GLOUCESTER MARITIME HERITAGE CENTER CELEBRATES NEW GALLERY
Contact: Harriet Webster
978-281-0470
hwebster@gloucestermaritimecenter.org
The Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center hosts a 3-day celebration May 7th ‘ May 9th commemorating the opening of the Center’s new Gorton’s Seafoods Gallery and the start of the 2009 season. All events take place at the Center’s site at 23 Harbor Loop in Gloucester.
Bud Ris, President and CEO of the New England Aquarium, will present a free slide lecture entitled “The New England Aquarium Today and Tomorrow” at 7 pm on Thursday, May 7th. He will discuss the Aquarium’s efforts to redefine its role, moving education and conservation to the forefront of everything it does. ‘The New England Aquarium exists,’ Ris has noted, ‘to educate people about the oceans and to build the next generation of ocean stewards.’
Erik Ronnberg, renowned New England ship model maker, will present a free slide lecture entitled ‘New England’s Earliest Otter Trawlers’ at 7 pm on Friday, May 8th. He will illustrate his talk with slides of model of the ‘Surf’ he built for marine artist Tom Hoyne. Mr. Ronnberg’s model of the schooner yacht America can be viewed at the Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester. His work is also on display at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC; Mystic Seaport Museum, Mystic, CT; Plimoth Plantation, Plymouth, MA; New Bedford Whaling Museum, New Bedford, MA; and Hart Nautical Museum (M.I.T.), Cambridge, MA.
The Center will host a day long ‘Demonstration Day’on Saturday, May 9th, from 10 pm to 5 pm. Events include an Historic Postcards Slide Show, seafood cooking demonstrations, live music by Not That Blonde, storytelling by Fred Dodge, and presentations focusing on whale tagging, shipwrecks and sustainable fisheries. Ongoing demonstrations include net stripping, sail making, dory building, and ship model construction. Visitors can also explore a simulated shipwreck with Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary maritime archaeologists and observe a boat being hauled out of the water on the center’s 19th century marine railway. Children’s activities include fish printing, compass making and knot tying. Sea Pocket Lab, the center’s outdoor aquarium with touch tanks, will be open.
Visitors can also explore ‘Fitting Out,’ the first exhibit installed in the new Gorton’s Seafoods Gallery., The exhibit focuses on the shoreside industries that supported the local fishing fleet at the dawn of the 20th century.. Displays feature elegant ship models, a standing rig, and artifacts ranging from oilskins to foghorns to sailmaker’s tools. Chart your course to the Grand Banks. Experiment with the interactive marine railway model. Watch vintage film footage of fishing schooners at sea.
The Gloucester Maritime Heritage Center is located at 23 Harbor Loop in Gloucester, overlooking Gloucester’s industrial Harbor. Open 7 days a week from May 7 thru October, 10 am ‘ 5 pm. Admission is $5/adults, $2/children, $10 family maximum.
For more information, call 978-281-0470.