Salem

Come to Salem, see the world.

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Salem Film Fest founders celebrate film and filmmakers

 

 

What do local filmmaker, Joe Cultrera, businessman, Paul Van Ness, and Salem Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, Rinus Oosthoek have in common?

 

The answer goes back to 2007, when the three founded Salem Film Fest (SFF), the week-long festival that sustains cinephiles each March through the long, bleak slog of New England winter. The largest all-documentary film festival in New England, SFF 2016 will run March 3-10.

 

It all started in 2006, when Van Ness opened CinemaSalem. He has run Van Ness Creative, a film/video production company in Beverly for 30 years, and has always been interested in filmmaking. “That is what made running the movie theater interesting to me,” he said. (His 2012 documentary feature, “A Good Death”, won Best Documentary at the California Oceanside Film Festival.)

 

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Rinus Oosthoek (left) and Paul Van Ness with Salem Film Fest programs and posters.

 

Oosthoek, who met Van Ness in 2003 when he worked with Beverly Main Streets, was one of the first to approach him with the suggestion of putting together a film festival. Van Ness was receptive. “The idea of a festival was part of what can make a cinema successful,” he said. Plus, he wanted the opportunity to bring some movies to Salem that could literally not be seen anyplace else in the world, which “helps the cinema and the local culture.”

Cultrera, a documentary filmmaker who shifts between his own productions and freelance editing work, met Van Ness when CinemaSalem hosted the New England Premiere of his film, “Hand of God”, prior to its acquisition by FRONTLINE, the PBS documentary series. He heard Van Ness and some other folks from Salem were interested in starting a film festival and he agreed to meet with them.

 

“I’d just come off the festival circuit [with “Hand of God”] and had some strong opinions,” he said. One of them was that SFF should be an all-documentary film fest, which Van Ness described as a “brilliant move” both because it meant SFF would be competing with fewer festivals to attract films and because documentaries are intrinsically more interesting. “You can experience the human family all over the world in a 90-minute film and you know it’s completely true,” he added.

 

Also, Cultrera pointed out, there were no other significant documentary film festivals in Massachusetts in 2006, so the group had the opportunity to build something unique.

 

With the three basics in place — venue (through Van Ness), business community involvement (through Oosthoek) and industry and programming connections (through Cultrera) —Salem Film Fest was born in 2007. “That’s about as fast as a festival can be put together once you have a venue,” Van Ness said.

 

The first year was more successful than anticipated, owing in part, according to Van Ness, to the fact that Cultrera, as Program Director, insisted on screening only very high quality films that were not simply advocacy pieces for the director’s point of view. “We’ve always looked for good storytelling, strong technical aspects, compelling characters and inventive techniques. We want films that present both sides of a story, particularly if it’s a political story,” Cultrera said.

 

As an “invitation only” festival, the Screening Committee invites filmmakers to submit their films for consideration. Jeff Schmidt, who took over as Program Director in 2013, started searching for films last June. For 2016, the committee invited about 200 filmmakers to submit their work for consideration and collectively considered over 150 films. After a democratic process where members discussed and then voted on each film, the committee selected this year’s line-up of 35 feature documentaries representing 25 countries.

 

From the get-go, SFF distinguished itself as unique in its focus on the filmmaker. “To us, the filmmakers are the heroes in the industry. They come up with the story,” Van Ness said.

 

“We get over half the filmmakers to come to Salem, which is another thing that makes this festival so special,” said Oosthoek, noting that this tradition developed accidentally the first year, when most of the filmmakers who attended were local. This year, over two-thirds of the filmmakers will attend, thanks to SFF volunteers who help with traveling logistics and business sponsors’ donations.

 

Post-screening Q&A sessions make the festival experience richer for filmgoers and filmmakers alike. Van Ness notes that a filmmaker whose film is both good and topical may be invited to 20 festivals. “What people say is that the Q&A afterwards tends to be the same except in Salem, where the sophistication of the audience leads the questions in much more interesting directions than you typically hear,” he said.

 

Since 2007, SFF has grown from the “little festival that can” in Salem to a major regional documentary festival. Oosthoek points to three reasons why, first and most important being the quality of the films. “There is a ‘Salem identity’. The filmmakers love coming here,” he said. The festival’s reputation has grown beyond the North Shore, attracting fans from Newburyport, Gloucester, Ipswich and as far away as South Carolina and Minnesota.

 

Second is the educational component, including partnerships with local high schools, colleges and universities, and the opportunity for student and local filmmakers to showcase their documentary short and experimental films in festival programming such as the Five-Minute Student Documentary Contest and the Mass Reality Check. Also, a selected group of local documentarians receive project assistance when they present their in-progress works to industry representatives at the Doc-a-chusetts Pitch session, with the winner receiving a $5,000 production grant for finishing services provided by The OutPost at WGBH.

 

Last but hardly least, Oosthoek credits the local business community for its commitment and involvement. “They understand it’s good for their regional market,” he said. Where most festivals charge filmmakers a non-refundable fee to submit their work (with no guarantee of acceptance), SFF actually offers every filmmaker a screening fee, free lodging and, in some cases, a travel stipend thanks to local and regional community sponsors and supporters.

 

Over the years, SFF has also strengthened and expanded its relationship with the Peabody Essex Museum, adding more screenings and connected programming there. “This has really brought an extra dimension to the event and allowed us to show more work,” Cultrera said. Another SFF venue, the Salem National Park Service Visitor Center, will host four screenings this year.

 

In addition to its liaison with broadcasters like FRONTLINE, SFF has tried to “add new wrinkles each year to keep things fresh,” Cultrera noted, adding that having live music on stage between films is a good way to add a little life to the moments before a screening and expose the audience to local musicians. Another “wrinkle” is “Salem Sketches”, a handful of locally shot two-minute documentaries Cultrera creates with fellow filmmaker Perry Hallinan. “We’re one of the few festivals that can claim to have our own original programming,” Cultrera said.

 

“Come to Salem, see the world” has been the SFF catch phrase since its inception, both as an homage to the old Salem merchant ships that established trade with the rest of the world and in tribute to the films from dozens of countries the festival has screened over the past nine years. “The festival’s strength has always been its programming and community feel, but the scope of our programming reaches far beyond the local,” Cultrera said.

 

For more information, visit salemfilmfest.com

Scores Brave the Storm to “Ask a Muslim Anything”

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Heavy rains and winds did not douse the interest of over 125 people who braved the elements last Sunday for the opportunity to ask Arab-American Muslim Robert Azzi, a longtime photojournalist, newspaper columnist and former Middle East advisor to Phillips Exeter Academy, “anything.”

 

The event, hosted by the First Church in Salem, a Unitarian Universalist church, is the kickoff in a series of events the church is sponsoring to foster interfaith dialogue and engagement.

 

“We are at a crucial time in modern U.S. history as far as understanding other faiths — especially Islam,” said Rev. Jeffrey Barz-Snell, a pastor at the church. “It is crucial that we develop some rudimentary understanding about different faiths.”

 

Barz-Snell admitted that the title of the question and answer session — “Ask A Muslim Anything” — was deliberately provocative to “invite questions and produce dialogue.” And for over an hour and a half, the crowd of mostly non-church members complied, asking about everything from why women wear hijabs (head scarves) to the origin of violent jihad.

 

Two young Muslim women, Zoha Qumar, a Columbia University student and Phillips Exeter graduate, and Tan Nazer, a Saudi Arabian senior at Phillips Exeter, accompanied Azzi and were available to answer questions. Neither wore a hijab.

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Phillips Exeter senior Tan Nazer (left) and Columbia University student Zoha Qumar answered questions from the audience.

 

The first question, asking about the distinctions between Sunni and Shiite Muslims, drew a chuckle from Azzi, who joked, “I love it when we start a forum with a softball.”

 

Salem resident, Jeff Cohen, asked Azzi whether it is difficult to encourage children to continue to wear traditional clothing in the current American climate of Islamaphobia. “It should break our collective heart that women are shedding the head scarf because of intimidation.” Azzi said.

 

He later noted, however, that a lot of women here and abroad are covered not by preference, but because their families and, in the case of patriarchal Saudi Arabia, where men are in control, their governments impose it. “This is wrong. It should be a personal choice,” he said, adding that the definition of modesty in Saudi Arabia has changed in an oppressive way that burdens women.

The questions turned to contemporary American life when Nat Carpenter of Beverly asked how an observant Muslim, who desires to pray to Mecca during the day, can also work in an environment that might not accommodate that desire, as recently happened to a group of Somali workers who wanted to convene for prayer during their work shift in Colorado.

 

“I don’t see a reason why employers couldn’t make accommodations for workers to exercise religious rights and freedoms during lunch or coffee breaks as they would for any other American,” Azzi said.

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Over 125 people showed up last Sunday at First Church in Salem to ask Arab American Muslim Robert Azzi “anything.”

 

Perhaps the most pointed question of the forum, and the one on many people’s minds judging from the nodding heads in the audience, was asked by Paul Marquis of Salem.

 

“Does the Quran (the principal religious text of Islam) advocate violent jihad?” he asked.

“There are a lot of Muslims who misunderstand jihad,” Azzi said. “Those who believe in violent jihad have not read the Quran with an open heart.”

 

Azzi suggested several times throughout the Q&A session that poor, illiterate Muslims are recruited by political factions, like ISIS and the Taliban, that distort religion in order to gain a military and economic foothold. “Who is it that profits from this kind of rhetoric? We can’t yield the playing field,” he warned.

 

On the domestic front, Azzi described recent one-on-one conversations he had with several Republican presidential candidates, including Jeb Bush, who has advocated bombing and putting American boots on the ground to defeat ISIS. Azzi said the American obsession with ISIS could be traced to the fact that we did not get the success we wanted after 9/11 when we invaded Iraq.

 

“ISIS is a cancer. We have elevated them way out of proportion in terms of their capability, threat and theology. We love to have villains,” he said, adding, “We have never come to terms with having Muslims in our midst in this country.”

 

Azzi’s comments about mainstream American press and the role it plays fanning the flames of anti-Muslim rhetoric met with loud applause. “Radical Islamic terrorism sells,” he said. He then challenged the audience to turn away from Yahoo, the New York Times, NPR and other Western media sources and read the English Al Jazeera instead. “Take a look at the world the way the rest of the world sees it.”

 

He believes that it is possible to put a “stake through the heart” of the religious debate that polarizes people in this country.

 

“There is common ground. The question is how many people are willing to challenge the orthodoxies of their religion to get back to the scripture and look at the similarities in messages among all religions,” Azzi said, citing the prophetic traditions of Islam, Judaism and Christianity, which all have a version of the “golden rule.”

 

Asked what questions he wishes he had been asked, Azzi said that he would have liked to talk more about the connections between faith traditions and also the history of Islam in America going back to the days of slavery. Nonetheless, he was pleasantly surprised by how knowledgeable and interested the questioners were — and how respectful everyone was.

 

“I believe that as long as people keep talking to each other — to host forums where opinions and information can be exchanged with respect for each other — then there is hope,” he said.

Pictured at top: Robert Azzi, an Arab-American Muslim, answered questions at the First Church in Salem’s forum, “Ask a Muslim Anything.”

 

For more information about future programs, go to firstchurchinsalem.org or call 978-744-1551.

Native Fashion on the PEM Runway

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When Karen Kramer, Peabody Essex Museum’s Curator of Native American and Oceanic Art and Culture, went to Santa Fe’s annual Indian Market, a traditional Native American juried show, she sensed there was a new, exciting movement afoot. It was edgier, unexpected and non-ceremonial.

 

Instead of the usual fare of beadwork, basketry and textiles, she noticed a new trend in contemporary Native American art, especially around fashion. “What I was seeing was fresh, relevant and a little bit sexy,” she said. “Native American designers were updating traditional ideas and making them their own.”

 

She wanted to curate an exhibit to showcase these innovative, pioneering Native fashion designers whose high-energy works break traditional boundaries with materials and invention that go far beyond the stereotypic buckskin, feathers, beads and fringe. “Contemporary Native fashion designers are dismantling and upending familiar motifs, adopting new forms of expression and materials, and sharing their vision of Native culture and design with a global audience,” Kramer said.

 

Kramer’s dream is now a reality with her curated show, “Native Fashion Now”, at PEM through March 6. Over two years in the planning, it is the first full-scale exhibit to chronicle the contemporary Native American fashion movement over the past 60 years. The show features over 70 artists and after debuting at PEM, will travel for two years to Oregon, Oklahoma and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City.

 

One of the most unusual aspects of “Native Fashion Now” is the fact that of the 74 artists exhibited, 71, or 95 percent, are living.

 

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Orlando Dugi (Dine Navajo). Photo by Shelley A. Sackett

 

With over 100 garments, shoes, pocketbooks, jewelry, scarves and accessories displayed on 40 mannequins, the exhibit feels like a Native American “Project Runway”- which, in a way, it is. Fans of the television show may recognize the white leather sheath dress that greets visitors on their arrival inside the exhibit. It is the one designed by Patricia Michaels, the Taos Pueblo artist who was the first Native American contestant on the reality TV hit show in 2013. The judges loved the dress, which Michaels hand painted with an abstract New York skyline.

 

Michaels is delighted that mainstream fashion lovers are embracing Native American design. “We don’t have to be stuck in this gunny sack look anymore,” she said with a smile. Kramer said that the groundbreaking Michaels’ work was the most fitting way to kick off the exhibition, and commissioned her to design the cascading parasols that lead up to the show’s entrance.

 

The exhibition’s four galleries — Pathbreakers, Revisitors, Activators and Provocateurs — reflect how designers respond to ideas and trends in the world of Native fashion. All take us to similar places, far away from buckskin and fringe, especially Provacateurs, whose departure from convention makes works that are experimental and one-of-a-kind.

 

Lloyd “Kiva” New, the Cherokee designer and first true “Pathbreaker”, blazed a trail with his delicate shirtwaist dresses. Their display pays homage to the designer’s 1950s creation of his high-fashion brand, the first Native American to do so. Their timeless style is just as fresh today.

 

Activators, who embrace an everyday, personal style that engages with today’s trends and politics, are represented in the third gallery by street wear, skates and a pop culture liveliness. Navajo Jared Yazzie’s bold T-shirt with “Native Americans Discovered Columbus” emblazoned on its front turns the familiar saying on its head by encouraging people to think about the truths of history.

 

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Pat Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo) and Chris Pruitt (Laguna Pueblo/Chiricahua Apache). Belt buckle, 2012. Stainless steel, silver,Teflon, turquoise, and coral. © 2015 Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Walter Silver.

 

Jeweler and metal smith Pat Pruitt, a member of the Laguna Pueblo, was trained as a mechanical engineer and worked in the body piercing industry before starting to make jewelry in the 1990s. His use of non-precious metals, like titanium, zirconium and stainless steel, creates pieces that are radically different from the traditional Native turquoise and silver jewelry.

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Jewelers Kristen Dorsey (Chicksaw) and Pat Pruitt (Pueblo) at the PEM “Native Fashion Now” opening.

 

 

Pruitt told the story (repeated by most of the artists who were present at the show’s press opening) about how his creations were not allowed into Native American art shows because they were “not Native enough.” He praised Kramer’s vision in creating the opportunity to showcase the individuality of the Native designer in the context of their tribal identity. “The Native art world wants me to fit in with their stereotype,” he said, pausing. “But individuality and self expression is part of our tradition.

 

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Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/Shoshone-Bannock). Boots, 2013–14. Glass beads on boots designed by Christian Louboutin. Museum commission with support from Katrina Carye, John Curuby, Dan Elias and Karen Keane, Cynthia Gardner, Merry Glosband, and Steve and Ellen Hoffman, 2014.44.1AB. © 2015 Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Walter Silver.

 

Although Shoshone-Bannock Jamie Okuma’s beaded boots, commissioned for the exhibition, are riveting in their intricacy and beauty, they are not focus of the “Revisitors” gallery, named for the artists’ fresh, new and expanded take on tradition. Rather, it is the two pieces by non-Native designers — Ralph Lauren and Isaac Mizrahi — Kramer included in order to spark conversation about cultural appropriation and borrowing that draw the audience’s attention.

 

“It’s a complex topic,” Kramer said, noting that some mainstreamers feel that certain Native American cultural icons should be off limits to non-Native designers. For example, Mizrahi’s flannel gown, embroidered as the totem pole that honors North West Native families, could be viewed as offensive by traditionalists. On the other hand, his use of a sacred Native icon could be viewed as mainstream fashion’s acceptance of Native American design, using new materials to update a traditional idea and create something entirely new. “It’s meant to open a dialogue,” Kramer explained, clearly delighted that her inclusion of the piece in the exhibit had already done just that.

 

While the dynamic and lively exhibit shines a light on what Kramer has called a “Native American fashion renaissance”, the real spotlight is on the individuality of these contemporary designers’ inspirations as they reference their tradition while transcending culture and stereotyping. “We can choose whether we present our culture in our art and what that art means to us,” said Pruitt. “PEM is a museum that recognizes individuality. They get it,” added Michaels.

 

Pictured at top:

Orlando Dugi (Diné [Navajo]). Cape, dress, and headdress from “Desert Heat” Collection, 2012. Paint, silk, organza, feathers,beads, and 24k gold; feathers; porcupine quills and feathers. Courtesy of the designer, Sante Fe. Hair and makeup: DinaDeVore. Model: Julia Foster. Photography by Unék Francis.

Native Fashion Now runs through March 6 at the Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. For more information, visit pem.org.

 

 

PALS Makes a Pal out of Local Singer

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Above: From the left are PALs volunteers Judy Dean and Adam McInnis, North Shore Bank’s Mariellen Hayward, and
​PALS volunteers ​Carol Fournier and Lorrie Kmiec /©tfiphoto/barry kaplan
By Shelley A. Sackett

salem@salemwickedlocal.com

Salem resident Julie Dougherty has been singing since the mid-sixties, performing all over the country and playing many styles of music, including folk, Irish, country-rock and jazz and blues combinations. She also has a soft spot for cats, starting with her own two older indoor cats, and extending to any cat in need. Over the years, she has taken in many a stray cat that has wandered to her back door.

Recently, she was looking out her window and noticed an unfamiliar straggly cat in her yard. “It was so skinny and timid, I thought it was a young cat,” she said. “I left out food, but noticed he wasn’t touching it.”

She knew the cat needed medical attention, but the first two places she called were no help. Then she remembered she had heard that the PetSmart store at 10 Traders Way had a stray cat program. “When I went in, they were so helpful. They sent a PALS Animal Life Saver volunteer out the very next day,” Dougherty recalled.

PALS is the only all-volunteer organization on the North Shore that rescues and rehomes local homeless, abandoned and surrendered cats and kittens. Since 2007, it has been a PetSmart Charities adoption partner, with ten adoption cages in the Salem PetSmart location.

The rescue took quite a while. The cat was an elderly cat that had been abandoned quite a while ago “because we see a fair number of cats running through the neighborhood and I had never seen him before,” said Dougherty. The volunteer worked for two to three hours to get him out from under the shed where it seemed he had gone to die. “He no teeth and I don’t know if he was mistreated, but he certainly was abandoned,” Doughtery added sadly.

The PALS volunteer, who prefers to remain anonymous, rushed the cat to the Northeast Hospital in Peabody Venter, PALS’ volunteer vet, but the cat did die. “At least his final moments were in a very nice, loving environment,” Dougherty said.

Julie Dougherty

Julie Dougherty

She was so moved by the PALS volunteer’s dedication, that Dougherty went to the PALS office and made a donation the very next day. “I also told the staff that if they ever did a fundraiser and they wanted to put some musicians together, they should give me a call,” she said.

Carol Fournier, long-time PALS volunteer and its funding coordinator, did just that and on November 4, the PALS Animal Life Savers fundraiser, “Banding Together,” will be held at Finz Seafood & Grill on Pickering Wharf from 7 to 9 p.m. Julie Dougherty will headline a concert by her friends and local favorite musicians, Woody Woodward, the Errin Brown Band, the Guy Ford Band and Dave Balin & The Bailouts. Finz will offer a limited menu and there will be a cash bar, raffle items and… dancing!

“There are only 80 seats available, so people should pre-order on line,” Fournier said, noting that they wanted to make sure there would be enough room on the dance floor for everyone. Tickets are $25 and availailble at palscats.org or by calling Fournier at 978-745-7705. If there are still tickets left, walk-in may purchase them at the door.

“This is a bonus,” said KrisTina Wheeler, who started as an FCS (feed, clean and socialize) volunteer in 2006 and is now the PALS President, Managing Director and Treasurer. “The challenge with fundraisers is that we have such a small staff that we don’t have a marketing or advertising budget, so putting these events on really takes the time of a select few people,” she said. Other than the space and cat food donated by PetSmart Charities, PALS relies on donations and adoption fees to fund its work.

According to Wheeler, PALS rescues about 280 cats a year. Of those, between 200 and 230 are adopted. Some of the rest are strays that are returned to their rightful owners and some, like the cat who wandered into Dougherty’s yard, don’t make it.

PALS started in 1995 in Peabody by the animal control officer and a local firefighter. Originally, PALS operated out of Borash Animal Clinic in Peabody and assisted both cats and dogs.

In 2003, PALS was accepted as an adoption partner at PetSmart’s then-new store in Salem. By the next year, PALS left its Peabody location and focused solely on cats in PetSmart’s Traders Way store.

“It’s a great location and good exposure for our cats,” said Fournier, who started volunteering at PALS in 2003 after retiring from the corporate world. “I always loved animals – I had them my whole life – so I was drawn to PALS,” she said.

Once a cat is rescued, it goes to the veterinarian (“91% of all of our expenses is vet care,” said Wheeler). A network of foster homes cares for cats waiting for one of the ten cages to become available in the PALS Adoption Center located in the Salem PetSmart.

Approximately 40 active volunteers work each day to clean cages, do the laundry, feed the cats and socialize with the animals. They also do community outreach, with tables at the Salem Farmers’ Market and a couple of the blessing of the Animals local events. They participate as an exhibitor, trying to build more community awareness of their program.

Volunteers include college students, professionals, mothers, retirees and local animal lovers.

“I’ve been volunteering because I grew up with cats my entire life. I really wish this was all I needed to do, that I could be a full-time volunteer, because it is extremely rewarding,” said Wheeler, noting every one of their cats ends up being adopted. [Wheeler is also Assistant to the General Manager at the Hawthorne Hotel].

PALS has grown from $45,000 in expenses in 2011 to $75,000 in expenses in 2014, with $62,000 of that going to veterinary care. Half of PALS’s income comes from adoption fees and one-fourth is from private donations. The rest comes from fundraising and grants. Wheeler said the organization is looking to set a record in 2015, with over 235 adoptions and close to 300 cats helped.

With part-time volunteers who all have other jobs and responsibilities, Wheeler said that PALS’s biggest challenge is having the manpower to do what needs to get done. “Somehow, we get through it and end up saving 280 cats a year, which is pretty good for 40 people,” she said.

For more information, visit palscats.org.

Salem gets Saturday Night Halloween Fever

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Above: A ghoul beckons at the Hawthorne Hotel Halloween Party in 2014. COURTESY PHOTO / Patrick Cornelisson

By Shelley A. Sackett

Salem gets Saturday Night Halloween Fever

By Shelley A. Sackett

Halloween in Salem, the month-long party of haunted happenings, séances, ghouls, ghost stories, witches, pirates, vampires, and the macabre, is ending Saturday with a literal bang: at 10:15 p.m., Halloween Finale Fireworks will light up the sky over the North River.

The best place to watch them? “Bridge Street at Washington Street by the train station,” said Kate Fox, Executive Director of Destination Salem, the city’s Office of Tourism & Cultural Affairs, noting that in addition to affording the best view, that location also encourages the easy exit the city is insisting revelers make at 10:30 p.m..

“We shift gears from a communications standpoint from promoting all the events and programming to wanting people to understand that, while we want people to enjoy themselves and have a good time, we also want them to be prepared to leave at the end of the night,” Fox continued. Police will clear the streets at 10:30 p.m. and the MBTA has scheduled extra trains to accommodate the expected record crowds.

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Hawthorne Hotel 2014 Halloween Party reveler.

With the good weather, Fox anticipates between 70,000 and 75,000 people coming into Salem for Saturday’s street party. “If you’re in a bar, a restaurant or a party, you can stay until that ends. But if you’re here to enjoy the streets, the DJs, the walking around and seeing and being seen that we all enjoy on Halloween night, that ends at 10:30 sharp,” she again stressed.

Until that magic witching hour, however, there is plenty this weekend to entertain and titillate all ages of revelers.

On Friday, October 30, the First Annual Salem’s Wicked Hot Spice Eating Challenge will take place from 6 to 7 p.m. on Artists’ Row. Tastings will be four types of chili peppers made into a mash with Salem Firefighters Local 172 on hand to douse any serious resulting flames.

Not looking to challenge your palate? “Myths & Misconception,” a walking tour sponsored by the Essex National Heritage Area, seeks to uncover the myths and debunk any misconceptions about the Salem Witch Trials that happened over 300 years ago and that have been dramatized in books, movies, documentaries, and even TV shows. This walking tour meets at the Salem Regional Visitors’ Center and lasts 45 minutes. It includes stops at the Old Burying Point Cemetery, Witch Trials Memorial, and the site of the original 17th century jail.

Festival of the Dead Salem Witches' Magic Circle

Festival of the Dead Salem Witches’ Magic Circle

Not lucky enough to have scored a ticket to the sold-out Hawthorne Hotel’s 25th Annual Halloween Party? Not to worry – there are plenty of other opportunities to party the night away. The “Victorian Halloween Magi Ball” will take place at Victoria Station at 86 Wharf St. from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Dress in costumes and as characters from books written in the Victorian era by such as authors as Edgar Allen Poe, Charles Dickens, Bram Stoker and of, the creator of “Frankenstein”, Mary Bysshe Shelley. The event benefits the North Shore Elder Service “Over the Rainbow Coalition.”

Another 2015 first, the Heaven & Hell Party, will take place at Sea Level at 94 Wharf St. from 9 to 11p.m. and will feature “Heaven” on the top floor with Ketel One Vodka and “Hell” on the bottom Floor with Captain Morgan Cannon Blast.

Want to celebrate Halloween but take a break from the Salem crowds? Lynn Memorial Auditorium presents a special sowing of the classic 1975 film, “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on its 40th anniversary. Pre-show fun starts at 9 p.m. and the show starts at 10 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear costumes, bring props, learn their lines and be on the lookout for a motorcycle on the loose.

On Saturday, October 31, Halloween day is chockfull of events from 10 a.m. until 10:30 p.m. “Salem Children’s Day!” is celebrated on Salem Common from 10 a.m. until 3p.m. with a full day of blow-ups, games, face paintings and more. At 5 p.m., the Festival of the Dead will sponsor a “Salem Witches’ Magic Circle” with Warlocks and Witches and the Dragon Ritual Drummers who will gather for the sacred and magical ritual of Halloween. The Salem Common event is free and open to all who wish to attend with an open heart and a love for their dead.

Evening events include: the Festival of the Dead’s “The Official Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball” at the Hawthorne Hotel; Gulu-Gulu Café’s Annual Halloween Party featuring Ponyfish with Jeff Savlon; the Annie Brobst Band “Halloween in Salem” party at the Knights of Columbus at Washington Square, and Mamadou Diop Band live at the Fountain Stage at Museum Place Mall on Essex Street.

“It’s been a great month. The weather has been phenomenal and that can really make or break the weekend. With the good weather, more people come in and are able to enjoy more things in Salem without being freezing,” said Fox, whose office is already busy planning Haunted Happenings 2016.

For more information and a full listing of events, visit hauntedhappenings.org.

Zalem Zombies on the Prowl in Salem

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Above: Frank Vieira, center, and  some of his students reading ‘Zalem, Mass.’ Books, or holding up posters from the series. From left, front row:  Helina Almonte, Frank Vieira (me), Richard Morrison; middle row: Mark Savio, Cortney Cook, Julia Chen, Precious Ifeacho; and back row: Olivia Bowers, Angelina Auth./COURTESY PHOTOS

By Shelley A. Sackett

salem@wickedlocal.com

Frank Vieira is not your typical history teacher. By day, the 47-year-old lifelong Salem resident engages Lynn’s Thurgood Marshall Middle School eighth graders with lessons about World History, covering the time period from Ancient Greece until the Enlightenment.

But once he leaves his classroom for the day, the mild-mannered father of five shifts gears and dons his other persona: Frank Vieira, creator and marketer of “Zalem, Mass.”, a comic book series about surviving a Zombie Apocalypse.

“‘Zalem, Mass.’ is not your typical zombie story. It is rich with emotion and quite often brings its readers to tears,” Vieira said, noting he deliberately included actual Salem locations, such as Forest River Pool, Market Basket, Winter Island and Steve’s Quality Market in the action-packed series. “Readers will be hard pressed to not be thinking about seeing zombies no matter where in the city they might go. Using actual geography truly helps to bring the story to life and give it a real feel.”

The cover of 'Zalem, Mass.' was designed by Salem artist Christina Robichau and author Frank Vieira.

The cover of ‘Zalem, Mass.’ was designed by Salem artist Christina Robichau and author Frank Vieira.

The zombie craze that is sweeping the globe, and especially the television series, “The Walking Dead,” is the backbone of Vieira’s inspiration to write his comic book series. “This global fascination was no different in my household, where my five kids and I frequently found ourselves having numerous discussions about what we would do if a Zombie Apocalypse ever actually happened,” he said. As the stories and ideas the family tossed around grew in richness and detail, so did Vieira’s motivation to write them down, and “just like that, ‘Zalem, Mass.’ was born.”

Since the story is based on the Vieira family’s brainstorming sessions, the series uses actual people, centering on the Vieira family.

In a nutshell, “Zalem, Mass.” tells the story of a how a normal and unsuspecting family deals with the onset of a Zombie Apocalypse as it approaches their home in Salem. The father takes immediate action to keep his family safe and together, eventually building a sanctuary at Winter Island, which they call “Constantinople.” “Being a history teacher, I based this Safe Zone on the Byzantine capital, now called Istanbul and located in modern day Turkey,” Vieira said.

Originally, he wanted to take his story “on the road” and have the characters travel the countryside for one reason or another, “but Salem is the Witch City. Not only does it have so much spooky history, but it also has become the Halloween Mecca for millions of people,” he said.

Once Vieira decided to set the series in Salem, he came up with the idea of covering the “S” on an “Entering Salem” road sign with a bloody “Z”. He brought the concept to his close friend and local artist, Christina Robichau, and together they designed the final book cover with a bunch of zombie arms reaching for the bloody city.

In May 2013, Vieira started the Zalem, Mass. fan-page on Facebook and invited a few people to the site. After he added the cover image, he received requests for posters and t-shirts. “I literally made everything from coffee mugs to beach bags, to phone covers… Whatever people wanted, I made and sold via the fan-page,” he said.

Friends of friends invited friends of their friends. As soon as Vieira finished writing a chapter, he posted teasers, works-in-progress for some of the artwork, and, eventually, the finished artwork. “With each new image, people wanted new posters and t-shirts, etc.,” he said.

“I also had five or six test readers who I allowed to read my first drafts in order to get feedback. When they began posting how awesome they thought the story was, more and more people continued to look forward to the book’s eventual release date,” he added.

Last year, Vieira ran his first Kickstarter campaign for 30 days, with the goal of raising $5,000. He raised over $6,000, with many fans literally buying their way into the storyline. Larry Harrison, owner of Harrison’s Comics in Salem and a strong supporter of the “Zalem, Mass.” series, pledged $500 to become a character in Vieira’s Book 1:Constantinople and Book 2:Loss, and to have a major scene take place in his store in Book 3. A second Kickstarter this summer raised another $3,000.

Armed with funding, a title and a cover, Vieira began writing Book 1 in earnest. He plumbed Facebook to meet Marvel and DC artists, Thor Mangila and Michael Magallanes, two Philippines residents who created much of the book’s artwork. “I have been reading comic books for the last 40 years and have met many creators by writing letters or chatting on Facebook. Some I met in person at comic conventions, and one [Ed Beard] I met at the King Richard’s Faire,” Vieira said.

With $10,000 from Books 1 and 2 pre-orders, Vieira was able to pay for the artwork, copyright and publishing expenses. After several frustrating experiences with potential publishers, he decided to self-publish with Amazon.com. Currently, “Zalem, Mass.” has more than 13,000 hits on its website (zalemmass.com) and more than 2,100 worldwide fans on its fan-page (facebook.com/zalemmass).

Student Yen-Nhi Chit and author Frank Vieira show a poster of her Book 2 artwork, making her a published artist.

Student Yen-Nhi Chit and author Frank Vieira show a poster of her Book 2 artwork, making her a published artist.

As a teacher, Vieira uses his books to encourage his students to follow their dreams and do whatever makes them happy. He shares the writing process and what publishing a book entails with his students and their families. His classroom is filled with original drawings and paintings by many of his comic artist friends. He was even able to get one of his students, Yen-Nhi Chit, who he discovered was “an amazing artist”, published in “Book 2: Loss” by pairing her with one of the Marvel/DC colorists. “Now she is not only a published artist, but she has also made her first serious contact in the art field. Not too bad for a 14-year-old young lady,” Vieira shared with tremendous pride.

“My central idea is to serve as a role model for my students and their families by being an example and showing them that anything is possible if they dream big, and then chase after their dreams and make them a reality,” Vieira said.

Vieira will be available at Harrison’s Comics at 252 Essex St., Salem, on Saturday October 24 from 1 to 3 p.m. for a book signing to celebrate publication of “Zalem, Mass. Book 2: Loss.” For more information, visit facebook.com/zalemmass and zalem

A Hallowed Time for Witches, Warlocks

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Above:Warlocks Brian Cain, left, and Christian Day practice the religion of witchcraft. Here they celebrate their wedding at Hammond Castle. COURTESY PHOTO

By Shelley A. Sackett / salem@wickedlocal.com

SALEM

For practicing Warlocks Christian Day and Brian Cain, Salem’s nickname, “Witch City,” is more than a marketing slogan and Halloween is more than a retail second Christmas.

“Witchcraft is one of the oldest spiritual paths that occurs in cultures throughout the world,” explained Day from the home he shares with Cain in New Orleans. “It’s a time when spirits walk among us. It’s a time when we remember those who have gone before who touched our lives in some way.”

Both Day and Cain stress that witchcraft is a religious faith, a belief system that includes magic, clairvoyance, and male and female deities. “We all see God in different images,” said Cain, who read the book “Raymond Buckland’s Complete Book of Witchcraft” as a 15-year-old interested in the occult. The book was an eye-opener for the teen, who already accepted witchcraft as a source of magic. “It was a new way of looking at God and brought witchcraft into my life as a religion,” he said.

Born in Beverly to a “very Catholic, Democrat, Massachusetts family,” Day moved to Salem at age 4 and became a practicing witch at 18 after discovering Tarot cards the year before. Although his mother was “a little freaked out” at her son’s embracing witchcraft, his family understood that he was not doing anything harmful. Nonetheless, “people in our family will needle anybody about anything,” Day said with a chuckle.

After a traditional career in advertising at the prestigious Arnold firm, Day decided to leave that world in his 30s and practice witchcraft full-time in Salem.

Day became aware of a movement in the city that was trying to rid Salem of its witch identity. In 2003, Destination Salem, the city’s official Office of Tourism and Cultural Affairs, wouldn’t allow Day to join. “They said we didn’t fit their mission statement which, at the time, was devoted solely to ‘arts and culture,'” Day explained. This potential disenfranchisement was the impetus for his founding Festival of the Dead in 2003.

[When Kim Driscoll became Mayor in 2005, Day did join Destination Salem, ending up on the Board of Directors in 2010, a post he left after relocating to New Orleans.]

“Festival of the Dead was created to bring back the concept that Halloween is a sacred time of the year. We don’t want to get rid of the fun of Halloween. But we also want to show it has a spiritual side and that Salem has room for witches and their magic. There’s a place at the table for the magical community of Salem,” Day said.

During the month of October, the Festival hosts the Annual Psychic Fair and Witchcraft Expo at Museum Place Mall at 176 Essex St., Salem. Besides presenting an emporium of “magical gifts”, those interested can have a Tarot card reading, a crystal ball scrying or a private visit with a medium. Nearby, Enchanted Alley “magical marketplace” is chockfull of vendors selling crystals, jewelry, spell kits, voodoo dolls and more.

There are also more serious ticketed events such as “Hekate: Unveiling the Queen of the Dead,” “Speaking to the Dead with Laurie Cabot,” “The Horned God: Lord of Death and Resurrection with Brian Cain” and of course, the “Official Salem Witches’ Halloween Ball” on Oct. 31, featuring the Dragon Ritual Drummers and old-fashioned rituals and magic.

Day and Cain, who met on Facebook over a witchcraft discussion and then connected in New Orleans in person and “really hit it off,” were married at Hammond Castle in Gloucester on Nov. 16, 2014, a night sacred to the Witch Goddess Hekate. The castle was also the location of a music video for the song “Voodoo” by the band Godsmack; the video featured Salem’s Official Witch Laurie Cabot.

The couple owns two witchcraft shops in Salem, Hex and Omen. Day believes stores like theirs help people to understand what witchcraft is and to reconnect to their spirituality. He compares customers who buy a lucky charm or light a wish candle to lapsed Catholics who might visit Vatican City and look up at the Sistine Chapel and feel closer to God.
“They don’t necessarily want to become a priest or a nun, but they want to feel that connection. This is what goes on in Salem,” he said.

“People coming to Salem and going into a witch shop — most of them aren’t witches and they don’t want to be witches. What they want is to believe in magic again,” Day added.
Both Day and Cain turn serious when asked what their favorite Festival of the Dead event is and answer almost in unison: The Dumb Supper: Dinner with the Dead (so named because no one may speak throughout the event). “This is really the most spiritual event we have,” Cain explained. “It’s a time when we connect to our loved ones who have passed on and it’s a very specific experience.”

Day said his favorite thing about the Dumb Supper is that every year they get “the husbands,” those men dragged to the event by their wives. Although they weren’t interested in attending, after the evening they invariably approach Day and Cain with stories about seeing or touching their loved ones and ask the same question: “How is that possible?”

“These are the things that really inspire me. If someone goes in expecting nothing and then they get something, it so reinforces the idea of the spiritual world. It’s the most sacred thing a witch can do,” Day said. “Salem is the place to go if you want to believe in magic again.”

For more information, visit festivalofthedead.com.

Bakers Island Lighthouse Has 1,017 Visitors During its First Season

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Above: Former lighthouse keepers Lorraine and Randall Anderson with 2015 keepers Mary Hillery and Greg Guckenburg. /COURTESY PHOTOS

By Shelley A. Sackett / salem@wickedlocal.com
On Labor Day, the Naumkeag departed from the Salem Ferry dock at 10 Blaney St. and travelled the five miles to Bakers Island for the last time of the 2015 season. It carried the island’s 1,017th visitor this summer.

Passengers board The Naumkeag at Bakers Island.

Passengers board The Naumkeag at Bakers Island.

It was just about a year ago when 40 people took the same trip, their landing at Bakers Island’s rocky coast symbolic of the rocky start of the relationship between the fiercely private summer island residents and the Essex National Heritage Commission.

The 2014 visitors included a uniformed Coast Guard rear admiral, Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll and Annie Harris, chief executive of Essex Heritage. They were aboard to celebrate the official handover of the Bakers Island Light Station from the Coast Guard to Essex Heritage, a nonprofit management organization for the hundreds of historic, cultural and natural places in Essex County.

Bakers Island is a 60-acre island in Salem Sound with a fiercely private summer colony of about 55 cottages. Its 100 or so residents tried for years to win control of the masonry lighthouse — and the 10-acre property where it sits alongside two keeper’s houses — from the federal government, which has owned and operated it since 1798.

The residents lost their battle and on Aug. 27, 2014, the deed was transferred to Essex Heritage. The organization got right to work raising money to fund restoration of the lighthouse, keeper’s houses, and the lantern and oil buildings.

“We obtained a substantial $10,000 grant from the Daughters of the American Revolution which gave us the initial ‘boost’ to take on the renovation of the lighthouse tower,” said Harris. Essex Heritage also started a Kickstarter campaign, which, owing to the generosity of the many “Bakers Backers,” exceeded its $30,000 fundraising goal and gave the project great visibility.

“Thanks to mason Marty Nally and his crew, the lighthouse project was completed on time and on budget,” said Harris.

Restoration of the lighthouse was extensive and labor intensive. Essex Heritage also made substantial progress on the renovations of the assistant keeper’s house and restored some of the original pathways on the west side of the property, cutting through bittersweet and sumac to open up some good water views.

Visitors check out the lighthouse on Bakers Island.

Visitors check out the lighthouse on Bakers Island.

The renovated lighthouse had a constant flow of visitors this summer, at $35 a ticket. Annie Harris was pleased. “The summer went extremely well,” she said. “Our volunteer couple Greg Guckenburg and Mary Hillery – and their black lab Mitch – were super. Not only did they accomplish a lot of work on both the exterior grounds and interior renovation of the assistant keeper’s house, they also were very hospitable and welcoming to the visitors. Mary studied the history of the light station and was a very gracious and enthusiastic hostess. She greeted every boat tour.”

Peter Golden, president of the Bakers Island Wharf Company, which functions as the residents’ association, echoed Harris’ assessment of how the island’s first summer being open to the public went. “Overall we were very pleased at how smoothly the tours went this summer, and we look forward to continued cooperation with Essex Heritage,” he said.

There is a lot to do to “put the property to bed” for the winter and then gear up again in the spring. The plumbing needs to be drained, boats put away and equipment stored. Harris has identified an energetic volunteer couple for next summer and will work with them over the winter to create the work plan for next summer.

Essex Heritage plans to apply for another grant soon. There will not be another Kickstarter campaign just yet, even though the first one was so successful financially. “It was a great experience – not only because of the money we raised, but also because of the excellent publicity and lots of new friends who support the Bakers Light Station,” Harris said.

For now, she is delighted to have been instrumental in gaining access to an Essex County treasure for the 1,017 visitors. “I’ve seen the light,” she said with a twinkle in her voice. “Have you?”

“Strandbeests” on the Loose at PEM’s Groundbreaking New Exhibit

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By Shelley A. Sackett / salem@wickedlocal.com

Americus Umericus, Scheveningen beach, Netherlands (2009). Courtesy of Theo Jansen. Photo by Loek van der Klis.

SALEM

When the Peabody Essex Museum’s Trevor Smith encountered Dutch artist Theo Jansen’s jaw-dropping Strandbeests (“beach animals”), he knew he had to bring them to PEM. Like most people, Smith first saw them on the Internet, “walking” sideways on Scheveningen Beach in The Hague. He was hooked on the spot.

“I wanted to show what makes perpetual motion possible and that there is great inspiration in the world,” Smith said. “We all have ideas; we all have creativity. Theo is the poster child for Present Tense Initiative. He is the personification of the blending of the arts.”

The PEM’s Present Tense Initiative, curated by Smith, celebrates the central role that creative expression plays in shaping the world today, and pushes the boundaries of what a museum experience can be.

Four years in the making, “Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen” opens on Saturday, Sept. 19 and is the first large-scale presentation of Jansen’s Strandbeests in the U.S. With its multi-sensory approach that invites touching and playing, it is a must-see exhibit for all ages.

“I wanted an exhibit that would be hands on and contemplative with zones of the intellectual and experiential, which I hope will translate to our audience,” said Smith. With multi-media displays, large-scale kinetic sculptures, artist sketches, immersive video and photography by Lena Herzog, the Russian photographer who spent more than seven years documenting the Strandbeests’ evolution, Smith’s goal is exceeded.

Trevor Smith (left), PEM Curator of the Present Tense, and Theo Jansen, creator of Strandbeests. (Shelley A. Sackett)

Trevor Smith (left), PEM Curator of the Present Tense, and Theo Jansen, creator of Strandbeests. (Shelley A. Sackett)

Jansen defies pigeonholing. He is a magician, a physicist, an artist, an engineer, a philosopher, a theologian, and a choreographer, and he calls on all these personae to create his kinetic universe where pistons, crankshafts and complex leg systems transform inert plastic tubing into living beings that dance at the ocean’s edge.

Using lightweight PVC, which is common in Dutch households, and zip ties, Jansen has invented a new species that he describes as “migration animals that have a lot of patience.” Visitors marvel and empathize with these fragile, skeletal creatures that capture imaginations and pull at heartstrings.

Twenty-five years ago, Jansen, wearing his physicist’s hat, set out to design a machine that could pile sand onto the Dutch eroding coastline. The utilitarian project was meant to take one year. Instead, his Strandbeests hit a very deep chord in Jansen’s psyche, reminding him of the origins of life and inspiring him to create an entire new species, complete with life cycles, evolutionary adaptations, fossil records and, despite their Star Wars appearance, deep roots in reality.

The author with one of the many hands-on exhibits (John Andrews/Social Palates (socialpalatesphotography.com)

The author with one of the many hands-on exhibits (John Andrews/Social Palates (socialpalatesphotography.com)

“I dreamed that I would give a new specimen to the world,” Jansen told members of the press at a preview of his exhibit. Normally, evolution takes millions of years to occur, but Jansen recently decided to share the genetic algorithm (the Strandbeest’s DNA, which he refers to as his “holy numbers”) that he created on his Atari computer in order to speed up and enrich the process.

“Thousands of students have been making Strandbeests since I published the DNA on the website. That’s how Strandbeests reproduce and survive the wind; they are sitting on students’ shelves,” Jansen said with the seriousness of a biology professor. “These mutants that are created by students might reproduce faster than mine, discovering a solution to survival on the beach.” He estimates that over the next 20 years, the animals will evolve to a point where they can exist on their own.

When Jansen talks about his creatures, the line blurs between fantasy and reality, invention and nature. His Strandbeests are “like my children. You create them, you nurture them, and then you kick them out of the house to live their own lives,” he said with a hint of a smile. He has created a phylogenetic family tree and evolutionary periods with names like the Strap Period, the Hot Period and the Less Hot Period. If Theodor Seuss Geisel had been an engineer, he might have been team-teaching with Jansen.

At the end of the presentation, Jansen stood in front of one of his Strandbeests and in what was the evening’s greatest understatement said, “You can see that I’ve been working hard the last few years.”

Strandbeest: The Dream Machines of Theo Jansen opens Sept. 19 at the Peabody Essex Museum, 161 Essex St., Salem. The exhibit will run through Jan. 3, after which it will travel to the Chicago Cultural Center and San Francisco’s Exploratorium. For more information, visit pem.org/strandbeest.