boston Common.
Rob Costa, Art's Dune Tours: I think it's a magical place and, you know, I've actually been telling people I call it the Outback of Provincetown because it's so vast.
It's thousands of acres of dunes, beaches, and forest land that stretch as far as the eye could see with, as you can see, beautiful vegetation throughout. And has a lot of wild animals. It's got these little dune shacks that has so much history.
So we've got history, we got culture, we have flora, we have fauna, we have dunes one hundred and ten feet tall surrounding us. And it takes up seventy five percent of our entire town size is out here.
Bill Burke, Cape Cod National Seashore: For much of the outer arm of that Cape Cod, that forearm of the National Seashore, there is a 50-to-100-foot bluff that kind of commands the beach behind you.
And it creates a sense of being out in the wilderness, because you -- that bluff kind of hides the modern things that are behind you. And it's just you, the ocean, and the beach.
And it is a rugged shoreline that Thoreau and others just couldn't write enough about because it really created a sense of solitary experience, inspiration, and natural beauty.
It's not the rocky coastline of Maine. It's mostly sand, but it's a wonderful strand that captures the imagination.
Explore Cape Cod: The Dune Shacks
Outside of the hustle and bustle of its thriving downtown lies the outer dunes of Provincetown.Within this protected landscape, there are nineteen shacks of various shapes and sizes that have drawn writers to them and have served as the inspiration for many great works of American literature.Join Producer Dave Fraser as he takes a tour of this historic region of the outer Cape.Watch more stories about Cape Cod.This story originally aired on Augus
Outside of the hustle and bustle of its thriving downtown lies the outer dunes of Provincetown.Within this protected landscape, there are nineteen shacks of various shapes and sizes that have drawn writers to them and have served
Outside of the hustle and bustle of its thriving downtown lies the outer dunes of Provincetown.
Within this protected landscape, there are nineteen shacks of various shapes and sizes that have drawn writers to them and have served as the inspiration for many great works of American literature.
Join Producer Dave Fraser as he takes a tour of this historic region of the outer Cape.
Watch more stories about Cape Cod.
This story originally aired on August 13, 2022.
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: Outside of the hustle and bustle of its thriving downtown lies the outer dunes of Provincetown.
Within this protected landscape, there are nineteen shacks of various shapes and sizes that have drawn writers and artists to them and have served as the inspiration for many great works of American literature.
We join Producer Dave Fraser as he takes us on a tour of this historic region of the outer Cape.
Dave Fraser, Connecting Point: The Dunes on the outer beach of Cape Cod were formed as a result of early settlers cutting down the trees. With nothing to hold the sandy soil in place, the land was shaped and eroded by each passing storm.
When the Dunes became part of the Cape Cod National Seashore, access was carefully restricted to minimize further damage. To see them, one must either hike in via one of the park's approved trails or be driven in by a guide from Art's Dune Tours. The only tour guide company that is allowed access to the Dunes by vehicle.
Rob Costa, Art's Dune Tours: It's always a treat out here because it's so different. Every trip, between the lighting, the clouds, the colors, the vegetation, the people's interests and the questions, you know.
So, between all of that, every single tour, every single day is different.
Dave Fraser: Rob Costa and his family have been taking people on tours of the Dunes since 1946. His dad started the business after returning home from World War Two.
Rob Costa: He ended up buying a 1936 Ford Woody, and he started his own company because he loved it so much, you know.
And he started running people out here in the dunes and giving them a kind of a thrill ride.
Dave Fraser: Tucked into the Dunes of Provincetown are a number of small shacks with a rich history. These dune shacks were originally constructed as life-saving huts for coastguardsmen in the late 1890s.
But most were built in the 1920s and 30s and used by the artist colony in Provincetown. The shacks provided solitude and a chance for creative inspiration.
Chris McCarthy, Provincetown Art Association & Museum: To go out to experience a Dune Shack is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It's magical.
For someone to give you the opportunity of solitude in the National Seashore, in one of the most beautiful places on Earth, I don't -- I can't imagine how you couldn't be inspired.
Dave Fraser: It's about a two-mile walk through soft sand from your car to reach the Dune Shacks, they have no running water and no electricity. There are kerosene lamps for light and wells dug in the sand for hand pumping drinking and washing water.
Photographer Julie Tremblay hikes out to the shacks often.
Julie Tremblay, Photographer: I started going out to the Dunes to shoot just the Dunes and I discovered the shacks. And then I started doing some research and it became like sort of this quest, like this really fun treasure hunt , to try to find them all and figure them out.
Dave Fraser: One of the most famous early residents of the Dune Shacks was playwright Eugene O'Neill. But they have also drawn the likes of Tennessee Williams, Jackson Pollock, Norman Mailer, and e.e. Cummings.
Today, several nonprofits in Provincetown helped the National Park Service with summer residency programs.
Julie Trembley: If you want a clean composition, it's a great place to go because you've got huge expanses going out. You've got the ocean. You've got these incredible skies. You've got the sand, you've got the light. It's crazy beautiful.
This is about five o'clock in the morning. And what was great was that the moon and the moon setting in the sun rising were happening within like 10 minutes of each other.
So, the sun is just coming up and it's just hitting the top -- and you can see it hitting the tips of the fence -- so the sun is still on the way up and the moon is on his way down. So, that was kind of a nice bonus.
Christopher Seufert, Photographer: For me, that was a next-level experience on Cape Cod. I didn't walk out to the Dune Shacks or even out to that landscape 'til I was 40.
When you get to the top and you feel like you're in the Gobi Desert and you've never seen anything like that on Cape Cod -- I just had that thought when I was 40 into that. Like, how did it take me this long to get to this spot?
Dave Fraser: Rob Costa and his crew continues to introduce visitors to this back shore environment of Provincetown by way of his Dune Tours. This year, his company will celebrate 75 years.
Inspiration and creativity seem to go hand-in-hand on the Outer Beach. Artists flock here for the solitude, the love of the land and the creativity it inspires. And families still come and raise their children.
Rob Costa: I took my mom on a Dune Tour many years ago. We drive by Ray Wells Shack and she tells everybody in the truck I was conceived behind it. I'm like, "Oh my God, Ma!" It was like a mike-drop moment. But it was a true story.
So, like, I got married out here to my husband, Rob, and that's why, because I was conceived and, you know, got married. And when I die, if I if I can get some ashes out here, that would be good to
Explore Cape Cod: The Artists of Provincetown
The light and natural coastal beauty of the outer beach of Cape Cod has attracted tourists and inspired artists for over a century. Unsurprisingly, this area is the home to the oldest continually operated artists colony in the country. Producer Dave Fraser visits Provincetown to learn the history of this arts colony and meet up with Susan Tilton Pecora, a Western Mass artist who has been painting on the outer Cape for close to 30 years. This sto
The light and natural coastal beauty of the outer beach of Cape Cod has attracted tourists and inspired artists for over a century. Unsurprisingly, this area is the home to the oldest continually operated artists colony in the cou
The light and natural coastal beauty of the outer beach of Cape Cod has attracted tourists and inspired artists for over a century. Unsurprisingly, this area is the home to the oldest continually operated artists colony in the country.
Producer Dave Fraser visits Provincetown to learn the history of this arts colony and meet up with Susan Tilton Pecora, a Western Mass artist who has been painting on the outer Cape for close to 30 years.
Zydalis Bauer, Connecting Point: The light and natural coastal beauty of the outer beach of Cape Cod has attracted tourists and inspired artists for over a century, and as such, it should come as no surprise to find out that this area is also the home to the oldest continuous arts colony in America.
Producer Dave Fraser visits Provincetown to learn the history of this artistic community and to meet up with a western Mass artist who has been painting on the outer Cape for close to 30 years.
Susan Tilton Pecora, Painter: When I look back on on my life, and I think this is this is my job, I'm always telling people that. You know, I'm at work right now!
Julie Tremblay, Photographer: I feel really fortunate that I get to go out and photograph. And every so often I step back and go, "man, people like -- people are buying my work. That's pretty cool. That's pretty cool."
Dave Fraser, Connecting Point: With its incredible light and colorful surroundings, the outer beaches of Cape Cod have been attracting artists for over 100 years.
At the tip, the town of Provincetown, an eclectic community that has been described as a place of contrast -- rugged and rural, with a vibrant town center. It simultaneously provides artists with opportunities for both solitude and socializing.
Christine McCarthy, Provincetown Art Association Museum: If you ask people if they know about Provincetown, Massachusetts, they'll usually say, "Oh, that's that gay place where people come for carnival," and this and that.
What I think a lot of people don't realize is that this is the oldest continuous art colony in America. No one else can say that except Provincetown. And when you cross that line into Provincetown, you've entered into an art mecca.
Julie Tremblay: The tip of the cape faces north. And that north light is what you know, what artists are always seeking.
So if you go back, when there were no artificial lights, artists would build studios with skylights and windows facing north to get that really even, beautiful light.
Dave Fraser: Julie Tremblay didn't set out to be a photographer. But during her undergraduate studies at UMass Dartmouth, she took an elective in photography and recalls the first time she looked through the viewfinder of a camera and found it was like looking through the window of another world.
Julie Tremblay: I like really clean compositions. I don't like a lot of complication. So, for me, it's about negative space. It's about getting the essence of the -- of what I'm seeing and trying to get the viewer to understand what I'm seeing. And I mean, if it's quiet, I want it to be quiet. And if it's vibrant, it should be vibrant.
People come here for art. And so just being here, I get to benefit from all the people that came before me. And they were, you know, big, big artists that came -- to playwrights and writers -- that came before me.
It's just great to be in that sort of an environment.
Dave Fraser: To be an artist in Provincetown means you are part of a colony. Charles Webster Hawthorne opened his Cape Cod School of Art in the summer of 1899 and taught his plein-air method right on the town's waterfront.
Christine McCarthy: He had an influx of students that came primarily women who would come for a few weeks or a week, and they would paint on the pier.
They would paint in plein-air, which means painting out of doors.
Dave Fraser: Often as many as 100 people watched as he dramatically demonstrated his theory of color and effects of light on an object, something artists today still recognize.
Susan Tilton Pecora: The way the light bounces off the sand, the sand dunes, and the sand bars on the Bay, so you just get this abundance of sunlight hitting the area and then just spreading out and it's beautiful.
Dave Fraser: Susan Tilton Pecora grew up in Marblehead, a seaside community on the North Shore of Massachusetts. She now calls Western Mass her home, but has a love for the outer Cape and shows her work regularly in galleries along Commercial Street in Provincetown.
Susan Tilton Pecora: I like architecture and nature together, not just pure nature. If I paint a seascape, I tend to look for some architectural elements in that, and I just love the combination.
This is an attractive spot because you've got the sky, man-made structures, which I love, and the water and the reflections and the beach. You have all the elements to make a beautiful painting.
I've painted this scene at sunrise, sunset. I've painted this scene and had people come and buy it right off my easel.
Town Crier, Historical Actor: Oh, greetings from Provincetown, Massachusetts!
Dave Fraser: Art is everywhere in this small three-square mile town at the tip of the Cape. And artists who come to Provincetown today are still looking at the same things that artists were looking at 100 or so years ago.
How they depict it depends on their style and interpretation, but the landscape and the light remains the same.
Christine McCarthy: Any place you walk into in Provincetown, there's original artwork. Whether it's a restaurant, the -- one of the 50 or 60 galleries in this town. And if you're here to go to the beaches or go out to the dunes, that's what the art was was inspired from.
So, the art is the connector between everything in Provincetown.
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