Video contest underway for a spot on a 19th-century whaling ship this summer

Mystic, Conn. (January 9, 2014) – Mystic Seaport is seeking applicants now through February 18 to become a stowaway aboard the Charles W. Morgan during her 38th Voyage in the summer of 2014. To apply and submit your video entry, visit mysticseaport.org/stowaway.

Following a $7.5 million, multi-year restoration, the Charles W. Morgan will embark on a voyage throughout New England for the first time in more than 80 years. The stowaway will sail aboard the Morgan, America’s oldest surviving merchant vessel, during her three-month voyage commemorating America’s maritime heritage.

“This is for someone with a sense of adventure,” said Susan Funk, executive vice president of Mystic Seaport. “The word stowaway brings to mind a romantic image. To take a chance. To not know what you’re getting into until you’re already in it, and to go to places you’ve never been before, or go to places you’ve been, but seeing them in a whole different perspective.”

While on the 38th Voyage from May to August, the Charles W. Morgan will stop at historic ports of call throughout New England, including visits to New London, Conn.; Newport, R.I.; and Vineyard Haven, New Bedford, and Boston, Mass., where she’ll dock next to the USS Constitution. She will also anchor off the coast of Provincetown, Mass. for day sails to the Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary, where the Morgan will team up with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to observe whales in their natural environment.

The stowaway will watch, inquire, learn, participate, and use their creative energy to share the voyage experience with the general public through blogging, videos, social media, and activities in the port cities. The stowaway must be 21 years or older. Prior sailing experience is not required, but curiosity and enthusiasm are a must.

The stowaway will be immersed in all aspects of the Charles W. Morgan’s 38th Voyage while living on board the ship with the crew. The stowaway will learn and take on any jobs associated with living and working on a 19th-century vessel including handling the sails and lines, steering the ship, and scrubbing the decks. The stowaway will be a key player during events and exhibits at each port of call with an opportunity to explore and meet new and interesting people. The stowaway will receive compensation in the form of a stipend for their work.

“This is a unique opportunity, a moment in time that won’t come around again,” said Funk, who is also the president of the board of directors of the New England Museum Association. “This person will go into record as the stowaway on board this voyage. This is going to be the Morgan’s most documented voyage ever.”

The Stowaway program has been made possible in part by a major grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities: Exploring the human endeavor. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

 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 is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Event to Raise Funds for the 2014 Sea Music Festival

Mystic, Conn. (January 6, 2014) – Mystic Seaport will host its annual Chantey Blast and Pub Sing Saturday, January 11, from 1-5 p.m.  All are invited to join in the lively sing-along as the Mystic Seaport chantey staff and notable performers from across New England sing maritime ballads, chanteys, and songs of the sea.

Admission is free, but donations will be accepted to help support the Museum’s upcoming Sea Music Festival, one of the world’s premier sea music events. Fans of traditional sea music gather at Mystic Seaport each year to hear the best American and international performers of maritime music celebrate the musical traditions of the Golden Age of Sail. The 2014 festival will be hosted June 12-15.

“The Chantey Blast is a fun way for us to get people excited about the festival,” said Geoff Kaufman, a chantey singer at Mystic Seaport and one of the festival’s organizers. “It is open to anyone who has an interest in sea music, and all are invited to participate. We gather some great performers and just have a fun time making music.”

The event is co-sponsored by the New York Pinewoods Folk Music Club and will be held at the Mystic German Club’s Frohsinn Hall, located at 54 Greenmanville Avenue, across from the Museum’s main entrance. Beverages will be available for purchase by the club. All ages are welcome.

About Mystic Seaport

Mystic Seaport is the nation’s leading maritime museum. Founded in 1929, it is the home to four National Historic Landmark vessels, including the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan, the oldest American commercial vessel still afloat. For more information, visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Free Admission with Donation of a Non-Perishable Food Item

Mystic, Conn. (December 13, 2013) –The 58th annual Community Carol Sing at Mystic Seaport will be held Sunday, December 22.

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 Anchor Circle at 3 p.m. led by choral director Jamie Spillane and backed by the Museum Carolers and a brass quartet.

The Treworgy Planetarium will present “The Star of Bethlehem” at 12, 1 and 2 p.m. The free program explores the winter skies, merging science, mythology, religious observance, winter traditions and music. Additionally, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. visitors can hear stories of holidays at sea, print a Victorian Christmas card keepsake at the Print Shop, observe carving and shipsmithing demonstrations, and more. Children are invited to make a souvenir toy or enjoy holiday stories at the Children’s Museum.

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 is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Mystic, Conn. (November 22, 2013) — The New England Museum Association (NEMA) has elected Susan Funk, executive vice president of Mystic Seaport, as president of its board of directors. The election was held at the organization’s 2013 Annual Meeting on November 15 as part of the group’s 95th annual conference in Newport, Rhode Island.

“We’re very excited to have Susan on board,” said NEMA Executive Director Dan Yaeger. “Her leadership and commitment to the organization will help take us to the next level of success in serving the museum field.”

Funk oversees and coordinates the activities of the Museum’s Education, Exhibitions, Maritime Studies, Curatorial, Watercraft, Human Resources, and Visitor Services departments. She is responsible for operational and strategic planning, program evaluation, and participation in trustee committees, and management of all Museum functions associated with the Mystic Seaport visitor experience. Funk coordinated Mystic Seaport’s successful accreditation self-study for the Association of American Museums (AAM) in 2004-2005. She is active in the field serving on the NEMA board and regularly serving as an AAM Museum Assessment Program reviewer and accreditation site committees. In July 2005 she participated in the Getty Institute’s prestigious Museum Leadership Institute.

“Susan’s new role with NEMA validates her leadership in the field, and underscores how fortunate Mystic Seaport is to have had her on the staff all these years,” said Steve White, president of Mystic Seaport.

Funk most recently joined the Museum in 1994. In total, she has been employed at Mystic Seaport for 25 years.

Funk was elected unanimously by more than 400 NEMA members in attendance. She is eligible to serve two one-year terms as president under the organization’s bylaws.

About the New England Museum Association

For 95 years, the New England Museum Association has been the region’s only organization serving museums of all sizes and the people who work for and with them. NEMA’s mission is to strengthen museums in the region through research, professional development, thought leadership, advocacy, and initiatives that build the social capital of museums within their communities. To achieve this mission, NEMA fosters communication and ethical conduct, promotes excellence in museum operations, and encourages support for the museum field. Programs include an annual conference which attracts more than 900 museum professionals, a series of workshops, a series of leadership events, and special projects such as the Museum Diversity Initiative, which seeks to align museums with an increasingly multicultural society.

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 is located one mile south of Exit 90 off I-95 in Mystic, CT. Admission is $24 for adults and $15 for children ages 6-17. Museum members and children 5 and under are admitted free. For more information, please visit https://mysticseaport.wpengine.com/.

Opening Reception for the Public Saturday, November 23

Mystic, Conn. (November 20, 2013) —The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport presents its annual winter exhibition Marine Artists in Winter, November 23 through April 14, 2014.

The invitational exhibition features more than 100 framed paintings and drawings displayed and available for purchase – each no larger than 12 inches in height or width (excluding frame). The exhibition showcases works with a maritime winter theme by 59 top Maritime Gallery artists, and features scenes of majestic ships, yachting and working boats, coastal landscapes, marshes, and marine wildlife.

Participating artists include Cindy Baron, Lou Bonamarte, Victor Mays, Leonard Mizerek, Jeffrey Sabol and Cean Youngs.

One of the most popular shows on the Gallery’s annual schedule, the exhibition provides an opportunity for collectors to own original work by their favorite artists at affordable prices.

“Each painting is truly a small masterpiece created by some of the most respected maritime artists working today,” said Jeanne Potter, director of the Maritime Gallery. “Reasonably priced and beautifully framed, these paintings are perfect for holiday gift giving.”

The Gallery will host a public opening reception with complimentary refreshments on Saturday, November 23, from 2 to 4 p.m. Live entertainment will be performed by local musician Bruce Foulke. A special discount of five percent off the sale of all art will be available for Museum members (Gallery Patrons receive a 10 percent discount) through December 31, 2013.

For more information, visit mysticseaport.org/gallery or call 860.572.5388.

About the Maritime Gallery

The Maritime Gallery at Mystic Seaport is the nation’s foremost gallery specializing in contemporary marine art and ship models. Through its parent organization, Mystic Seaport, the Gallery is proud to offer access to the world’s leading experts in the marine field, and the highest standards of scholarship, integrity and connoisseurship that the nation’s finest maritime museum represents. The Gallery is free to the public.