Saving Seafood

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center to Highlight Women’s Work

February 8, 2021 — Women have always played a big role in the world of commercial fishing, and a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts will help the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center highlight their work at sea and on shore.

Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home, In the Community will use photography, film, music, poetry, and storytelling to highlight the often-untold stories of women in commercial fishing communities.

The $15,000 NEA grant, which requires a local match, is among 1,073 grants awarded to local arts projects across the country, representing nearly $25 million in federal funding.

From March through December 2021 in New Bedford, gallery exhibits and programs will explore the lives, skills, and experiences of women who work in the fishing industry, as well as the work of those who are connected through family.

Read the full story at WBSM

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Receives NEA Grant

February 5, 2021 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center has been approved for a $15,000 Grants for Arts Projects award from the National Endowment for the Arts to support Women’s Work: At Sea, On Shore, At Home, In the Community. This project will shine a light on the many roles women play in commercial fishing communities. New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center’s project is among 1,073 projects across America totaling nearly $25 million that were selected during this first round of fiscal year 2021 funding in the Grants for Arts Projects funding category.

“The National Endowment for the Arts is proud to support this project from New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center,” said Arts Endowment Acting Chairman Ann Eilers. “New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is among the arts organizations across the country that have demonstrated creativity, excellence, and resilience during this very challenging year.”

“We are particularly excited to devote our gallery and much of this year’s programming to depictions of the full range of contributions that women make to the industry, thus dispelling the common misperception that the commercial fishing industry is exclusively a man’s world,” says Laura Orleans, Executive Director of New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center.

Women’s Work will use the arts of photography, film, music, poetry, and storytelling to highlight the often-untold stories of women in commercial fishing communities. From March through December 2021, an exhibit and public programs will engage visitors in exploring the lives, skills, and experiences of women who work in the fishing industry as well as those who are connected through family. The Center will partner with Our Sisters School, Greater New Bedford Vocational Technical High School, Global Learning Charter Public High School, and the YWCA to engage young people in this project.

This grant requires the Fishing Heritage Center to raise a match. We invite local businesses that may wish to sponsor this project to help us raise the match to contact info@fishingheritagecenter.org.

For more information on projects included in the Arts Endowment grant announcement, visit arts.gov/news.

MASSACHUSETTS: 2020 Exhibits and Programs at New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center

January 2, 2020 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

In 2020, New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center will launch “We Came to Fish, We Came to Work,” a series of exhibits and programs exploring the rich cultural heritage of New Bedford’s fishing industry. The Port of New Bedford has long drawn immigrants from around the world. Despite differences in language and culture, a highly-valued fishing industry developed, drawing on the strengths of immigrants from all over the world including the Azores, Cape Verde, El Salvador, Guatemala, Newfoundland, Norway, Nova Scotia, and Portugal. Cultural traditions of these various immigrant groups including needlework, ceramics, holiday practices, music, and recipes are still practiced today. Through two temporary exhibits, cooking and craft demonstrations, performances, film screenings, and panel discussions, the Center will consider why people chose to leave their homeland, what fishing was like in the old country, what brings people to New Bedford, and in what ways their cultural heritage has endured.

These exhibits and programs are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts, the Creative Commonwealth Initiative, and Dartmouth and New Bedford Cultural Council grants.

The first related programs will be “Stories of Immigration Scanning Days” on January 11th and February 8th from 10:00am- 12:00pm. Community members are encouraged to bring in any photographs, documents, or objects related to their own stories of immigration or enduring cultural heritage traditions.These items will be scanned and documented by Fishing Heritage Center staff and volunteers. Such items help the Center tell a more complete story of immigration and cultural heritage in New Bedford’s working waterfront.

Music is an integral part of a community’s cultural heritage, and the Fishing Heritage Center will host several concerts throughout the year that reflect these traditions. On Saturday, February 8th at 7:00pm, Golden Lane, a traditional Irish dance music group, will perform at the Fishing Heritage Center. Tickets are $10/ members, $12/ general public. On Wednesday, March 11th at 7:00pm, Matthew Byrne, a traditional singer, storyteller, and guitarist from Newfoundland, will perform at the Center. Tickets are $12/ members, $15/ general public. Tickets for both concerts are available at Brown Paper Ticket links accessible through the Center’s website calendar, by calling the Center at 508-993-8894, or at the Center’s gift shop.

For more information on these upcoming exhibits or programs, email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org.

MASSACHUSETTS: New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center Celebrates First Anniversary

June 13, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center invites the public to join us as we celebrate our 1st anniversary on June 24th and 25th.  The weekend will feature a model boat show, walking tours, performances of maritime music and storytelling, and anniversary cake. 

On Saturday, June 24th, Big Boats, Little Boats will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Center and on Pier 3.  This free event features a model boat show; walking tours of the working waterfront; a fishing vessel tour; mini-tugs dockside at Pier 3; and Center exhibits.  In addition, Whaling City Expeditions will offer harbor tours at a reduced rate with coupon. 

That evening, The Souls of the Sea Trio will perform from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. The benefit concert takes place under a tent at the Center and features Allen Estes, Sal Baglio, and Matt Leavenworth. These three nationally acclaimed singers, songwriters, and musicians perform musical tributes to the lives and experiences of the fishermen of the North Atlantic and their families. Their original and musically diverse songs are a unique interpretation of life around the working waterfront. A cash bar will be available. Tickets for the concert are $20 and all proceeds benefit the Center.

On Sunday, June 25th, the public is invited to the anniversary party from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  The New Bedford Harbor Sea Chantey Chorus kicks off the event at 11:00 a.m. Following welcome remarks by Laura Orleans, Executive Director, and Phil Mello, Board Chair, anniversary cake by Ellen’s Creations and ice cream from the Ox Cart will be served.  Storyteller Jackson Gillman will perform at 12:45 p.m.  In addition, children’s craft activities will be available and the Ox Cart will be selling food and beverages.

The Center is grateful to BayCoast Bank and the National Endowment for the Arts for their generous support of these events.

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. The Center is open free of charge, Thursday through Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is located at 38 Bethel Street, in the heart of the National Park. The Center is wheelchair accessible and has free off-street parking. For more information, please email programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call the Center at (508) 993-8894.

MASSACHUSETTS: Opening of Taken Out to Sea: Fishermen’s Photography

May 30, 2017 — The following was released by the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center:

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is pleased to announce the opening of Taken Out to Sea: Fishermen’s Photography. An opening reception will take place on June 8, 2017 at 7:30 during AHA and will run until July 30, 2017.  This exhibit provides fishermen with an opportunity to share their world.

Commercial fishermen venture off-shore where very few of us will ever go. They experience the beauty of sunrises and sunsets at sea, encounter marine life only seen by most in aquariums, and endure the power of nature at its worst. 

While they can describe all they see, words do not always have the same power as an image.  For many years, fishermen could not truly share their world with their loved ones at home. With the advance of camera technology, fishermen can capture and share images. Come see their photographs as they take us out to sea.

The exhibit is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and  is presented by New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center and Community Economic Development Center.

The Center is open Thursday – Sunday 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. Located at 38 Bethel Street in the heart of the National Park, the Center is wheelchair accessible with free off-street parking. 

The New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center is dedicated to preserving and presenting the story of the commercial fishing industry past, present, and future through exhibits, programs, and archives. For more information please contact the New Bedford Fishing Heritage Center at programs@fishingheritagecenter.org or call (508) 993-8894.