The Island has earned its rightful place as a thriving summer arts colony.
The Old Whaling Church in Edgartown will ring to the rafters with the sounds of Livingston Taylor, Graham Nash, Loudon Wainwright 3rd and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The Tabernacle and Performing Arts Center will play host to Aimee Mann, Aretha Franklin and Pink Martini, courtesy of the MV Concert Series, now in its second year.
At the Yard, the Chilmark dance colony that owes its existence to its visionary late founder Patricia Nanon, there will be a return to focus on modern dance with a lineup that includes break-dancer and Guggenheim fellow Raphael Xavier, the Ragamala Dance Company of Minneapolis, Paul Taylor’s touring company, Taylor 2, and the perennially popular Cuban troupe Malpaso Dance Company.
At the Vineyard Playhouse, plays new and old will be performed on the Patricia Neal stage, including Alfred Uhry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Driving Miss Daisy and Who You See Here, a new comedy by Matt Hoverman.
And at the Martha’s Vineyard Hebrew Center, the bruising election year just past will provide a springboard for argument and discussion at the annual summer institute lecture series, with speakers that include Kenneth Adelman, John Kerry and Henry Louis Gates Jr.
This is just a small sampling of the rich lineup of arts and culture for the Island this summer.
The Vineyard is of course known for its unspoiled beaches, clean ocean water and sea air, but with concerts that rival Tanglewood, dance that rivals Jacob’s Pillow and workshops in just about every discipline you could name, many of them avant garde, the Island has earned its rightful place as a thriving summer arts colony.
Visual arts are also flourishing, with galleries dotting the landscape from Edgartown to Aquinnah. Evening art strolls are the latest trend in the down-Island towns.
Of course the Island has long been a haven and a retreat for artists and writers, making it well suited to grow into a destination for the arts. It’s good for the Vineyard economy and good too for the spirit to attend a stimulating lecture or concert, or perhaps browse a rustic building hung with watercolors and photography before heading out for dinner with a friend or a quiet walk at sunset on an empty stretch of west-facing shoreline.
It all comes in a rush, beginning this month as concert halls and performance venues fill up with events. (It’s true, the Gazette calendar editor never sleeps.)
Welcome to another summer of the arts on Martha’s Vineyard. Along with the sun and sand, time to soak it up.
Comments
Loved the article, and look
Ruth Campbell West TisburyLoved the article, and look forward to the the high test fueling of Summer Arts here on MV.
Also want to remind, or pass on the word that Arts on MV thrive here year round.
Galleries, theater, music both vocal and instrumental, thriving Featherstone offerings, film, dance For children
And adults, all kinds of yoga, book talks, artists studios in so many media in full swing, and strong arts
In every school. MV is a year round art island, that we all need and cherish.
Just one regret: for years and years all the schools were given a wide exposure having monthly performers
Of all genres. This was an important exposure for all the students, many who otherwise would have otherwise
Never heard, seen, or participated in professional artis performance. It was organized for a few decades by
Michael Ovios. Perhaps none of the current administrators know this, or have forgotten, but every child still
Remembers. Let's not just value the Arts in the summer....value it year round.
A good reminder, Ruth. As
David R White West TisburyA good reminder, Ruth. As Artistic Director of The Yard, I and my colleagues are now well into the 3rd year of a year-round schools-based program of bringing both our staff artists and those based elsewhere and internationally into all-ages island schools (not to mention senior centers and libraries and more), tailoring those residencies to specific needs articulated by teachers, administrators and students. We also inaugurated in 2015-2016, with support of Boston's Barr Foundation, a brand-new so-called off-season performance series directed towards the year-round population called THE WINTER YARD - generally 4 events from December to May presented at the high school MV PAC and, interestingly in the last two years, at the Ice Arena (i.e., Montreal's renegade ice skating ensemble Le Patin Libre). The third WY season comes this December. The Yard is currently planning a comprehensive renovation of its Chilmark campus which will result (pending successful fundraising), for the first time in its nearly 5 decades, fully insulated/weatherized facilities that will open up major new opportunities in the Vineyard's darker, colder months - the equivalent of opening a brand new theater/workshop facility on the island that has never before existed from October to May.
I should note that the Martha's Vineyard Playhouse has also significantly increased its non-summer activities, from poetry to music to film.
the stunning new Featherstone complex offers more to come as well. So, progress . . .
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