Over the last month at the Whaling Museum, we built an umiak, an Alaskan Iñupiat whaleboat; hosted the Massachusetts film premiere of Ric Burns's American Experience/ WGBH documentary Into the Deep: America, Whaling & the World; and completed our free twenty-two session Food for Thought brown bag lecture series.
 
I am pleased to note that we are close to finishing major restoration of our historic property Greater Light and are planning small "work-in-progress" tours this summer at what was once the Monaghan sisters' magical property. We will begin with a preview of the restoration on June 4.
 
As I write this, a group of intrepid Nantucket travelers, led by Nina and Bob Hellman, is venturing across Alaska on one of our NHA Explorations. We have already launched two of the three exhibitions celebrating the NHA's "Year of the Nantucket Woman"- and it isn't even summer yet.  We are also recapping some of the exciting moments from the Nantucket Wine Festival's Wine Auction Dinner on May 22 that benefits the NHA's educational programs.
 
We continually remind ourselves that none of this would be possible without the generous support of our members and friends; we also realize we would not be where we are - nor would we be able to thrive as an organization - without the ongoing and wise guidance of our board of trustees. 
 
Enjoy this latest edition of the NHA E-Newsletter and come visit us soon!  
 
 

Bill Tramposch
Executive Director

 

The exhibition Visions of Her: Portrait Photography by Nantucket Youth opened to a full house on May 28 and will be on display through November 8. The exhibition features modern portraits of Nantucket women taken 

by teens from the Nantucket Boys & Girls   Club and Nantucket High School. The photographs showcase the essence of women that the young photographers admire as well as the island itself.  Bonus film interviews offer a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the creative spirit of the project. 

 

 

Sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, Blue Star Museums is a partnership with more than 600 museums across America that are offering free admission to all active-duty military personnel and their families from Memorial Day through Labor Day 2010. The NHA is pleased to extend this program through December 31, 2010.

Free admission is available to active-duty military and their immediate family members (military ID holder and five immediate family members), including active-duty Reserve and active-duty National Guard. Blue Star Museums is made possible through a partnership among Blue Star Families, the National Endowment for the Arts, and more than 600 museums.

 

"It was once an old livestock barn, and the pigpen is now a dining room! Two girls . . . two girls built this house," was whispered throughout the town in the early 1930s. Built in 1790, the barn was lovingly converted into an eclectic summer residence and art studio by Quaker sisters Gertrude and Hanna Monaghan, who named it Greater Light. Hanna bequeathed the property to the NHA in the 1970s. 
 
The first phase of the Greater Light restoration is nearing completion, and the NHA will host a preview of the property on June 4.  After that, it will be open during the summer on a limited basis to view the restoration as a "work in progress" and present the site's wonderful potential to tell the story of Nantucket's emergence as an art colony and resort in the early twentieth century. When completed, Greater Light will become a place for the arts to flourish - a venue for lifelong learning and for small gatherings that extol the arts and culture, much as it was used by the Monaghans.
 
Those interested in viewing "a work-in-progress" are invited to Greater Light on June 4, 4 - 6 P.M., for informal tours. Free limited admission, 508-228-1894, ext, 0.