SABINO steaming on the Mystic River. The plan calls for augmenting coal-fired steam with an electric motor.
Mystic Seaport Museum is exploring the possibility of adding electric propulsion to its steamboat Sabino with the installation of an electric motor and battery bank. The boat’s boiler and its original steam engine would remain in the vessel and operational. The addition of electric power would enable the vessel to operate under steam or electricity and vastly expand its capacity to provide public cruises on the Mystic River.
“In order to keep Sabino running on the Mystic River, we have determined that the highest and best solution for the vessel, both as a National Historic Landmark and as a beloved presence on the Mystic River, is to add an alternative means of propulsion to augment its historic steam power plant,” says Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport Museum.
The plan calls for state-of-the-art, batteries, motors, and controls to be installed in parallel with the existing boiler and steam plant. The Museum will retain the ability to run Sabino under steam, but add the capability to run on electric power.
The 1908-built excursion vessel Sabino has been a fixture at Mystic Seaport Museum and on the Mystic River since its arrival in 1973. Built in Maine as a passenger ferry on the Damariscotta and Kennebec Rivers, the boat served in that capacity for nearly two decades and later as a ferry in Casco Bay. It is powered by the same duplex reciprocating steam engine that was original equipment in 1908. In fact, the engine was manufactured downriver from Mystic in nearby Noank. With its nearly silent steam propulsion, a cruise down the Mystic River on Sabino is a connection to the past when small steamboats filled the nation’s coasts and harbors. The boat was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.
In partnership with a team of marine engineers and the U.S. Coast Guard, the Museum determined that an electric system could be installed in such a way as to fully maintain the historic operational integrity of the vessel’s original steam power plant. Sabino would continue to operate the steam plant for demonstrations and special events, but operate under electric power for daily passenger cruises. The electric motor would quietly drive the vessel’s original shaft. Batteries would be recharged overnight and between trips. Importantly, this system would provide a smoke- and soot-free operation, greatly reducing the vessel’s environmental impact in terms of carbon emissions. Other benefits include a return to a seven-day per week schedule, and reduced crewing, maintenance, and coaling expenses.
The historic status of Sabino is paramount to the Museum. The historic fabric of the boat will not be altered and the installation of the electric system would be entirely reversible.
“The expectation is the addition of electric propulsion will enable us to increase the boat’s daily passenger capacity and provide more people with the opportunity to get out on the water and enjoy a cruise on the Mystic River on a National Landmark,” says White.
The Stillman Building in a picture from the 1950s. In front is ANNIE, the first boat in the Museum’s collection. At left is the Wendell Building. The circle of grass is now the center of the McGraw Gallery Quadrangle. (MSM Collection)
On December 25, 1929, Edward E. Bradley, an industrialist; Carl C. Cutler, a lawyer; and Dr. Charles K. Stillman, a physician; signed the papers incorporating the Marine Historical Association, today known as Mystic Seaport Museum. Their dream: create a dynamic, educational institution to preserve America’s maritime culture–and turn the achievements of a past era into an inspirational force for the future.
Cutler was writing what would become a seminal book on American clipper ships, Greyhounds of the Sea. As he traveled the East Coast doing research, he was appalled to discover how many maritime artifacts were being destroyed. He enlisted Stillman, who happened to be the grandson of local shipbuilder Clark Greenman, and Bradley to collect historical material. They incorporated the Marine Historical Association and began recruiting members and collecting maritime artifacts.
The association was gifted the buildings formerly belonging to the Mystic Manufacturing Company in 1931, turning its brick buildings into exhibit halls. That year, Dr. Stillman gave the Museum its first boat, the sandbagger racing sloop Annie, so that visitors could learn confidence, courage, and skill on the water. After Stillman and Bradley died in 1938, Cutler led the efforts to acquire and save the last surviving whaleship, the Charles W. Morgan. It arrived in November 1941, was placed in a sand berth, and opened for visitors in June 1942. Plans to build a representative seaport began in 1943, with the Shipsmith Shop the first to arrive in 1944.
The interior of the Wendell Building in 1931. The building presently houses the Figureheads Exhibit (MSM Collection)
The training ship Joseph Conrad joined the fleet in 1947 as part of the Mariner Training Program, and with the arrival of the coasting schooner Australia in 1951 and the schooner yacht Brilliant in 1952, the sail-training program expanded. More buildings were installed along the waterfront street, and in 1955, “activists”—now called interpreters—began to work in the exhibits.
In 1947, the Mystic Seaport Museum established a small library to hold its published books and manuscripts, which later serve as the center for the graduate-level Frank C. Munson Memorial Institute of American Maritime History after it was founded in 1955. The expanded G. W. Blunt White Library opened in 1965 and is now housed in the Collections Research Center.
To keep up with the demands of its wooden fleet, Mystic Seaport built the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard in 1973 at the site of the historic Charles Mallory Shipyard. The first major task was to restore the Morgan, an ongoing program that had begun years earlier and included significant structural work. The Morgan was removed from its sand berth in 1974 and hauled out on the Shipyard’s lift dock.
In the 1980s, the Mystic Seaport Museum built new bulkheads to stabilize the waterfront and acquired the Rosenfeld Collection of maritime photography, which numbers close to one million images. Mystic Seaport constructed the Freedom Schooner Amistad in 1998–2000 and opened the Collections Research Center in 2001 to house one of the largest maritime collections available for research in the United States.
The Morgan returned to the Museum’s Shipyard for restoration in 2008 and was relaunched in 2013. The ship embarked on a historic 38th Voyage in 2014—sailing for the first time since 1921.
The Museum then expanded its exhibition space, building the McGraw Gallery Quadrangle in 2015 and adding the Thompson Exhibition Building in 2016. These additions focus the Museum’s formal exhibits at the north end of the complex, providing year-round learning opportunities for visitors.
Mystic Seaport Museum is now 90 years old. We do not know what the next 10 years will bring, but if the journey so far is any indication, great things are in store when we celebrate 100 years in 2029.
Mystic, Conn. (December 17, 2019) — Stephen C. White announced today he plans to retire as President and CEO of Mystic Seaport Museum. White, who has served as President and CEO since 2009, will continue in that role until his successor has been named.
“I’m honored to have worked alongside the talented, passionate, and dedicated staff and volunteers who every day strive to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience,” says White. “I came here with the goal of guiding the institution to reimagine the interchange between maritime heritage and broader contemporary culture. I’m proud of all we have achieved in the last decade and that the Museum is poised to achieve more great things as it enters its 90th year in 2020.”
Under White’s leadership, the Museum strengthened its role as a leader in America’s maritime heritage community while simultaneously adapting to new visions of what a museum must be in the 21st century. It restored and sailed the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan on its 38th Voyage in 2014. The north end of the campus was reconfigured into the McGraw Gallery Quadrangle, a comprehensive renovation and expansion of the Museum’s indoor exhibition spaces, which included the construction of the award-winning Thompson Exhibition Building. The Museum is poised to conclude funding of its $6-million Era of Exhibitions campaign. The campaign was launched in 2017 to fund exhibitions of world-class quality, innovation, and scholarship such as the present show J.M.W. Turner: Watercolors from Tate, the most comprehensive collection of Turner watercolors ever displayed in this country.
White served as the president of the International Congress of Maritime Museums from 2015 to 2019, and Gov. Dannel Malloy named White Connecticut’s Tourism Leader of the Year in 2015.
“Steve’s impact on Mystic Seaport Museum is best seen in the strong sense of community he fostered, both inside the Museum and in its external relationships with the world at large,” says Michael S. Hudner, chairman of the Board of Trustees. “We are grateful for his steady, confident leadership and for the zeal and imagination with which he advanced the Museum’s mission.”
The Board of Trustees of Mystic Seaport Museum will establish a search committee headed by former Board chairman Barclay Collins in January 2020 to find White’s successor.
Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to announce the winners of its watercolor competition inspired by the current exhibition J.M.W. Turner: Watercolors from Tate open now in the Museum’s Collins Gallery.
One hundred thirty-three paintings were entered in the competition from artists as far away as Denmark and California. After an initial submission period, six finalists were selected — three each in two categories: adult and child (ages 12 and younger). The finalists were presented to the public for an online vote, which determined the winner in each category.
The winner in the adult category is Lisa Miceli of Mystic, Conn., for her painting “New London Harbor Light at Dusk.”
“New London Harbor Light at Dusk” by Lisa Miceli
The winner in the child category is Estefani R., a 5th grade student from Los Angeles, for her painting “Moonlight Forest.”
“Moonlight Forest” by Estefani R.
The six finalist paintings are on display in the lobby of the Museum’s Thompson Exhibition Building, outside of the Turner exhibition. The public may view the display free of charge. The other four paintings are:
Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue dressed up as her longtime character Miss L.E. Ackerman.
Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue dressed up as her longtime character Miss L.E. Ackerman.
If it’s the holiday season in Mystic, then it must be time for Lantern Light Tours.
For 40 years, Mystic Seaport Museum has invited visitors to step back in time to Greenmanville, Connecticut, on Christmas Eve 1876. Lead by an actor in period costume, the tour unwinds a heartwarming holiday tale as the group travels from point to point around the Museum grounds. Every year features a new story with the writing process beginning the previous spring.
Rebecca Bayreuther Donohue, a longtime Museum staff member and manager of the Period Costume Workshop for the last eight years, wrote this year’s script, A Christmas Sea-Chantey; in prose being A Story of 1876 Greenmanville. We sat down with her and posed several questions about this year’s show.
How long have you been involved in the Lantern Light Tours?
This is an anniversary year for me, as well: It is my 20th production. This is the third full script I have written and the 11th script total upon which I have worked, as the scriptwriting was collaborative until 2006 with each scene written by a different staff member. I have also worked as a scene-player, a scene coach, a tour guide, a tour guide coach, an elf, a costumer, and now as the manager of the Period Costume Workshop.
How did you approach the story development process this year?
We all knew that this anniversary year needed something special for a story line, and several members of the production crew suggested an adaptation of the quintessential 19th-century Christmas story Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol (full title: A Christmas Carol; in prose being A Ghost Story of Christmas). I was worried initially about how to keep such a familiar story from being predictable, but Ebenezer Scrooge’s tour of Christmases Past, Present, and Future turned out to be the perfect vehicle by which to revisit the last 40 years of this special production. We had invented our own version of Scrooge, Mr. Silas Blackburn, during our collaborative script days, so he was a shoe-in for inclusion. But who else? During lunches in the staff kitchen, coffee breaks in the lounge, and down-time between skills demonstrations, I asked what people remembered about past Lantern Lights – the story lines, characters, scenes. Staff members Mary K Bercaw Edwards and Mary Skalka were of incredible help remembering the first 20 years of Lantern Lights. We laughed about the scene where Bettye Noyes’s 1870s chignon had slipped off, and she held it in her lap and pretended it was a cat. We wept about dear people we will never see again, like gentle Chris Bell as Santa Claus and elegant tour guide Suzanne Reardon. We talked about Christmas all Summer! So, while I hope that newcomers will enjoy this year’s story enough to start making the Tours a family tradition, I wrote this script with those who are regular visitors to Greenmanville at Christmas very much in mind.
What is it about Dickens that keeps us coming back to him?
Mr. Bangs (Owen Hughes, left) and Miss Jumpenjack (Kelsey Melinosky) perform a scene in the cooperage during the 2014 Lantern Light Tour production.
I think we keep coming back to this as the definitive Christmas story because it shows us not only that it’s up to us as individuals to make things better for us as a planet, but that it’s still possible to effect that change. Dickens constantly used his works to illuminate social injustice. Even after revisiting the personal misery of Scrooge’s Past and Present, Dickens has a Ghost warn him about a greater misery personified by the two urchins Want and Ignorance. But Dickens doesn’t abandon us to the misery: he gives us Christmastide as that special time when things really can change for the better. He gives us back the wonder we had in Christmas as children, the wonder of the original Christmas story, the magic of the season to shift the balance of the world towards the light using thousands of tiny, individual acts. He redeems Scrooge in order to give us the “Ghost of an Idea” about this possibility. No matter how dark the world or our own worlds are the rest of the year, the light still happens at Christmas. In A Christmas Sea-Chantey, the journey that the guide and tour group embarks on together redeems our Scrooge character, Mr. Silas Blackburn, and saves 1876 Greenmanville from a dark future. If it brings inspiration and light to even one tour-goer, that’s a beautiful foundation for the next 40 years of Lantern Light Tours at the Museum.
Do any of the characters stand out in your mind?
Mr. Silas Blackburn has been the official “Scrooge” character for about 15 years, appearing in numerous scripts in various phases of life: a crusty businessman, an unrelenting guardian, a lonely bachelor. The spinster Sprague sisters from Block Island, Miss Sarah and Miss Mercy, are particular favorites of mine as they were the stars of the first full script I ever wrote, 2007’s The Treasure of the Ann Hope. We meet Mr. Ashby and Miss Holly Winterberry in homage to recurring characters from the first 20 years of the Tours. Some years the script dances around the idea of Santa Claus, featuring instead a Wise Old Man or a Mr. Nicholas, but for this anniversary year we get to meet Santa face-to-face. However, the most special characters of this year’s script – in my mind – are veteran sailors Gabe and Pigeon. Like Mr. Blackburn, they were invented about 15 years ago when the scripts were written collaboratively and possessed the richness and depth of multiple perspectives and the vastly different experiences of their several authors. Originally, the character of Gabriel, with the voice of the angel, was written for staff chanteyman extraordinaire Don Sineti; and the character of Pigeon was written for his partner in crime, demonstration squad assistant foreman Jim Mortimer. It is only fitting, therefore, that it’s these old friends who remind us of just why Lantern Light Tours are so special. In their scene, they recall a number of Christmas adventures, all excerpted from the past 20 years of scripts, including the only script to be performed twice, staff chanteyman Craig Edwards’s The Ship Carpenter. But at the end of it all, it’s the fact that Gabe and Pigeon shared these adventures with each other, “right here in Greenmanville,” as Pigeon says, that makes them truly memorable.
Where do you get all of the costumes?
A Lantern Light Tour scene set in Schaefer’s Spouter Tavern.
The history of the production is not complete without considering the incredible work of the Period Costume Workshop staff over the past 40 years. What would Lantern Light Tours be without the amazing period clothing? I feel incredibly blessed to be reaping the benefits of literally decades of meticulous research, craftsmanship, and artistry. The first full-time Costume Manager I knew was Joanna Cadorette, who was hired, like me, in the summer of 1999. She transformed the look of Lantern Light Tours one layer at a time, starting with the old tour guide costumes, which for women consisted of a pair of plaid wool sleeves and a matching long, drawstring-waisted skirt beneath a voluminous cloak. She created complete ensembles with period-accurate lines, structural undergarments, and custom-built accessories. Her 2009 opus, the Costume Reference Guide for Mystic Seaport, still informs every project the Workshop undertakes. Joanna’s successors, skilled draftswoman Melodie Foster Lynn and now I, start work each August by taking measurements at the initial auditions. We design the look of each Lantern Light Tour, taking into account physical warmth for scenes that are played out-of-doors on board a ship or in hard-to-heat 19th-century buildings. Other factors are social structures that dictate silks and jewels for a captain’s wife or an apron and kerchief for a tavern worker; and of course specific script-related props or nuances like Santa Claus vs. “Mr. Nicholas.” In addition to weekly maintenance and laundry during the course of the run, the final cleanup keeps the Workshop busy until March – at which point the script for the next season is chosen and we start all over again.
None of this work would be possible without an incredibly skilled and dedicated crew of both paid and volunteer staff. Laura Edwards, a consummate quilter, rode the ferry from her home on Fisher’s Island at least once a week for about 15 years in order to volunteer at the Workshop. Nancy Strawderman, a former Museum teacher and incredible craftswoman concerning everything from paper quilling to dress construction, volunteers her time every Tuesday – and also whenever she’s needed, taking projects home or coming in to help dress the cast on a short-staffed night. The spirited Penny Havard, trained in graphic art and antique textile restoration, was our head seamstress for 10 years, and nearly every jaw-dropping piece we have, from basque to buckram hat, bears her touch. Beth Gunnell, our experienced and technically-gifted theatrical consultant, acted in her first Lantern Light Tour over 10 years ago and has worked for us ever since! There are our emeriti, those who now work other jobs but still share their amazing skills with us at Lantern Lights: Amanda Keenan from Advancement, Working Waterfront Supervisor Maria Petrillo, graphics artist and dresser Chelle Farrand. The mainstays of the Period Costume Workshop are Kathleen Roberts, formally trained in the Historical Costuming program at URI, and Alyssa Potter, who started five years ago as a Williams-Mystic student. They do the majority of the fittings, the alterations, the paperwork, the organizing, and the accessorizing. They help dress the cast every night and manage the maintenance through the rest of the week. But it’s their creativity and laughter, the sheer joy in their work that puts the “Christmas in their hearts” atmosphere into the Workshop and keeps me – keeps all of us! – going throughout our long, August-to-March Christmas season.
Editor’s Note: Why is the story set in Greenmanville? That is the name of the section of Mystic on which the Museum sits. The Greenman family owned and operated a shipyard, mills, and a variety of other businesses on the site prior to the founding of the Museum in 1929. It was a bustling little community.
Mystic Seaport Museum and the Connecticut Library Consortium (CLC) launched a new three-year partnership in recognition of the enduring importance of museums and libraries to our communities. On behalf of the Museum, the CLC is managing an annual lottery for five free Mystic Seaport Museum Library Memberships, underwritten by the Museum’s Susan Lewin Memorial Library Membership Program.
The five winning libraries – drawn at random from CLC’s membership roster of libraries in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York – will enjoy all the benefits of library membership at the Museum for one year:
One library pass for each day of the week that entitles up to two adults and three youth/children ages 3-17 to receive 50 percent off regular admission to Mystic Seaport Museum (children ages 2 and younger are free);
A non-transferable Director’s Card that entitles the bearer to one year’s free admission as well as discounts at the Museum Store and our various restaurants;
A subscription to Mystic Seaport Museum Magazine.
This year’s winners are Kent Memorial Library, Weston Public Library, Southington Public Library, Scotland Public Library, and Otis Library in Norwich.
The Susan Lewin Memorial Library Membership Program honors the memory of Susan Lewin, who died in 2013.
“Susan was an ardent believer in the power of museums and libraries to foster community, civic engagement and life-long learning. She loved Mystic Seaport Museum and was committed, through her philanthropic support, to the goal of increasing access to museum resources for under-served audiences. She was the driving force behind the initiation of the Museum’s Library Membership Program in 2003,” said Museum President Steve White.
“The Connecticut Library Consortium is thrilled to partner with Mystic Seaport Museum on this exciting library program and partnership to provide increased access to the Museum and its programs for our members,” said Jennifer Keohane, executive director of the CLC.
The inaugural winners were determined Tuesday evening at a special event celebrating the new partnership. Librarians from across the state as well as Museum Library Members came to hear a presentation on the artist J.M.W. Turner by Elysa Engelman, Ph.D., director of Exhibits, followed by a private viewing of the Museum’s acclaimed new exhibition J.M.W. Turner: Watercolors from Tate.
Libraries who would like to consider Mystic Seaport Museum Library Membership for their communities should reach out to Margaret Milnes, director of Membership and Corporate Partnerships, at Mystic Seaport Museum at margaret.milnes@mysticseaport.org/.
Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to announce it is offering its members and philanthropic partners the opportunity to establish a Charitable Gift Annuity with the Museum. In September of this year, the Museum retained Glenmede Trust Company, N.A., to provide endowment management and philanthropic advisory services, including administrative support of our Charitable Gift Annuity Program.
Charitable Gift Annuities are well suited to those looking to enhance or secure current income, move appreciated assets out of their estate, receive preferential tax treatment, and safeguard the operation of Mystic Seaport Museum for future generations.
A Charitable Gift Annuity is based on a contract between the donor and the Museum. In exchange for an irrevocable transfer by the donor of cash, securities or other tangible property to the charity, a promise will be made by the Museum to the donor to pay a fixed payment (annuity) on a pre-arranged schedule throughout the donor’s and/or other annuitant’s lifetimes.
Charitable Gift Annuities can play an important role in financial and estate planning. This type of life income gift provides for a steady stream of income to the annuitant, based on the age of the annuitant(s) and at a rate of return established by the American Council of Gift Annuities. The annuitant may be eligible to claim a tax deductible charitable contribution equal to the difference between the value of the property transferred and the value of the annuity received. Annuity payments may have both a taxable and non-taxable component.
The Glenmede Trust Company, N.A., was created as an independent trust company more than 60 years ago. Today, with $40 billion of assets under management, Glenmede provides investment and advisory services to endowments, foundations and institutional clients as well as high-net-worth individuals and families. Each of Glenmede’s nonprofit clients—private schools, colleges, museums, religious institutions, long-term care facilities, and social service agencies—benefits from a robust and agile investment platform and a deep understanding of the unique needs of these organizations.
To request your personal Charitable Gift Annuity illustration, contact Chris Freeman, director of Development & Legacy Giving at chris.freeman@mysticseaport.org/ or 860.912.3121.
Mystic Seaport Museum is not providing financial or legal advice. A gift annuity is not an investment and is different from a commercial annuity. The payments made to the annuitants are not dependent on income earned by an invested asset. The annuity payments are a general obligation of Mystic Seaport Museum and are backed by the general assets of the charity, including operating revenues and physical plant, subject to security interests. As with any such decisions regarding your personal philanthropy, estate, and tax planning, please consult with your family and your own financial and legal advisors before making your final decisions. A copy of the Gift Annuity Disclosure Statement is available upon request. Some restrictions may apply depending on state of residency.
On April 22, 1970, 20 million people took to the streets and college campuses across the country to protest environmental ignorance and demand greater protections for our planet. This first Earth Day sparked the passage of major environmental legislation in the U.S. including the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts, and the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency.
“The 50th anniversary of Earth Day in 2020 will mark a pivotal year for our planet as the Earth needs our attention now more than ever,” says Stephen C. White, President of Mystic Seaport Museum. “We recognize our obligation specifically to the Mystic River and its watershed and in the spirit of the Earth Day Network’s mission to activate the environmental movement worldwide; we look forward to engaging a host of like-minded community partners as well as the general public in support of habitat restoration, conservation and overall collective action.”
October 22 marks six months to Earth Day, and on this day, Mystic Seaport Museum announces its support for Earth Day 2020 and the EARTHRISE movement, which will mobilize across the globe on April 22 to turn out millions across generations, sectors, and continents to demand immediate action on climate change.
April 22, 2020, is as a key moment for citizens, institutions, and organizations everywhere to demonstrate our shared demand for bold, transformative change. Mystic Seaport Museum is proud to join this global movement as we build toward the next half century of action for our planet.
“As someone who participated in the first Earth Day in 1970, the 50th anniversary is an important milestone for all of us to recommit and expand support for our environment in the greater Mystic area and beyond,” says White.
In partnership with Mystic Aquarium and other community organizations, the Museum looks to hold events to share information about the history of the local watershed including human impacts and offer educational opportunities and activities to shed light on ways we all can become better stewards of the planet. It is critically important to protect Long Island Sound and maintain its water quality as a living resource to more than 1,200 species of invertebrates, 170 species of fish and dozens of species of migratory birds.
The International is the most comprehensive collection of contemporary marine art in the United States. Award-winning artists from around the world present more than 100 examples of their most recent work. Represented in this show are exceptional paintings, sculptures, and scrimshaw. The juried show is a commemoration of America’s maritime heritage with both intricately researched historical scenes and contemporary images that document the relationship of man to the sea.
Each year, the exhibition honors participating artists with five awards of excellence and six named awards, including the Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award, which recognizes the work that best documents America’s maritime heritage for future generations. Judging the entries this year was Rebekah Beaulieu, director of the Florence Griswold Museum, and Donn Costanzo, owner of Wooden Boatworks, Inc.
Rudolph J. Schaefer Maritime Heritage Award
In memory of Rudolph J. Schaefer’s devotion to preserving maritime history and making it accessible and enjoyable, the judges recognize the artists whose work best documents our maritime heritage, past or present, for generations of the future.
Ronny Moortgat Flying Cloud
Judges’ comments: This work considers sea conditions in a very effective way, the power of the lowered sails to control the dynamic winds, and the bow wave depicts the vessel’s speed. The ominously obscured light source of either dawn or dusk shows a potential break in the storm. This work depicts tension and hope, illustrating a classic maritime story.
Stobart Foundation Award
Encouraging the importance of painting from life, the judges will recognize the work that attracts their attention most by virtue of its uniqueness of style, quality of light and atmosphere.
Crista Pisano Marina
Judges’ comments: Innovative in style and presentation, “Marina” depicts the bustling life across the shoreline. This crisp detail of the small work connotes skill, as well as a familiarity with traditional miniature painting techniques.
Rudolph J. Schaefer Emerging Artist Award
Nicholas Fox, “Reliance vs Shamrock III,” OIL 24 X 26.
This award is given in memory of Rudie Schaefer, the founder and patron of the Maritime Gallery, and his lifelong commitment to recognizing and supporting new marine artists to the Gallery who have shown exceptional skill in capturing the endless beauty and heritage of the sea in painting, sculpture, scrimshaw, or ship models.
Nicolas Fox, RELIANCE vs SHAMROCK III
Shane Couch, “After the Jibe”, Oil, 24 X 36
Maritime Gallery Yachting Award
Celebrating the singular pleasures of going to sea, the judges will recognize the work that best captures the beauty and excitement of the “sport of kings” in all its many forms.
Shane Michael Couch Puritan After the Jibe
Judges’ comments: Couch’s work showcases one of America’s great yachts, built in CT. From its balloon jib pulling the vessel across the water to the foresail and topsail illuminated by the sun. Light dances across the water, demonstrating the artist’s technical skill. The work aptly welcomes the viewer into the dynamic and energetic sport of the sea,
Marine Environmental Wildlife Award
Acknowledging the importance of preserving the fragile balance within the world’s ecosystems, the judges will recognize the work that best depicts marine mammals, fish, or birds in their native habitat.
Aleta Rossi Steward, Nice Catch
Judges’ comments: Done in a confidently photorealistic style, Steward’s work documents an important shift in our regional natural environment: the heralded return of the osprey. Almost like a still from a wildlife film, the painting captures the graceful dominance of the bird as it catches its prey, the water splashing in response.
Thomas M. Hoyne III Award
In memory of Thomas M. Hoyne, III’s dedication and contributions to accurate, historical representations of the great Gloucester fishing schooners, and the men who sailed them, the judges will recognize the work that best documents an aspect of the marine fisheries industry of today or yesterday.
Anne-Emmanuelle Marpeau Charles W. Morgan
Judges’ comments: In this mixed media piece, Marpeau brings to life the ecosystem of New Bedford in anticipation of the launch of the Charles W. Morgan. The accurate reconstruction of the elements of the piece, from the buildings to the ship to the full clothesline show the artist’s keen attention to detail and understanding of subject. A holistic, engaging, and inspiring piece.
Awards of Excellence
For an outstanding example of creativity, insight, and integrity in Marine Art.
Richard K. Loud Larchmont Race Week…
Judges’ comments: The vessels, shown actively engaging in a class race, are astutely rendered, documenting their fine craftsmanship and function. The sea is marvelously painted from its crisply cresting waves to its muddled olive and teal complexion. An elegant depiction of the sport of racing.
Cindy House Windy Day Brant
Judges’ comments: House’s work records a sighting of brant (the type of bird represented in the piece), leisurely walking along the coast while on their northern migration. The serenity of the scene belies the magnitude of their journey, and the works plays delicately between the dynamic waves, resting birds, and seaweed along the coastal land. Quiet in tone, but with a reverence for the natural world and a mastery of the pastel technique.
Maris Platais Coasting Schooners
Judges’ comments: Masterfully drawn in ink, this work is from the perspective of a land dweller observing schooners in repose near the bay of Quaddy Head, Maine. The boats are drawn accurately, even from the distant viewpoint, and the lush foliage of the pines and rocky planes of the coastline integrate in an excellent rendering of the Maine shore.
Charles R. Robinson Sunlit Surf
Judges’ comments: Unusual in perspective and unique in its representation of the coast, Robinson’s piece offers to the viewer the active interplay of the receding water and the sand, the cycle of the wave constantly returning to shore. The froth of the sea foam and aqua-emerald ocean echoes the resplendent cumulous clouds and clear sky in a scene unchanged by time.
William R. Davis Maine Harbor Sunset
Judges’ comments: As the golden sun descends over a quiet Maine coastal town, the ocean and land are ensconced in amber dusk. The ridge of the mountain in the distance positively glows under the near-neon orange illumination of the setting sun. In a skilled use of color, the artist provides a true representation of the “golden hour.”
To great acclaim, Mystic Seaport Museum opened its newest exhibition J.M.W. Turner: Watercolors from Tate on Saturday, October 5, 2019. More than 140 members had gathered early in the morning to get a preview of the show before the doors opened to the general public. During Saturday morning, Museum visitors could also follow a discussion about J.M.W. Turner between the exhibition’s curator, David Blayney Brown, Tate’s Manton Senior Curator of British Art 1790-1850, and Nicholas R. Bell, senior vice president for Curatorial Affairs at Mystic Seaport Museum, in the River Room at Latitude 41° Restaurant & Tavern.
This major exhibition is organized in cooperation with Tate and will run through February 23, 2020. The show is drawn from the renowned Turner Bequest of 1856, the vast legacy of art donated to Great Britain by J.M.W. Turner (1775-1851), which resides today at Tate. Mystic Seaport Museum is the only North American venue for unique exhibition.
The exhibition spans the entirety of Turner’s long career and, by focusing on the artist’s watercolors, provides insight into the private visionary behind the public figure. The viewer will see Turner’s watercolor practice evolve from aide to memory to a way of thinking with his brush–“for his own pleasure,” to borrow a phrase from a contemporary admirer, the critic John Ruskin.
“Joseph Mallord William Turner is one of the great artists of the Western Canon,” notes Stephen C. White, president of Mystic Seaport Museum, the preeminent maritime museum in the United States. “In building our new exhibition center, the Thompson Exhibition Building, which opened in 2016, we prepared for loans of this caliber. Now we are thrilled to have Turner’s watercolors here for visitors throughout the region and country.”
Tate rations display of Turner’s watercolors, given the fugitive quality of the medium. But Tate balances conservation considerations with the mission to serve new audiences. “We are exceptionally pleased to have this intimate and powerful selection of works at Mystic Seaport Museum – the result of an ambitious and rewarding collaboration between the two organizations,” says Dr. Maria Balshaw, CBE Director, Tate.
Watercolors from Tate brings together 92 watercolors, four oil paintings, and one of the artist’s last sketchbooks. “Not one of these watercolors or the sketchbook would have survived had Turner had anything to do with it,” notes Curator David Blayney Brown. Before his death, Turner sought to cement his place in history by bequeathing the contents of his studio to the British nation. He envisioned that the finished oil pictures would hang in rotation in a Turner Gallery inside the National Gallery at Trafalgar Square. But that dream never came to pass and, in 1856, the Chancery Court overruled the artist’s wishes, saving the entire contents of the studio, including more than 30,000 watercolors and sketches stashed haphazardly in cupboards, crammed in drawers, and rolled between canvases.
Nicholas Bell says, “Watercolor has always been central to Turner’s art and its inspiration to others. Perhaps surprisingly for a North American audience, which has always had greater access to his oils, the watercolors have long competed in Britain with their weightier oil counterparts for museum-goers’ affections. What’s so marvelous about this gathering of loan works is that its very size makes it possible to follow Turner’s career trajectory in all its complexity.”
“Here we see not the public Turner, whose large oil paintings hung prominently in the Royal Academy, but the private artist who continually tested compositions, color, and tactile effect,” says David Blayney Brown.
Watercolors from Tate brings together luminous landscapes and atmospheric seascapes, architectural and topographical sketches, travel drawings, and even a number of intimate interior views. Some watercolors were completed in the studio; others, sketched en plein air. A number appear to have been dashed off on tiny slips of paper; others are finished works, conceived for display, incorporating ink, pencil and gouache. The earliest work on view is a romantic scene of a gorge painted in 1791 when Turner was 17 years old; the latest, painted 55 years later and exhibited at the Royal Academy five years before the artist’s death, is Whalers (Boiling Blubber) Entangled in Flaw Ice, Endeavoring to Extricate Themselves (1846).
The exhibition is organized into seven sections: “From Architecture to Landscape: Early Work,” “Nature and the Ideal: England c. 1805-15,” “Home and Abroad: 1815-30,” “Light and Color,” “The Annual Tourist: 1830-40,” and “Master and Magician: Late Work.”
The final section, “Turner and the Sea,” was curated especially for Mystic Seaport Museum. It is a selection of 17 watercolors, oils, and a sketchbook of scenes of the sea–shipwrecks, a beached boat, coastal views, and purely atmospheric images. Highlights include a graphite and watercolor drawing evoking with stark economy a vessel or whale stranded on a mountainous coast and Stormy Sea with Dolphins (c.1835-4), a major painting that last traveled to the U.S. in 1966 as part of a notable monographic exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art.
Publication
Conversations with Turner: The Watercolors accompanies Watercolors from Tate and is edited by Nicholas Bell.
The book’s format is inspired by this introduction of Britain’s seminal visual artist to new audiences. Following an introductory essay on Turner’s lifelong pursuit of excellence in watercolor by David Blayney Brown, an international cadre of established and rising scholars and artists meet in dialogue in a series of thematic “conversations” in print.
Addressing such areas as the evolution of Turner’s art in watercolor, evidence of rapid changes to England’s industry and culture in the early 19th century, his treatment of time and memory, and the question of how his works influence contemporary artists working today, these conversations are intended to offer the reader accessible entry points into the medium central to Turner’s development as an artist.
The book is co-published by Mystic Seaport Museum and Skira Editore.
Order your copy by calling the Museum’s Bookstore at 860.572.5386, or by clicking on the red arrow below:
