While there are a lot of Do-It-Yourself books, videos and TV shows today to help you build your house, back in 1668 when sea captain John Turner was having the Turner Mansion constructed in Salem Ma, there was a lot of trial and error. With limited mat…

“The creative process is something where you sometimes limit yourself— but other times you let it grow. You have to let it do things that seem a little uncomfortable to find something new.” Words and thought process from Diane Hoffman, owner of Diane Hoffman Textile Shop on Artists’ Row. But make no mistake about it, […]

CULTURE: The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular nation, people, or other social group — The Oxford Dictionaries If you want to not only see but experience those words being put into action, come to the Salem Common on July 18th and/or 19th for the 9th Annual Salem CultureFest! This free admission […]

If you’ve driven a vehicle for enough years or miles, then you’ve seen all kinds of hitchhikers. Young, old, attractive and scarey. One thing they had in common was that they were all human. But setting off across America soon will be hitch-Bot, a robot hitching its way across America (he made it through Canada […]

Not only is Salem an entertaining daytrip destination, it also offers opportunities to further your own education. On any given weekend there are events that perform a double duty! Take these gatherings in July as an invitation. Seventeenth Century Saturdays at Historic New England’s Gedney House Salem shipwright Eleazer Gedney built the earliest portion of […]

What does Red, White & Blue mean to you? Inspirational speeches from our Founding Fathers? Or something lighter like strawberries, whipped cream, and blueberries? Or something in between? The Salem Athenaeum Night Owls invite you to an evening of lively conversation, party games and fun in celebration of all that is Red, White and Blue, […]

This is what Salem aspires to be all about. Diversity & inclusion. The town that discriminated against witches is now the place where the LGBT community will hold its annual expression of solidarity (and fun) – – – the 4th Annual North Shore Pride Parade and Festival, June 20 starting at noon. If you’re looking […]

Expansive murals, vertical spirals, size changes that make you feel like you are looking up & down into a scene, these are the calling cards of a man once called America’s best-known contemporary painter, Thomas Hart Benton— and the subject of a special Peabody Essex Museum exhibit. In fact, this is the first major exhibition […]

Knowledge is power, and what you learn from speaking directly with the vendor/instructors at the upcoming “semester” of the Salem Farmer’s Market will make you a better student of food, better cook, and all around better at marketing (…the study of going to the market…). “Classes” are held Thursdays from 3-7pm, June 11- Oct 22 […]

Unconventional gatherings for creative minds is the best description thus far for what transpires in Salem Ma on the 3rd Thursday of each month when the Peabody/Essex Museum kicks open its doors to a party of entertainment & engagement (PEM/PM) beginning at 6pm. Coming up March 21st the event is simply called Run & Play. […]

While “war” is far from the light and entertaining topics/events we deal with in this blog, it is the common backdrop in two upcoming presentations in Salem, each using the written word as the form of expression. As a play— War and the written word are intertwined to create a musical tale of love, loss […]

Attention!  Visual artists considering “showing” their works at the 7th annual Salem Arts Festival (June 5-7) in the juried gallery should take note of a big change in the submission process. Rather than electronic submissions of work as has been conducted in the past, the Festival is moving to an on-site review of works the […]

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility. — William Wordsworth Keep those words in mind as you read, hear, sample, immerse and explore the words of participants to the 7th annual Massachusetts Poetry Festival,  which takes place this weekend, May 1-3, in various venues of […]

You don’t have to be a member to join the fun for Healthy Kids Day on April 25th, states Kevin Washington president and CEO of YMCA of the USA. It’s all part of the Y’s commitment of outreach to the communities served and the children that live there. The seven branches of the YMCA of […]

“Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?” one of hundreds of quotes that filled the 1980s that still may pop up today. So it’s no surprise that PEM/PM after-hours party for April is a look back to the art, fashion, music, etc. of that decade. Of course there […]

Do you sense something in the air? Some level of seismic activity of a paranormal nature? You would be tuning in to Salem Con, the first ever celebrity-filled paranormal convention, to be held in Salem Ma, April 10-12 at the Hawthorne Hotel. Mass Ghost…

Explore the Peabody Essex Museum as you possibly never have before— and be part of a global experience as PEM joins other museums & organizations world-wide in celebration of Slow Art Day, Saturday, April 11th. Slow Art Day ? Yes, you are invited to “take your time” for a closer look at art. Too often […]

Over 600 people decided that what Artopia had to offer was something they wanted to experience. Thursday’s PEM/PM monthly late night party at the Peabody Essex Museum was a grand old time and if we may say, an artistic success for all the community groups that came together to create the schedule of events. Attendees […]

Vibrant and creative are words to define the arts & culture scene of Salem — and those words will take physical shape this Thursday from 6-9 pm as Artopia takes over the monthly PEM/PM event, hosted by the Peabody Essex Museum. Now, this blog may shake a little as you read it because we at […]

Local historian and lecturer Jim McAllister (who recently was designated as the “Official Historian of the City of Salem Ma”) will present the latest installment of his “52 Lectures, 52 Weeks” series Tuesday, March 10 at the Salem Witch Museum. The subject is Nathaniel Hawthorne, Salem native and well known author of The House of […]