Sue Katz: Consenting Adult

Danforth Museum in Framingham, Massachusetts

If I have learned anything during the pandemic, it is that eastern Massachusetts is filled with wonderful hidden pearls, especially the many parks and ponds I have discovered during my weekly Saturday explorations. Now that I am able to go inside museums, I’m trying to identify and visit the variety of little museums in surrounding towns.

The Danforth Museum in Framingham is housed on the second floor of the arts building of Framingham State University. Among the 3,500 objects in the permanent collection are the works of Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller (1877 –1968.) Fuller was an African-American sculptor who was a protégée of Auguste Rodin and initially built her reputation in Paris. (Her self-portrait is above.) A contributor to the Harlem Renaissance, her work centers around injustice and struggle. Even her very studio is displayed at the Danforth along with about 100 pieces of her work.

There were other exhibitions to see as well. A recent acquisition by Mia Cross called “Another Girl Who Sat on the Couch Too Long” tickled me. Dana Filibert, one of the featured artists in a special exhibition called “Wonderscape,” showed many collaged pieces using repurposed objects, epoxy, carved foam, and paint (see below). Her unique art, she says, aims for “playful mischief.”

We were the only guests on a summer Saturday. Entry was $6 for seniors. The bathrooms were convenient and the air-conditioning was pumped way up (take a shirt or sweater to put on). I recommend searching out these little museums and galleries, especially if, like me, you are feeling that you have been heavily deprived of art for over a year.

New Bedford & Mattapoisett: Art & Nature

We are continuing our pandemic tradition of going somewhere beautiful every Saturday. We’ve easily identified this past year’s worth of discoveries, and now that we are in the most exquisite Spring I’ve ever experienced, there are plenty more treats out here in Eastern Massachusetts.

Yesterday we set out to New Bedford, about an hour south, towards Cape Cod. I ordered tickets ($5/seniors) for an exhibit at the New Bedford Art Museum entitled “Uncommon Threads: The Works of Ruth E. Carter.” Carter is the costume designer who won the Academy Award for designing “Black Panther.” She’s designed clothes for many important films, from “Roots” to “Malcolm X” to “Amistad” to “Selma.” She is a local talent, born in Springfield, MA. It is a small exhibit, and I was particularly interested in the pieces from Malcolm X. It was, though, disappointing to learn that the museum could not afford to include clothes from Wakanda.

There was a plethora of Pride flags everywhere in New Bedford. Around the corner from the museum, the Alison Wells Fine Art Studio and Gallery was flying the flag. The charming and talented artist/owner, Alison, gave us a quick education about being an artist in New Bedford. She said it was an art-friendly town, with reasonable rents, attracting artists of all sorts who have dominated the town’s cultural landscape. Alison’s gorgeous work is a combination of collage and paint. Here is a photo of a painting I particularly loved. She is prolific and impressive and no trip to New Bedford would be complete without a visit to this gallery.

New Bedford was a whaling town at a time when whale oil was the equivalent of fossil fuels today. So executives and owners of whaling businesses made a pile of dough and their former mansions reflect that wealth, although they are now surrounded by shabby neighborhoods. While New Bedford was considered the richest per capita city in the world during the 19th Century, it now has twice the number of people living below the poverty rate than the rest of Massachusetts,

Only one of the big houses has been fully preserved as a museum. We explored the Rotch-Jones-Duff House & Garden Museum, with its exquisite formal rose garden of 350 rose bushes and traditional pergola. The roses are at their peak right now. Then we took the self-tour of the house ($6/seniors).

Finally, we drove eight miles to the 1837 Ned’s Point Lighthouse in the harbor of Mattapoisett. This town started as a ship-building and whaling town, but soon became a resort for the elite. I must confess to love a good drive around beautiful old homes – although too many rich neighborhoods are now full of nasty McMansions – but these were tasteful Cape-Codders with lush landscaping and a certain unity of grey shingles. The Lighthouse is situated in a very large grassy circle surrounded by huge rocks and just feet from the rocky shore. There is a launching area specifically for windsurfers and they were amazing to watch.

I returned home to a broken elevator in my apartment building in 94 degree weather and a car full of stuff to bring up eight stories. I chose the strawberry rhubarb pie and the two bouquets – none of which would have a chance to survive, and abandoned my laptop, two loads of wet laundry I had done at my friend’s place (I don’t use dryers for my clothes), and many other sundries. After the sun set, I went back down to retrieve the laptop, as who knows when the elevator will be fixed and we’re expecting the heatwave to continue in the mid-90s for the next few days. The bad news is that my knees have lodged complaints about the climb of eight stories, but the good news is that my air conditioning is working just fine.

Photos by Barry Hock