Month: May 2016

Visitors Can Board, Sail on Replica of Famous Racing Schooner

Mystic, Conn. (May 18, 2016) — Mystic Seaport announces the yacht America will be visiting the Museum June 11-15.

America is a reproduction of the schooner that won the Royal Yacht Squadron’s “100 Guinea Cup” race around the Isle of Wight in 1851. Renamed the America’s Cup, the trophy was successfully defended by the United States against all challengers until 1983 and remains the longest winning streak in sporting history. America owner and captain Troy Sears is taking the vessel on an extensive tour of the East and Gulf coasts and the Caribbean to raise awareness of the 2017 America’s Cup defense in Bermuda.

The yacht is scheduled to arrive at Mystic Seaport sometime during the day on Saturday, June 11. She will be available for Museum visitors to board during the mornings of June 12-15. In addition, she will offer day sails down the Mystic River to Fishers Island Sound during the afternoons of June 11-14.

Also visiting the Museum during the same period will be the Bermuda sloop Spirit of Bermuda, a 112-foot replica of a three-masted Royal Navy sloop-of-war from the 18th century. She also will be open for visitors to board the mornings of June 12-14.

As part of the vessels’ visit and the run up to the 2017 America’s Cup, Mystic Seaport will offer three presentations to discuss the history and significance of the Cup and the Spirit of Bermuda:

• “The History and Evolution of the America’s Cup.” Captain Troy Sears and Mystic Seaport photography curator Mary Anne Stets will discuss the America’s Cup, its past, present, and future. Included in this talk will be still and moving images from the Museum’s vast collection of America’s Cup artifacts. Monday, June 13, at 7 p.m.
• “Up Close with Spirit of Bermuda.” Bermuda Sloop Foundation directors Malcolm Kirkland, Jay Kempe, and Alan Burland will talk about the background of the Foundation and how and why Spirit of Bermudawas built. Also joining the conversation will be Bermuda’s captain Stuart Birnie, who will speak about youth development using traditional vessels such as Spirit of Bermuda, with reference to vessels he has experience with in the Pacific, including Polynesian voyaging canoes like Hokule’a, scheduled to visit Mystic Seaport during the WoodenBoat Show, June 24-26. Tuesday, June 14, at 7 p.m.
• “The America’s Cup with Tucker Thompson.” The official TV and public host of the 35th America’s Cup, Tucker Thompson, will deliver an engaging multi-media presentation about the event. Highlights include the Cup’s storied history, the secrets behind Oracle Team USA’s dramatic comeback in AC34 in 2013, and a behind-the-scenes view of the upcoming 35th America’s Cup in Bermuda. Monday, July 11, at 7 p.m.

Tickets for each event are $15 for Museum members and $20 for non-members. A series ticket for all three events is available for $40 for members and $55 for non-members. All three talks will be held in the River Room at Latitude 41° Restaurant & Tavern.

The day sails on America will depart from and return to Mystic Seaport. Boarding will begin at 1 p.m. and the sails are expected to last 2 ½ hours. Tickets are $85 per adult and $45 for children under the age of 12. Museum admission is not required. Tickets for the day sails and all of the events can be purchased by calling 860.572.5339.

After their stay at Mystic Seaport, America and Spirit of Bermuda will depart for Newport, RI, to participate in the 2016 Newport-Bermuda Race.

About Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship and the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the country. The state-of-the-art Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport provides scholars and researchers from around the world access to the Museum’s renowned archives. Mystic Seaport is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $26 for adults and $17 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Performers from Around the World Gather to Celebrate Music of the Sea

Mystic, Conn. (May 12, 2016) —Musicians from around the world will come to Mystic Seaport to celebrate the musical traditions of the Golden Age of Sail at the 37th annual Sea Music Festival, Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12, 2016. The Festival is the premier sea music event in North America.

This year’s roster includes music from Great Britain, the Netherlands, and Canada, along with singers from across the United States. The weekend’s festivities include daytime and evening concerts, special performances for children, instructional workshops, a scholars’ symposium, and a unique opportunity to witness sea music at work aboard the Museum’s historic vessels.

More than 20 individuals and groups will be featured at the Festival representing the gamut of traditional and contemporary sea music. Newfoundland’s Matthew Byrne will perform songs from solo offering, “Hearts & Heroes,” which won Traditional Album of the Year at the 2015 Canadian Folk Music Awards. The Isle of Man’s Barrule trio will bring their fresh approach to traditional Manx music, while Kim & Reggie Harris have a repertoire that combines traditional African-American spirituals and freedom songs with original folk. Returning this year is the popular Canadian acapella group Pressgang Mutiny, whose 2015 performance was a big hit with the audience.

Visitors may also take in performances from Bob Walser, Margaret McCandless, Heather Wood, Cliff Haslam, Boston’s Irish dance company Kieran Jordan Dance, and the Mystic Seaport Chantey Staff, including Geoff Kaufman, Craig Edwards, Denise Kegler, and Don Sineti.

All workshops and daytime concerts in the Festival are included in regular Mystic Seaport admission. Special tickets are required for evening concerts and can be purchased by calling 860.572.0711, or at the Museum’s main entrance. Weekend passes are also available. College students will be admitted into the Festival for the youth rate upon presentation of a current student ID.

For more information, including ticket packages, musicians’ bios, and a schedule of performances, visit mysticseaport.org/seamusicfestival

The annual Music of the Sea Symposium, hosted in partnership with the University of Connecticut at Avery Point, will be held Friday and Saturday, June 10-11. The Symposium, which features presentations of themed papers by some of the country’s leading maritime music scholars, explores the interaction between sea, music, and song. The first day of the Symposium will be held at the auditorium at the University of Connecticut at Avery Point.  Admission is free. The Symposium continues Saturday at Mystic Seaport in the Greenmanville Church. Museum admission is required. For further details and a list of Symposium presenters and topics, visit mysticseaport.org/smfsymposium

This event is made possible by the Friends of the Sea Music Festival, who raise funds each year to generously support sea music at Mystic Seaport.

About Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship and the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the country. The state-of-the-art Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport provides scholars and researchers from around the world access to the Museum’s renowned archives. Mystic Seaport is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $26 for adults and $17 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

The Coastal Art Collection of Charles and Irene Hamm

 Mystic, Conn. (May 5, 2016) – For the past several decades, Charles and Irene Hamm have dedicated their time and resources to developing a renowned art collection focused on American coastal art. This spring the Hamm’s labor of love will be displayed at Mystic Seaport in “Over Life’s Waters: The Coastal Art Collection of Charles and Irene Hamm,” an exhibition on loan from The New Britain Museum of American Art opening May 21, 2016.

The exhibition consists of 63 works of art in a variety of media, spanning two centuries of American coastal art and featuring such noted artists as William Partridge Burpee (1846-1940), Sears Gallagher (1869-1955), Rockwell Kent (1882-1971), and Paul Pollaro (b. 1921). Visitors may recognize some familiar scenes, as the exhibition highlights several of the most inspirational destinations for artists, notably Monhegan and Mount Desert Islands in Maine and Gloucester, Massachusetts.

Each work in the collection and exhibition has been handpicked by Charles and Irene Hamm. When forming their coastal art collection, the couple decided they would collect works by American painters, alive or dead, in any medium, of any time, which attracted their eyes and emotions. Unlike most collectors who decide to focus on specific periods or styles, the Hamms have embraced painters working from the early 19th century right through to the present day in an exceptionally wide variety of media and manners.

To state that the Hamms have been passionate about the sea would be both accurate and revelatory. Charles was born in Brooklyn Heights, a stone’s throw from New York’s East River. Irene’s life as a native Floridian was shaped by her proximity to the Atlantic Ocean. In his youth, Charles studied art, and one of his own paintings, Sunset at Home, 2006, appears in the exhibition. Together, the Hamms have sailed along several continents and enjoyed owning a series of both sail and power boats. Longtime supporters of Mystic Seaport, where Charles presently serves as a trustee, their Connecticut residence on Long Island Sound near Mystic was designed to display their coastal art collection and maximize their views and feeling of connection to the water.

“We are honored to feature this exhibit of the Charles and Irene Hamm collection, because not only is it a moving examination of coastal subjects, but the individual examples by some of the most accomplished artists of the 19th and 20th centuries are of exceptional quality,” said Mystic Seaport President Steve White. “We believe this exhibit captures the essence of the ocean and enables visitors to grasp the fundamental significance of coastal waters and how the Atlantic has shaped America.”

“Over Life’s Waters” will be on display through January 16, 2017, in the R.J. Schaefer Building.

About Mystic Seaport
Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, the Museum is home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the Charles W. Morgan, America’s oldest commercial ship and the last wooden whaleship in the world. The Museum’s collection of more than two million artifacts includes more than 500 historic vessels and one of the largest collections of maritime photography in the country. The state-of-the-art Collections Research Center at Mystic Seaport provides scholars and researchers from around the world access to the Museum’s renowned archives. Mystic Seaport is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $26 for adults and $17 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.