Events for: 2021-2022

Join Marjorie Turner Hollman will share Easy Walks (not too many roots or walks, relatively level, with something of interest along the way) that are in the greater Lowell area, as well as lots of suggestions, experience, and ideas that can help you have a more positive experience in the outdoors. This lecture will be especially appropriate for elders, those with disabilities or mobility challenges, and families with young children. Hollman also offers advice for clothing choices, hiking poles, back packs, when spending time on local trails. Hollman affirms, “Regardless of your challenges, the outdoors is not off limits.”

The Duquesne University Tamburitzans are the longest-running multicultural song and dance company in the United States. Headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the company's members are full-time Duquesne University students who receive scholarships for their activities. The Tamburitzans mission is twofold: first, to provide deserving students an education; second, to perpetuate the varying folk cultures and traditions of Eastern Europe.

Tender the River captures in verse the history and legacy of the Merrimack River Valley, from the various indigenous tribes who first settled here, to the European settlers who supplanted them, to being the birthplace of America’s industrial revolution. The Merrimack River Valley has been America in microcosm.

Published in 1919, Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio met with instant acclaim: H.L. Mencken wrote, “Here is a new order of short story – so vivid, so full of insight, so shining life-like, and glowing.” The collection of 22 short stories probed the hopes, dreams and fears of a small mid-western town in the 1880s with startling frankness and realism. It ushered American literature into the modern age, impacting novelists from Hemingway, Faulkner and Steinbeck to Philip Roth and Elizabeth Strout. The lecture will explore the book's engaging characters, themes, style and portrayal of the human condition and discuss why the book endures. It will also touch on Anderson’s life and the works of his descendants. The lecturer (OR: Mr. Curtis) suggests reading or listening to Wineburg, Ohio's opening sections,  "The Book of the Grotesque." and "Hands" before the lecture. (OPTIONAL: Each story is seven pages.) -- Text (scroll past introduction)
https://www.fulltextarchive.com/page/Winesburg-Ohio1/#p12 -- Free Recordings "The Book of Grotesque": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUNrHS7tAs8 "Hands": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUXgC9zEw2o  

“Hurricanes whip up the seas, generate gargantuan waves and mammoth storm surges, and pour down such diluvial quantities of water that they seem to presage the end of time.” As the subtitle promises, the book starts 500 years ago, on Christopher Columbus’s fourth trip to the New World. Understanding a phenomenon and protecting oneself from it are two different things,” writes Dolin. The best preparation needs foreknowledge of trouble, and quality weather forecasting requires a distributed network of people who can communicate observations quickly. “Seen from space,” Dolin writes, “hurricanes are one of the most beautiful and mesmerizing features in the world. Racing around the globe like downy, spinning pinwheels floating silently above the Earth, their very magnificence belies their dreadful impact on American history.”

Laura Petrovich-Cheney is a contemporary sculptor, woodworker and artist who creates wall mounted quilts out of salvaged wood. Inspired by the destruction and loss caused by Hurricane Sandy in 2012, Laura collects pieces of wrecked homes in order to piece them – and people’s memories – together in a new way. In this heartwarming presentation, Laura shares her personal history as a self taught, novice teenage quilter and how her career in the fashion world, experience as an art educator, and ultimately, a devastating hurricane provided the unexpected inspiration for her wood quilts. This lecture complements the NEQM’s exhibition, Wood Quilts: Works by Laura Petrovich-Cheney, on view October 6 through December 31, 2021. Audience members will receive free admission to examine the exhibit.

Jack Kerouac is the only writer from the city of Lowell to have achieved an international reputation, become a cultural icon, (and get a park in his hometown). Contemporary Lowell writer Stephen O’Connor discusses Kerouac as a figure that may illuminate, influence, and at times overshadow the work of other writers in the Mill City. The public may try to define the Lowell writer as “a new Jack Kerouac,” or compare his or her work to Kerouac’s. O’Connor will also discuss his own connections to Kerouac, the Lowell background they share, common influences and differences. Download This Lecture

Learn about honeybees, what it takes to keep them healthy and happy, and how adulterated honey became one of the biggest agricultural frauds in history! Dr Anderson will bring a few jars of honey to sample and you are encouraged to bring your own favorites to be reviewed and discuss its origins. Dr Anderson holds B.S. and M.S. degrees in Biology and Entomology from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Entomology from North Carolina State University. Dr Anderson is a Science Policy Fellow with the Entomology Society of America, and is also a certified beekeeper and a life member of the NC State Beekeepers Association.

How much do you know about baseball uniforms? This fascinating topic will explore the boundary of fine art and everyday objects. The Worcester Art Museum has a new exhibit about the history of the American baseball shirt that chronicles the design evolution of baseball jerseys and their impact on street wear and fashion over the past 170 years. Museum curator of American Art, Erin R. Corrales-Diaz, traces the development of the iconic American- style baseball shirt.

Trend n Motion is a diverse team that genuinely loves expressive movement. They came together in 2012 after the loss of a close friend who inspired them to chase a dream with love and passion. Now, Trend n Motion is chasing their dreams using the spirit of dance to highlight how the therapy of expression is beneficial to the quality of life.

Shine and the Moonbeams have played their special blend of Soul and Funk music for families all over New York City. Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Summer Stage are just a few of the venues that have welcomed them. They invite kids of all ages to make a joyful noise and participate in an interactive journey that is not only creative but educational and socially relevant.