News

Highfield Hall & Gardens has announced its juried 2022 Fairy House exhibition The Elements, featuring individual fairy houses by area artists and makers, fairy houses informed, inspired, and thoroughly indebted to the power of nature’s elements. This juried exhibition will be on view in Highfield’s gardens for all to explore June 27 through August 28 any time of the day. The public is invited to come and discover the variety and mystery of “the elements” found amongst the paths, nooks, and crannies around Highfield’s property.  

Highfield is calling all artists and makers of fairy worlds to participate in the 2022 Fairy House Exhibition. This year’s theme brings the invisible and the visible into “focus.” Participants may explore the “element” theme from either the spirited magical elemental* category; the four elements of matter that are air, water, earth, fire; or the chemically pure substance of matter found in the 118 elements of the periodic table. 

*Elemental = the unseen magical world inhabited by nonhumans like fairies, sylphs, mythical water creatures all of which derive from the 4 main elements of earth, air, water, and fire.

This is a juried exhibition. For more information and details about submitting a proposal please contact Joanne Ingersoll, 508-495-1878 x316 or email, jingersoll@highfieldhall.org

The Woods Hole Public Library will be holding its popular Fabric and Fiber Sale on Sunday, March 13, from 10-2.

This year the sale will be held with a new COVID-related twist: instead of being held in only the two rooms on the lower floor, this year it will be held throughout the Library, both floors, so that people can spread out and not be too close. In preparation, books and displays will be cleared from tables in the reading rooms, as all surfaces will be made available for displaying fabric and yarn. The plan includes the COVID protocol requiring masks on all participants, and the number of people in each room limited. People should wear warm coats as doors will be open and air filters running.

Volunteers are busy, carefully measuring and labeling each piece of fabric, but

it’s not too late to contribute yarn and cloth from private collections. Donations will be accepted through the Wednesday before the sale, March 9 until 5 PM.

For more information, call the Library at 508-548-8961 or email whpl_mail@clamsnet.org.

It is recommended that people check the Library website in the week of the sale to be sure that the event hasn’t been cancelled at the last minute due to the COVID situation. Fingers crossed.

Highfield Hall & Gardens is partnering with Wampanoag Cultural Education Specialists, and the Rotary Club of Falmouth to present a special Indigenous Peoples/Wampanoag Cultural Celebration Day, September 25, 2021 at Highfield Hall & Gardens.

This fun and educational, family-friendly, day-long festival is intended to celebrate and raise awareness of the culture and history of local tribes whose ancestral lands include Cape Cod, the Islands, and reach to Marshfield and the Blue Hills. It will include hands-on activities such as corn husk dolls, clay beads, and quahog shell rattles; traditional games, dance, storytelling, and tastes of Native American food. There will also be vendors from the Wampanoag Trading Post as well as other crafts/vendors from the tribe.

This event will take place on the lawn and tent at Highfield Hall & Gardens. Tickets are $10 for adults; children are free. Registration is required.

For more information, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org

Woods Hole Public Library’s Social Justice Book Group is once again meeting in person, which they haven’t done since the summer of 2020. However, to be safe, the group will be meeting outside in the courtyard.

The first meeting will be on Wednesday, July 14 at 7:30 PM. The book to be discussed is Isabel Wilkerson’s Caste: The Origin of our Discontents. This book has been receiving a lot of press lately, especially in this area where several other book groups have read and discussed it with great interest.

There are still copies available at Cape libraries, in several different formats. All can be delivered to one’s local library through the CLAMS system. Also, local bookstores have been stocking the title.

This Social Justice Book Group, which has been meeting since 2016, discussed an earlier book of Wilkerson’s: The Warmth of Other Suns: the Epic Story of America’s Great Migration  which tells the stories of the black populations moving north and west after emancipation. They found her writing clear and compelling, and expect to do the same with her newer book.

People should come to the discussion ready for the possibility of cooler evening air. If the weather turns to rain the group will move inside when masks will be required. For more information, call the Library at 508-548-8961.

The next book to be discussed is The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution by Eric Foner. Copies of the book will be available for checkout at the Library in plenty of time to read it before the discussion on August 18. Call to reserve your copy.

As the Woods Hole Public Library moves on out of the pandemic, it is re-instituting many of the programs that people have missed over the past year. The “Accessories and Adornments Sale” is coming in August, slightly different from previous years in that a large part of it will be outside. Details will be forthcoming, but it is time for people to put it on their calendar and remember that the sale is possible only because of people’s donations.

The “Accessories and Adornments Sale” of new and gently used jewelry and accessories for men and women will be held on Saturday, August 7, from 10 AM to 2 PM. From now until then, the Library invites donations of women’s jewelry, scarves, shawls, hats, handbags, gloves, and belts. Donations of men’s ties, belts, gloves, and hats (but not baseball caps) are also welcome.

Participants at the library’s five previous similar sales have enjoyed divesting themselves of extra items from their collections, as well as purchasing new ones at bargain prices on the day of the sale.

The accessory committee is also looking for a few very special items which could be sold at higher prices. All proceeds will benefit the Library.

Donations may be dropped off at the Library during open hours from 10 AM to 2:00 PM Monday through Saturday and until 5:30 on Wednesdays. Please call the Library at 508-548- 8961 for additional information.

Most dictionaries define family as that including parents and children and blood relations. But Cotuit Center for the Arts understands that family is so much more. For many folks, family can include friends, co-workers, classmates, LGBTQIA+ housemates, kindred spirits of all sizes, shapes, and colors. The possibilities are endless. Even Buddha has a definition: “A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another.”

Whatever your definition of family, Cotuit Center for the Arts wants to see it artistically represented. Please join by honoring and celebrating family in each and every way possible.

This exhibit will be digital only. Exhibit will run digitally in the Gallery at Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Falmouth Road, Cotuit, MA  02635, on artsonthecape.org, and on social media.

Jurors: Cotuit Center for the Arts Curatorial Committee

Submissions open June 18, 2021 and close July 15, 2021

Exhibit opens August 14, 2021 and closes October 2, 2021

Opening Reception Saturday, August 21, 2021 3pm to 5pm

Accepting images of 2D and 3D work. Professional and Amateur submissions accepted.

$25.00 for the first image. $5.00 for each additional image to a maximum of 6 images.  

Prizes: $300 first prize. Two $150 Juror Choice awards. 

About Cotuit Center for the Arts:

Cotuit Center for the Arts is one of the most dynamic year-round cultural institutions on Cape Cod.  With more than 35,000 visitors per year, the Center presents 7-8 fully staged theatrical productions in the 180 seat theater, dozens of concerts and events, 25 art exhibits, over 125 arts education classes and 12 provocative theater productions in the intimate Black Box theater. 

Exhibitors in the Center’s galleries enjoy the traffic created by thousands of patrons who attend performing and educational arts events.  We illuminate and expose outstanding visual artists and their work to the broader community each and every day. Voted Best Gallery 2019.

Submitting Images

Submissions will be accepted through Cafe Call for Entry only. To register visit www.callforentry.org. All images must be resolution format according to Cafe Call for Entry guidelines. https://artist.callforentry.org/festivals_unique_info.php?ID=9107

There is a non-refundable submission fee of $25 for the first image, and $5 for each additional image up to a maximum of 6 images.

By submitting images, you agree that:

The images are your own work.

You own all rights to the images.

You take full responsibility for the content of all images, including the likeness of recognizable individuals.

Artists will be notified of accepted work by August 4, 2021.  All selected images will be posted on our website immediately upon receiving decisions from the juror. We send an email to each accepted artist, but please also check the website at selection time. 

Online Gallery

We appreciate the work of all artists entering this important exhibition.  All accepted images will be rotated in a digital exhibit that will be mounted in the physical gallery.

International Submissions

We encourage submissions from around the globe.

Copyright and usage

Copyright of all images submitted remain with the artists who submitted them. All entrants agree that their name and images can be displayed and used in promotion for future competitions at Cotuit Center for the Arts. Full credit will be given to artists if image is used.

Selling Work

All images selected for the exhibit may be identified as for sale by the artist. Cotuit Center for the Arts will refer interested buyers directly to the artist for more information.

Join Carol Radford for a relaxing hour-long meditation experience that will introduce a variety of mindfulness strategies. In these monthly workshops, participants will use their senses, listen to a guided meditation, focus on their breath, practice standing meditation, and learn hand mudras. Each workshop will focus on a different theme. Participants will receive a packet of resources. 

Sessions are offered July 20, August 17, and September 14 from 10:30 to 11:30 AM. Sign up for one, two, or all three sessions.

Carol Radford is a certified yoga teacher and author of Mindful Living: Art and Affirmations to Nourish Your Soul. She is the founder of Mentoring in Action http://mentoringinaction.com/ an organization dedicated to supporting novice teachers and their mentors. Carol practices meditation in the gardens at Highfield Hall and loves to share mindfulness strategies with beginning meditators.

Beginning and experienced meditators are welcome. Chairs will be provided. In case of inclement weather, the class will be held on the porch.

The fee is $15 per session, $5 per session for members. Space is limited! Pre-registration required. For more information and to register, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org

Highfield Hall & Gardens announces four weeks of Kids @ Highfield! Activities and Crafts. Events take place 9 to 10:30 AM July 12 to 16, July 26 to 30, Augusts 9 to 13, and August 23 to 27. Classes are aimed at a 6 to 10 year age range.

Parents are invited to drop their children off in the morning for a 90-minute program of creativity and fun at Highfield Hall & Gardens where they will participate in crafts, outdoor exploration, and other activities such as music or yoga. Each morning children will participate in a different group activity. Children may be enrolled in just one program or the whole week.

Teachers will offer activities in their area of special expertise. Dawna will get kids moving and inspire them to make music with cool rhythms and fun dances. Britt will engage the children with movement and storytelling for her yoga jamboree. Sandra will charm your kids with an exploration of shapes and colors to create beautiful collages while exploring the world around them. Other programs may include making fairy lights or exploring live sea creatures.

Weather permitting, most activities will be held outside. Masks are required when indoors.

To register and for more information, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org

Highfield Hall & Gardens will offer a talk on hydrangeas on Sunday, July 18, at 1 PM, by Barbara Conolly, certified landscape professional and arborist with a Masters degree in Public Garden Leadership. The talk takes place under the Highfield tent.

Conolly’s talk and demonstration covers the many varieties of hydrangea and their special characteristics. The many topics she will address include how to site different types, the best pruning practices, watering needs, and the best methods of amending the soil specific to a variety. In addition, she will talk about how to dry different varietal blooms. Highfield’s several varieties of hydrangeas will be featured too. All questions are welcome to help you grow the most beautiful ubiquitous Cape Cod flowering shrub.

Barbara Conolly earned a B.S in Horticulture from Cornell University and was a fellow in the Cornell Botanic Garden Graduate program in Public Garden Leadership where she earned her M.S. degree. She is a Massachusetts Certified Landscape Professional, a Certified Landscape for Life Trainer and an International Society of Arboriculture Certified Arborist.

Admission is $5. Pre-registration is required. Register at www.highfieldhallandgardens.org

Courtney Mattison, the artist behind the inspiring Turn the Tide exhibition will lead a hands-on clay workshop for families Saturday, July 10, from 9:30 AM to 12 noon. The fee is $40 for non-members and $30 for members.

Courtney will demonstrate and share techniques for creating beautiful clay corals.  Participants will have the chance to form different types of corals such as massive coral, branching coral, and foliose coral. Using printed images of a variety of coral to inspire, she will lead you to experiment with different textures and forms. In addition, you will learn about coral reef ecosystems, different coral lifeforms and the importance of protecting the coral reefs. Creating art can engender a deeper sense of connection and caring for protecting these vital ecosystems and bring you closer to the intricacy and fragility of the organisms growing from the ocean floor.

Suitable for ages 8 and up. Children ages 12 and under must be accompanied by a parent/guardian. All materials will be supplied.

Pre-registration is required. To register and for more information, visit www.highfieldhallandgardens.org

The Turn the Tide: Courtney Mattison exhibition is a joint collaboration between Highfield Hall & Gardens and the Marine Biological Laboratory.  The exhibition was made possible through the generous support of the Brabson Library and Educational Foundation, the Martha’s Vineyard Bank Charitable Foundation, and the Woods Hole Foundation.