North Shore Arts Association at 95: Looking Back; Looking Ahead

"Ice Bound Vessels" Frederick Mulhaupt, ca. 1920

As NSAA celebrates is 95th Anniversary, we look back at the rich history of Cape Ann and the daily lives of its hardworking people, as faithfully recorded by its resident artists. We are gifted with five senses, but to explore our personal and collective history, one of the most powerful senses is sight.
Visual artists record the world around them; the character of a physical place, the people who populate it, and something so much deeper and harder to capture-their interior lives.
Looking back through old, faded black and white photographs can bring us the grainy facts of a place, but it's in the artists' work we see that place in vibrant color through the lens of the human heart and the mind of the artist who lived and was fully engage in that moment of time. We are transported through time. What a wonderful gift it is to be an artist and what a gift it is to the world!
In 2017, NSAA celebrates our long, proud history and the lineage of fine artists who contributed so much to our understanding of their time and place; leaving us with magnificent works of art to reveal the past and to inspire our futures.
Artists create our futures, imagine and inspire our best selves and hold up a mirror to our times.
Come celebrate creativity with us and our 95th year!

A short history of the North Shore Arts Association

A small sampling of NSAA distinguished past artist members:

"Dorothea in the Woods", Cecilia Beaux, 1897

"Winter Sparkle", Paul Strisik, 1987

"Gloucester Harbor" Emile A. Gruppe

"Rockport In Winter", William Lester Stevens, N.A.

Welcome 2017 and NSAA's 95th Anniversary!

What makes an institution continue to grow and thrive after 95 years?
It's not magic; it only happens because of caring and hard work.

Generations of NSAA artist and associate members, patrons and donors have planned, volunteered, donated and worked to create this association and to ensure its survival. Now it's up to us, the current membership, to guarantee the North Shore Arts Association survives well into its second century. As 2017 opens, we proudly continue our commitment to the theme "Arts in Action-Connecting Communities". The impact that we can make as artists has the potential to reach throughout greater Cape Ann and far beyond. The success or failure of that potential has everything to do with the sense of real community and commitment that each individual member feels to the NSAA and to each other.

The NSAA needs the help of each one of our members. Volunteer! We have a very small, dedicated, and hardworking staff and an effective and committed Board of Trustees. Join a committee; make things happen! Your input and feedback is important and of great value to us all. Let's pull together to be a beneficial force within our community and beyond!

We need researchers, grant writers, people with computer skills, people with ideas and energy! Below are the current committees seeking volunteers. Call Linda Cote, or email arts@nsarts.org; fill out and return the volunteer questionaire with your dues payment-every little bit is a great help. Grab a rope and PULL!

2017 Committees:
Acquisition Committee, Peter Tysver, Chair
Appraisal Event Committee, Lennie Strohmeier, Chair
Arts & Exhibitions Committee, Lennie Strohmeier, Chair
Auction-Wet Paint Event Committee, Lennie Strohmeier, Chair
Awards Committee, Christine Whalen-Waller, Chair
Cape Ann Animal Aid Even Committe, Judy Metcalfe, Chair
Education Committee, Bonnie Gray, Chair
Grants Committee, Bonnie Gray, Chair
House Committee, John Strohmeier, Chair
Hospitality Committee, Nancy Caplan, Chair
Human Resources, Dixie Clark, Chair
Interior Design Event Committee, Anne Demeter, Chair
Lecture Series Committee
Marina Committee, Anne Demeter, Chair
Movalli Show Event Committee, Linda Cote, Chair