Category: Press Releases

Mystic, CT (January 30, 2018) — Mystic Seaport is proud to offer Yoga in the Pingo in its new exhibition, Murmur: Arctic Realities with world renowned yoga instructor Coral Brown.

The first class will be at 8:30 a.m., Saturday Feb. 10. The second class will be at 5 p.m., Saturday, March 3. Each vinyasa class (suitable for all-levels)  is 75 minutes. Tickets are $18 for members and $20 for non-members. Mystic Seaport general admission is not required to attend the yoga class. Pre-registration is required due to limited space, call 860.572.5331 or visit http://bit.ly/PingoYoga.

Murmur: Arctic Realities is a huge kinetic sculpture created by contemporary artist John Grade. Using salvaged Alaskan yellow cedar, Grade has created an intricately carved sculpture (15’ x 38’ x 42’) that represents a pingo, a hill of ice that grows over centuries in the Arctic’s highest latitudes, then collapses, pockmarking the tundra. The steel spines that support the sculpture rise up above it. The 12 spines move up and down to mimic the life cycle of a pingo.

“Yoga in museums and galleries has become very popular, and we regularly have requests and suggestions from visitors that we hold yoga classes on our beautiful property,” said Arlene Marcionette, public programs project manager for Mystic Seaport. “So when we were getting ready to open Murmur, with the way the sculpture not only embodies an element of the natural world, but also moves, we thought yoga in the Murmur gallery was a perfect fit.”

Brown, who makes her home in Rhode Island, is a licensed mental health counselor who draws on her extensive experience in yoga, philosophy, and holistic counseling to provide fertile, open space for the process of healing and transformation. She is a senior Prana Vinyasa Flow teacher and has also trained in the Iyengar and Jivamukti methods. She leads teacher trainings as well as retreats and workshops worldwide.

She also grew up in Alaska.

“I lived in a community called Bird Creek, a peaceful, off-the-grid commune that my parents and some friends founded,” Brown said. “My parents lived off the land in a very simple way, with a mindful, yogic-like life philosophy, which in the 1970’s was known as being a hippie. When my parents separated I moved to Rhode Island with my mother, but I would go back to Alaska frequently to see my father.”

This will be Brown’s first time leading a class in a museum gallery, and she loves the idea of a sculpture of a landscape as the focus of the room. “It’s pretty phenomenal,” she said. “It’s great to bring the outdoors indoors. For centuries, Yogis have explored the mind, body and the deeper mysteries of life by going out into nature where there are no distractions. A naturally inspired, peaceful environment encourages us to foster the relationship between human nature and nature itself.”

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 Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, including Murmur: Arctic Realities, which opened January 20, 2018. The 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. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mixed reality sculpture installation “transports” visitors to the Alaskan tundra

Open Saturday, January 20 – Sunday, April 22, 2018

Mystic, Conn. (Jan. 8, 2018) — Mystic Seaport is proud to host the international debut on Saturday, January 20, 2018, of Murmur: Arctic Realities, the creation of one of the world’s leading contemporary artists, John Grade.

Using salvaged Alaskan yellow cedar, Grade has created an intricately carved sculpture (15’ x 38’ x 42’) that represents a pingo, a hill of ice that grows over centuries in the Arctic’s highest latitudes, then collapses, pockmarking the tundra. This sculpture simulates a pingo in Alaska’s Noatak National Preserve, mapped by the artist using photogrammetry. Visitors will not only witness the pingo’s impressive scale, but will be able to enter inside the sculpture as its walls open and close, mimicking the pingo’s life cycle.

The exhibition is being staged in collaboration with Anchorage Museum, where it will permanently reside following its tour. Grade first became aware of pingos when he traveled to the Alaskan Arctic three years ago as part of Anchorage Museum’s Polar Lab residency for artists. Grade used a team of 20 artisans over a five-month period in his Seattle studio to create the sculpture. It will take a crew of eight to install it in the Collins Gallery of the Thompson Exhibition Building, including a mechanical engineer.

“This is an experience more than an exhibition,” said Museum President Steve White. “Given the capacity of the new Collins Gallery, we had the opportunity to think of exhibitions that could capitalize on the space and to embrace non-traditional, contemporary work. Murmur will be unlike anything we have ever shown at the Museum.”

[embedit snippet=”murmur-installation”]

Grade, of Seattle, has teamed with New Media Artist Reilly Donovan to bring a mixed reality experience for visitors to Murmur. Using Microsoft’s HoloLens Mixed Reality technology, visitors wearing a wireless HoloLens headset will see themselves within a holographic representation – one using visual images and spatialized sound of a precise geographic location 80 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

The title Murmur evokes both the sound of Arctic wind and the shapes made by flocks of Arctic birds in flight called murmurations. The installation will provide an experience in which people can virtually explore the interior of a pingo’s ice core and the unusual textures, flora and fauna of the land form.

“I thought it would be very interesting to compare these two phenomena that happen in such different time scales,” Grade said, “one so ephemeral and the other so slow. To try to put a viewer inside each of those things, which is a place none of us literally are ever going to go. What would it feel like, merging them together?”

Murmur: Arctic Realities is open through April 22, 2018 (Earth Day), during regular museum hours. In addition to the exhibition itself, there are scheduled talks by both Grade and Donovan, the opportunity to take a yoga class with renowned instructor Coral Brown within the exhibition, and other programs related to the piece. Visit our online calendar for the full schedule. Use #wearethemurmur #arcticrealities on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Related Programs

Members Only: Artist Talk with John Grade
Contemporary artist John Grade will lead members on an exclusive walk-through of Mystic Seaport’s new exhibit, Murmur: Arctic Realities before it opens to the public. Grade will discuss his inspiration and the process he utilized to craft this innovative, kinetic sculpture of the Arctic land form called pingo. Members will be able to meet the artist and tour the sculpture with Grade before the exhibit opens to the public at 10 a.m. January 20.

Murmur: Tech Talk with New Media Artist Reilly Donovan
Join us for a talk and presentation by new media artist Reilly Donovan, designer of the mixed reality experience in the new exhibition, Murmur: Arctic Realities. Donovan works with emerging technology to produce interactive installations, virtual reality artworks and augmented reality exhibits. His work explores how computer simulations, machine learning, and interactive environments challenge the boundaries of our senses. January 20.

Seaport After Seven: Party at the Pingo
Embrace the season with Party at the Pingo, the inaugural event in the new Seaport After Seven party series. Guests will have exclusive access to Murmur: Arctic Realities, a vast kinetic sculpture of a “pingo,” by contemporary artist John Grade. Enjoy arctic cocktails, dancing, a DJ and classic games – upsized in a re-envisioned Thompson Exhibition Building lobby! It will be a night at the Museum that you’ll never forget. February 2.

Murmur Yoga with Coral Brown
Join world-renowned yoga instructor Coral Brown in the Museum’s newest exhibition, Murmur: Arctic Realities. She will guide a grounding yet dynamic all-levels vinyasa yoga class. February 10 and March 3.

Murmur Business After Hours with Chamber of Commerce of Eastern CT
Join Mystic Seaport and the Chamber of Commerce of Eastern Connecticut for a Business After Hours in the Museum’s newest exhibition, Murmur: Arctic Realities. Enjoy food and beverages as you experience the mixed reality art installation. February 21.

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 Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, including the upcoming Murmur: Arctic Realitiesopening January 20, 2018. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Danish film “Across the Waters” tells the story of Jews fleeing Nazi-occupied Denmark by boat

Mystic, CT (Dec. 29, 2017) — To commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, Mystic Seaport, the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut, and the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, will co-host a special screening of the 2016 Danish film “Across the Waters,” which tells the story of a Jewish musician and his family who make a frantic escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark. The screening (Danish with English subtitles) begins at 2 p.m., Saturday, January 27, at Mystic Luxury Cinemas in Olde Mistick Village.

The story takes place in 1943, the same year that the Danish lighthouse tender Gerda III was smuggling Jews from Denmark to safety in Sweden. Gerda III belongs to the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City and is on display at Mystic Seaport. In 1943, the boat was used by Henny Sinding, the 22-year old daughter of a Danish Navy Officer who commanded the country’s Lighthouse and Buoy Service, and a four-man crew, to rescue Jews. The refugees were brought to a warehouse along Copenhagen’s waterfront and smuggled aboard Gerda III, hiding in the cargo hold.

The little vessel then set out on her official lighthouse supply duties, but detoured to the coast of neutral Sweden. Although the vessel was regularly boarded and checked by German soldiers, the refugees were never discovered. Gerda III rescued approximately 300 Jews, in groups of 10 to 15. Of the 300 boats that participated in the evacuation, Gerda III is believed to be one of only three that remain afloat.

On Saturday, January 27, the event will start at 2 p.m. with an introduction and remembrance by Jerome E. Fischer, executive director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut. That will be followed by a short presentation on Gerda III’s story by Howard Veisz, a Mystic Seaport volunteer who has exhaustively studied the boat’s history. Veisz is the author of “Henny and Her Boat,” the story of Gerda III and the rescue of 300 Jews. Tickets are $20 for Mystic Seaport members, and $22 for non-members. Tickets may be purchased in advance by calling the Museum’s Central Reservations at 860.572.5331, or at the door the day of the event at Mystic Luxury Cinemas.

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 Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, including the upcoming Murmur: Arctic Realitiesopening January 20, 2018. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Free admission Sunday, Dec. 17, with a non-perishable food item

Mystic, Conn. (December 7, 2017) — The 70th annual Community Carol Sing at Mystic Seaport will be 3-4 p.m. Sunday, December 17. A new addition to this beloved seasonal tradition this year is a Holiday Hat Contest.

The Museum will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and admission is free with the donation of a non-perishable food item or by cash donation. All contributions will be donated to and distributed by the Pawcatuck Neighborhood Center.

The Mystic Seaport Carolers will perform a holiday concert in the Greenmanville Church at 2 p.m. The carol sing will commence at 3 p.m. in the McGraw Quadrangle, led by Associate Professor of Music and Director of Choral Studies at the University of Connecticut Jamie Spillane (now in his 32nd year directing this event) and backed by the Museum Carolers and a brass quartet.

Guests at the Carol Sing are always in the holiday spirit, and often their headgear gives new meaning to “merry and bright.” This year, judges will be circulating through the crowd, and prizes will be awarded to the top hats! Winners will be announced during the concert.

Also that day, the Treworgy Planetarium’s 2 p.m., program, “The Star of Bethlehem,” explores the winter skies, merging science, mythology, religious observance, winter traditions, and music. A holiday craft workshop will be hosted in the Howell Classroom (lower level of Planetarium) from noon to 2 p.m.

For more information, visit mysticseaport.org/carolsing.

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 Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, including the upcoming Murmur: Arctic Realities opening January 20, 2018. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mystic, Conn. (October 5, 2017) — Mystic Seaport will open “Contemporary American Marine Art: The 17th National Exhibition of the American Society of Marine Artists” Saturday, October 14. This juried show features the works of marine artists recognized by the Society as the best in contemporary marine art.

The exhibition includes 120 works of painting, sculpture, and scrimshaw from the nation’s leading marine artists. Selected from more than 500 pieces submitted for consideration, the works represent a wide variety of subject matter, medium, technique, and inspired vision.

“Marine art is known for its adherence to tradition. This new and exciting exhibition explores a rare variety of styles, techniques, media, and subject matter. The impressive reach of this collection celebrates contemporary marine artists and their best work,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport. “We are very proud to be the final destination for this exhibition.”

The American Society of Marine Artists (ASMA) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to recognize and promote marine art and maritime history. ASMA seeks to encourage cooperation among artists, historians, marine enthusiasts and others engaged in activities relating to marine art and maritime history. Since its founding in 1978, the society has brought together some of America’s most talented contemporary artists in the marine art field.

The exhibition is hosted every three years in museums across the United States. It debuted on September 8, 2016, at the Muscarelle Museum of Art, in conjunction with the First National Marine Art Conference in Williamsburg, VA. The exhibition then traveled to the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michaels, MD, and the Academy Art Museum in Easton, MD, and continued to the Quinlan Visual Arts Center in Gainesville, GA, and the Minnesota Marine Art Museum, in Winona, MN.

Mystic Seaport will feature works by young artists who received top prizes in a nationwide competition. ASMA’s Young Maritime Artist Search program seeks to identify and nurture young artists interested in maritime artists. The three entries to be displayed are: “Shrimp” by Hyacinth Weng of Johns Creek High School, Johns Creek, GA; “Bloom” a sculpture by Darby Bowen of Goffstown High School, Goffstown, NH; and “Fresh” by Su Min (Erin) Lee of Johns Creek High School, Johns Creek, GA.

“Contemporary American Marine Art” will be on display in the R.J. Schaefer Building through January 21, 2018.

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 newly opened Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, beginning with the current show SeaChange. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Viking Treasures, a Mixed-Reality Art Installation, the Vinland Map, and Artifacts from the Tragic Franklin Arctic Expedition of 1845 Highlight Museum’s Year

Mystic, Conn. (September 19, 2017) — Mystic Seaport announces its lineup of new exhibitions for the 2018 calendar year, including the international debut in May of The Vikings Begin, a presentation of priceless Norse artifacts from Sweden’s Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum. The schedule includes also the first display in the U.S. of the controversial Vinland Map in more than 50 years.

The Museum will begin the year with the inaugural opening in January of a Mixed-Reality installation, Murmur: Arctic Realities, from contemporary artist John Grade that will transport visitors to the Alaskan tundra. The year concludes in November with the only American display of Death in the Ice: The Shocking Story of Franklin’s Final Expedition, an exploration of the mysterious fate of Sir John Franklin and his crew on their expedition to find the Northwest Passage across the Arctic in 1845.

Murmur: Arctic Realities
January-April, 2018

Murmur: Arctic Realities will present a groundbreaking new experience by John Grade, one of the world’s leading contemporary artists. Visitors will encounter what appears to be a natural landform – a mound intricately carved from Alaskan yellow cedar. This vast sculpture represents a pingo, a hill of ice that grows over centuries in the Arctic’s highest latitudes, then collapses, pockmarking the tundra. Grade’s work replicates exactly a pingo in Alaska’s Noatak National Preserve, mapped by the artist using photogrammetry. Visitors will not only witness the pingo’s impressive scale, but will also be able to enter inside the sculpture as its walls open and close, mimicking the pingo’s lifecycle at a time when this is accelerating due to unprecedented environmental change.

Murmur will be the the world’s first use of Microsoft’s HoloLens Mixed Reality technology as the core element of a major museum exhibition. Grade will map fragments of Noatak’s landscape into the gallery so that visitors wearing a wireless HoloLens headset will see themselves within a holographic representation of the North. By allowing visitors in Connecticut to traverse an Alaskan marsh, Murmur will revolutionize the public’s grasp of what a museum experience can be.

The Mystic Seaport installation will be Murmur’s international debut and is made possible in collaboration with the Anchorage Museum.

The Vikings Begin: Treasures from Uppsala University, Sweden
May-September, 2018

One of the world’s finest early Viking age collections is coming to Mystic Seaport. Priceless treasures, including helmets, shields, weapons, glass, and other artifacts are safeguarded at the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum in Sweden, Scandinavia’s oldest university. These collections, dating as early as the seventh century, are now the focus of a major research initiative designed to significantly advance our understanding of how the Norse culture evolved. Thematic sections on Viking warfare, trade, the Baltic Sea, a ship burial, Norse gods, and relations to other cultures will employ rare archaeological finds in the discovery of how this maritime society lived more than a millennium ago. This exhibition represents the first instance most of these artifacts will have ever left Sweden.

The installation at Mystic Seaport will be the international debut of The Vikings Begin, and is made possible in collaboration with the Gustavianum, Uppsala University Museum.

The Vinland Map
May-September, 2018

When it was first unveiled by Yale University in 1965, the Vinland Map immediately became one of the most valuable and controversial documents in the world. This parchment map was dated by Yale to about 1440 – an incendiary claim as the map depicts at its far western edge Vinland, the mysterious land discovered by explorer Leif Ericsson in about 1000, what we now know to be Newfoundland. Did Norse knowledge of the New World exist within mainland Europe before Columbus sailed? The Map suggests so. Its publication riveted a public deeply invested in the question of First Contact, and eager for evidence of an American connection to Viking history. The Map’s discovery also ignited a firestorm of debate as scholars, historians, and scientists across the globe argued over its meaning and authenticity. Today most scholars concur the Map is a forgery, which does nothing to diminish the role it has played in our national conversation about who we are and where we come from.

This exhibition will place the Vinland Map on display in the U.S. for the first time in more than fifty years, allowing those who have followed the saga to see its primary evidence for the first time. Mystic Seaport will engage historians, archaeologists, scientists, and other leading experts to share the Map’s story and discuss its outsized role in modern American history.

This exhibition is made possible in collaboration with the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.

Death in the Ice – The Mystery of the Franklin Expedition
November, 2018-April, 2019

In 1845, Sir John Franklin led the Royal Navy’s sturdiest two ships into the Arctic to great international acclaim. His mission: to discover a Northwest Passage to Asia. Franklin and his crew of 128 men were never heard from again. Thirty-seven expeditions were launched from several countries in a decades-long effort to discover the fate of Franklin’s men. Tantalizing clues, including graves, provisions, Inuit tales, and a single handwritten note told a grim story, but the men and ships were never found.

This most enduring of mysteries leapt back into the headlines in 2014 with the discovery of Franklin’s flagship, HMS Erebus, then two years later with the discovery of HMS Terror, each incredibly well preserved at depths of less than 100 feet in the Arctic Ocean. Dives aboard the wrecks are rapidly changing our understanding of what befell Franklin’s expedition.

This exhibition pulls together every strand of this epic history, including expedition materials from London, Inuit culture and knowledge that led to the wrecks’ discoveries from Canada, and artifacts raised from HMS Erebus, seen for the first time in 170 years.

This is a travelling exhibition developed by the Canadian Museum of History (Gatineau, Canada), in partnership with Parks Canada Agency and with the National Maritime Museum (London, United Kingdom), and in collaboration with the Government of Nunavut and the Inuit Heritage Trust.

Traveling Exhibitions

Peoples of the Whale: Captain George Comer and the Inuit of Hudson Bay
Embassy of Canada, Washington, D.C.
April-July, 2018

Capt. George Comer (1858-1937) enjoyed dual careers as a successful Arctic whaling captain and an accomplished – though not formally trained – anthropologist. He is best known for his close association with the Inuit of the west coast of Hudson Bay. This exhibition explores this remarkable relationship.

Comer and his whaling crew fared well in the cold North, thanks in large part to the support of the Inuit, who also possessed strong whaling traditions. The Captain appreciated the remarkable ingenuity, skills, and character of his Inuit companions. They willingly shared their knowledge and helped him survive. Surrounded by one of the earth’s most harsh environments, the two groups worked together and enjoyed each other’s company.

The Inuit also supported Captain Comer’s efforts to document their rapidly changing culture, enabling him to conduct comprehensive studies of Inuit life; the first ever made in the Hudson Bay region. Today, his studies and collections provide a unique and striking record of shared legacy.

This exhibition is made possible in partnership with the Embassy of Canada and the Canadian Museum of History.

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 newly opened Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

 

 

Mystic, Conn. (September 18, 2017) — The Mystic River Oyster Festival at Mystic Seaport will be Saturday, September 30, offering visitors glimpses into the history of oystering and a look at (and taste of) the modern-day resurgence of the industry .

This one-day event is a celebration of all things oyster, and features six local and regional oyster purveyors who will have oysters available for tasting and will show off their shucking skills.

The festival will run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Food service will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Mystic River Oyster Festival is free with regular Museum admission. Food is subject to an additional charge.

This year the festival includes:

• Fishers Island Oyster Farm
• Jonathan Island Oysters
• The Noank Aquaculture Cooperative
• Matunuck Oyster Bar
• Walrus and Carpenter Oysters
• Behan Family Farms

Visitors can learn about the history of oystering on Long Island Sound and take in tonging (harvesting) demonstrations. They can also hear firsthand about the life of a modern-day oysterman during a talk by Ben Franford, a dentist who owns Jonathan Island Oysters. His oyster trade name is “Pearly Whites.” Another talk during the Festival is by Bill Lucey, the Long Island Soundkeeper, who works for Save the Sound as the watchdog for the bays and harbors, monitoring water quality, and making sure there are no infractions of the Clean Water Act. Oysters need clean water!

Traditional sea music entertainment will be provided by the Mystic Seaport chantey staff:

• Craig Edwards & David Iler, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Geoff Kaufman & Anayis Wright, 3 p.m. to 5 p.m.

There will be presentations and booths by:

• Clean Up Sound and Harbors (CUSH), a grassroots environmental organization that operates out of Stonington in an effort to monitor water quality and educate the public about how to improve local water quality.
• Connecticut SeaGrant, an environmental organization funded by NOAA and the State of Connecticut. They encourage the stewardship of marine resources through education and research and provide the resources for the Connecticut Shellfish Commission, which works with local oyster farmers to help with water quality, aquaculture, and education. They will also be offering information about shellfish conservation efforts.

Vendors during the festival include R. Murphy Knives, who sell premium oyster knives and other tools and equipment.

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 newly opened Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, beginning with the current show SeaChange. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

 

Mystic, Conn. (September 12, 2017) — The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport opens the 38th Annual International Marine Art Exhibition and Sale Saturday, September 23.

The International is the most comprehensive collection of contemporary marine art in the United States. Award-winning artists from around the world will present more than 100 examples of their most recent work. Represented in this show are exceptional paintings, sculptures, and scrimshaw. The 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.

“We are excited and honored to gather top artists in the maritime field in one exhibition. On display will be some of the finest works of contemporary marine art produced this year,” said Monique Foster, director of the Gallery. “The show will visually inspire and delight art connoisseurs, sailors, and visitors alike.”

Participating artists include Don Demers, Patrick O’Brien, Richard Loud, Neal Hughes, Laura Cooper, Sergio Roffo, Len Tantillo, William Davis, and Scott Cameron.

The exhibition will honor 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.

The exhibition will open to the public at 10 a.m. Saturday, September 23. There will be an artists’ walk at 11 a.m. at the Gallery. The walk is an opportunity for the public to meet some of the participating artists and listen as they share how they created their works and what inspires them to produce their art.

All works in the exhibition are available to view and purchase daily between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. The show can also be viewed on the Gallery website beginning September 18.

The exhibition runs through December 31, 2017.

About the Maritime Gallery
The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport is the nation’s foremost gallery specializing in contemporary marine art and ship models. For more than 35 years, the Gallery has been privileged to exhibit the works of leading international maritime artists. Located at historic Mystic Seaport, the Gallery overlooks the beautiful Mystic River attracting art lovers and collectors from around the world. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org/gallery.

National Historic Landmark at Mystic Seaport is Oldest Coal-Fired Vessel Operating on a Regular Schedule in U.S.

Mystic, Conn. (July 31, 2017) — Mystic Seaport announced today it will resume operating its steamboat Sabino for public cruises on the Mystic River Wednesday, August 2. The vessel has been under restoration in the Museum’s Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard for more than two years and is the oldest coal-fired steamboat in regular operation in the United States. Mystic Seaport operates her as a working exhibit providing passengers with an authentic early 20th century steamboat experience.

“We are very proud to return Sabino to work on the Mystic River as she has done for more than 40 years. As the only one of our four National Historic Landmark vessels we regularly operate, she is the best example of our philosophy of preservation and active use,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport.

Sabino will operate six days a week from the Mystic Seaport waterfront through October 9. There will be three cruises per day: a 30-minute upriver cruise for $8 per person at 2:30 p.m., a 90-minute downriver cruise to the mouth of the Mystic River for $18 per person at 3:30 p.m., and a two-hour downriver cruise at 5:30 p.m. for $25 per person. There will also be a two-hour downriver cruise at 11:30 a.m. on Sundays for $25 per person. The boat will not operate on Tuesdays.

Museum admission is not required for downriver cruises; it is required for the 30-minute cruise. Children 3 and younger ride for free, but they must have a ticket to board. Tickets can be purchased up to two weeks in advance by calling 860.572.5331.

Sabino can carry 74 passengers and is available for group charters.

About Sabino
Sabino was built in 1908 in East Boothbay, Maine, and spent most of her career ferrying passengers and cargo between Maine towns and islands. She is 57 feet long and has a beam of 23 feet. Her hull is constructed of wood and she is powered by a 75-horsepower two-cylinder compound steam engine. The engine is the original power plant that was installed in 1908 and was manufactured by the J. H. Paine & Son Co. in nearby Noank, Connecticut. Steam is generated by a coal-fired boiler. Sabino came to Mystic Seaport in 1973 and she was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.

The recent restoration began in December 2014 and addressed a number of issues around the vessel, including reframing much of the stern, replacing the keel bolts, installing new planking and decking, and restoring portions of the superstructure. In addition, numerous mechanical and systems upgrades were carried out, most notably the fabrication and installation of a new boiler to meet modern safety and regulatory requirements. The restoration is expected to keep Sabino in operation for at least the next 25 to 30 years.

Financial support for the project was provided by a combination of private philanthropy and public grants, including $172,125 from the Connecticut State Historic Preservation Office, $149,318 from the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and a National Maritime Heritage Grant of $199,806 administered by the National Park Service in partnership with the U.S. Maritime Administration.

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 newly opened Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, beginning with the current show SeaChange. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/ and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

Mystic, Conn. (July 19, 2017) — Mystic Seaport will hold its annual Antique & Classic Boat Parade on the Mystic River beginning at 11:45 a.m., Sunday, July 23. The boats should begin passing through the Mystic River bascule bridge in downtown Mystic at about noon.

The new start time is 30 minutes earlier than previously announced to accommodate the railroad bridge opening schedule for Amtrak.

The name and particulars of each boat will be announced at a public address station on the shore at Mystic River Park as it passes through the bascule bridge. The boats then make their way in a procession down river to the village of Noank.

The parade is the conclusion of the Museum’s Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous  weekend, which showcases high-quality antique vessels, including cruisers, sailboats, and runabouts. Approximately 50 classic vessels will gather along the museum’s waterfront. Visitors are invited to see the displayed vessels Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. An awards competition will recognize excellence in restoration, authenticity, and workmanship.

To celebrate the 85th anniversary of the launching of the museum’s schooner Brilliant, the Rendezvous will highlight boats designed by the naval architecture firm Sparkman & Stephens. Brilliant was design #12, one of the earliest of co-founder Olin Stephen’s designs. She was launched in 1932 at the Henry B. Nevins, Inc. yard at City Island, N.Y. As one of the longest-running sail training programs in the country, she has carried more than 10,000 students on cruises throughout New England and beyond.

For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/event/antique-classic-boat-rendezvous/.

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 newly opened Thompson Exhibition Building provides a state-of-the-art gallery to host compelling, world-class exhibitions, beginning with the current show SeaChange. The 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 $28.95 for adults ages 15 and older and $18.95 for children ages 4-14. Museum members and children three and younger are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/  and follow Mystic Seaport on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.

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