Entertainment

2024 Watertown Summer Concert Series Lineup Released

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The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

Join us at the 2024 Summer Concert Series at Saltonstall Park, located at 149 Main Street next door to City Hall. June 26: Non-Conformists

July 3: HYE Fusion

July 10: Southern Rail

July 17: Squeezebox Stompers

July 24: Fun with Ukulele – bring your uke or borrow one! July 31: 90-Mile Portage

August 7: Phil and the Flying Leap

August 14: The Love Dogs and The Puppeteers Cooperative

August 21: The Sandy Ridge Boys

August 28: The Fatal Flaw

Bring a blanket or chair and enjoy the concerts! See more information.

Entertainment

New Rep’s Run Ends With Fanfare: Several Nominations & 2 Wins at Theater Awards Ceremony

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Valyn Lyric Turner gives her acceptance speech after winning the Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Small Theater for her role in “A Raisin in the Sun.” (Photo by Nile Scott Studios)

Watertown-based New Repertory Theatre closed its doors in 2023, but the company’s final season earned accolades at the recent Elliot Norton Awards in Boston. The following announcement was provided by Maria Hendricks, one of the former Resident Artists/Co-Artistic Directors at New Rep.

New Repertory Theatre’s final season went out with a bang as its productions were celebrated at the esteemed 41st Annual Elliot Norton Awards, held at The Huntington Theater on May 20. As one of the Greater Boston area’s premiere mid-sized regional theater companies for 40 years, it was especially gratifying for the company to receive such meaningful recognition as it ended its run. New Rep received 7 Nominations:

• Outstanding Production, Small Theater – A Raisin in the Sun

• Outstanding Lead Performance in a Play, Small Theater – Damon Singletary – A Raisin in the Sun

• Outstanding Featured Performance in a Play, Small Theater – Valyn Lyric Turner – A Raisin in the Sun

• Outstanding Director, Small Theater – Lois Roach – A Raisin in the Sun

• Outstanding Director, Small Theater – Pascale Florestal – Diaspora!

Government

Edible Watertown Program Receives National Endowment for the Arts Grant

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The artwork from Edible Plants 2022, Clockwise from top left: Daylily by Patti Murphy, Bee Balm by Niloufar Keyhani, Elderberry by Marija Draskic
Brancazio, Wintergreen by Kate Martens, Mayapple by Carol Leonesio, Mountain Mint by Cat Bennett, Huckleberry
by Donna Calleja, Red Bud by Debajyoti Biswas, Bearberry by Connie Henry, and Garlic Chives by Jaclyn Kain. The following announcement was provided by the City of Watertown:

The Public Arts & Culture Committee is pleased to announce it has been approved by the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for a Grants for Arts Projects award of $20,000. This grant will support the Edible Watertown: Expert Pairings project. In total, the NEA will award 1,135 Grants for Arts Projects awards totaling more than $37 million as part of its second round of fiscal year 2024 grants. “Projects like Edible Watertown exemplify the creativity and care with which communities are telling their stories, creating connection, and responding to challenges and opportunities in their communities—all through the arts,” said NEA Chair Maria Rosario Jackson, PhD.

Entertainment

Life Science Lab Hosting One-Day Art Exhibit Featuring Underrepresented Artists

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A Watertown life science lab incubator space will be focusing on art for one evening in June, and will showcase the works of artists from underrepresented groups. Cambridge Scientific Labs opened two years ago, and has two locations in Watertown. The company provided space for biotechs trying to get off the ground, said Barbara Pearlman, CEO of Cambridge Scientific Labs. Pearlman decided that the space could also help some local artists become more well known. “They have to be underrepresented artists,” Pearlman said.

Around Town

Mosesian Arts Exhibit Features Artworks Inspired by Literature, Myths & Fairy Tales

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Adrienne Der Marderosian’s “I, Too America” will be part of the Entwined: Visual and Textual Narratives exhibition at the Mosesian Center for the Arts. The following announcement was provided by Mosesian Center for the Arts:

At Mosesian Arts, artworks influenced by literature, mythology, fairy tales, and personal narratives are exhibited together to form a tribute to the written word. “Entwined: Visual and Textual Narratives” will be on display from May 17 to June 21, with an opening reception on June 6, 5:30-7:30 p.m.

The Mosesian Center for the Arts is excited to present an exhibition that finds inspiration in literature, the written word, folk tales, and tales of all kinds from fairy tales to narratives that are autobiographical or speak of the human condition. Visual arts have been inspired by the written word since antiquity. There are strong connections between literature and visual arts.

Around Town

Author, Storyteller Cindy Pierce Performing Solo Show in Watertown

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The following announcement was provided by the Mosesian Center for the Arts:

Acclaimed author, comic storyteller, innkeeper, and educator Cindy Pierce will perform her latest solo show at Mosesian Center for the Arts on Friday, May 17th at 7:30 PM. Keeping It Inn is an intimate, rousing portrayal of her functioning, dysfunctional family. Cindy Pierce wrote, produced, and stars in the show. She plays the role of her mother, Nancy Pierce through six decades of raising seven kids and running an inn. 

“My parents, Nancy and Reg, left suburban Connecticut to run the ramshackle Pierce’s Inn in Etna, New Hampshire for 31 years,” says Pierce. “I created this show through the lens of my mom, who was a wholly unique, no-nonsense, and memorable character, even when suffering from dementia later in her life. With her quick wit and outspoken nature, my mom navigated life with flare and unrelenting optimism, bucking the conventional life expected of her as a woman born in the 1920s.” Much of the show is relatable to all audience members with a major theme of the play being: How do we process difficult emotions and what happens if we don’t?

Entertainment

Call for Artists for the 2024 Watertown Arts Market

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The following announcement was provided by the Watertown Arts Market:

The Watertown Business Coalition is delighted to announce the fourth annual Watertown Arts Market will take place on Saturday, Aug. 17, 2024, from 12-5 p.m., location is TBD. This celebratory event brings together an abundance of artists, arts and cultural organizations, and arts- and culture-related businesses based in or serving Watertown. More information is available at www.watertownartsmarket.com. 

About the Watertown Arts Market

The Watertown Arts Market is a free, family-friendly, outdoor event that features a diverse selection of artists, authors, creatives, musicians, arts and culture organizations, and businesses who serve Watertown. Attendees can wander through the Market, learning about the artistic and cultural offerings in Watertown.

Around Town

Come Meet the Artists Behind the New Pieces in Watertown’s Sculpture Walk

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Photo by Liz Helfer”All Style, No Substance” by Ken Reker is one of the new additions to the Watertown Community Sculpture Walk. Watertown’s Community Sculpture Walk has four new works of art, and the public is invited to meet the artists and find out about their process and inspiration. The opening reception for the new sculptures will be held on Friday, May 10 from 5-6 p.m. The tour begins at the beginning of the Community Path in Saltonstall Park (behind City Hall). Three of the artists will attend the opening, and one provided some audio of his poems to share at the event, said Liz Helfer, Watertown’s Public Arts & Culture Planner. Also attending the event will be Zachariah Hickman — the Tuba Guy.