GCAC March 2020 ‘Good News’ Newsletter

Hello, good people,
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In Crisfield we have enjoyed a warmer than usual winter, and it appears likely to remain mild as we approach spring. As we look forward to greener grass and warmer winds, we find that the arts in Crisfield are booming, with a number of artists in a variety of disciplines coming to share their work with the town. With this and a wealth of new developments in mind, let’s jump in and take a look at what’s going on:

New Clothing Shop Downtown:
A new shop called Witches’ Stitches, owned by Meredith Lehan, has opened downtown at 946 West Main Street. It offers curated collections of gently used clothing consisting of vintage and modern styles along with occasional pieces creatively reused as well as local art and crafts. The shop is open Friday and Saturday from 11:30 am to 4:30 pm and Sunday 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm. More hours will be added during the summer season. I hope you’ll give them a try!

Water’s Edge & Creamery Are Back!
Dan and Mary Nelson re-opened Water’s Edge Restaurant & Creamery at 1108 West Main Street near the City Dock to a packed house on Valentine’s Day. They have decorated the interior with a rustic charm that also captures the local culture, and they continue to offer homemade dishes of comfort foods and crab delights. The menu matches their slogan: “A taste of home”. Thursday night is “All-you-can-eat fried chicken,” and March 12th at 6:30 pm they are having their first Paint Night with a palette painting lesson by Dan. Contact them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/crisfieldwatersedgecafe/ or call 443-754-7122 to sign up. The spots are filling up fast, so act quickly. It’s good to have Dan and Mary back. They were missed.

New City Mural Coming This Summer:
If all goes according to plan, the brick wall at 347 West Main Street is going to be receiving a makeover by internationally-known artist Michael Rosato. There, Mr. Rosato will be painting a vibrant mural depicting our seafood workers and other illustrations that will reflect the culture of Crisfield. Specializing in large scale paintings, his work can literally be traced from sea to shining sea, from Virginia to Puerto Rico. Namely, however, is his renown work in Cambridge with his Harriet Tubman murals and the Chesapeake Country Mural Trail in Dorchester County. Expect to see him hard at work sprucing up the look of our town in the early summer. This project is sponsored by the Greater Crisfield Action Coalition, the Somerset County Arts Council, the Maryland State Arts Council, the Department of Housing and Community Development, and the Crisfield Arts & Entertainment District Project. Additional funding is being sought for the remaining funding needed.

Yard and “yART” Sale:
The Crisfield Arts & Entertainment District is hosting a yard sale on Saturday, April 4 from 7:30 am to 12 pm, but that’s not all we’re in for. A traditional city-wide yard sale will be combined with a yART sale. yART sale = Yard sale + art sale! Residents and businesses are encouraged to sell art supplies and original artwork along with their yard sale goods and can submit their location at CrisfieldArts.org so locals and tourists will know where to go. Updates with locations will be announced on the WBYC 107.3 Crisfield Community Radio station Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/WBYC1073/.
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Want all the benefit of decluttering with none of the work of hosting a sale? Support the Crisfield Community Radio Station, WBYC 107.3, by donating items. Donated items can be dropped off at the Somerset County Arts Council Gallery, 1100 W Main Street in Crisfield, Tuesdays through Fridays from 11 am to 2 pm.  Items will be sold to benefit the Crisfield Community Radio station on April 4 from 7:30 am to 11 am at their station, 4 N Seventh Street, Crisfield. This event in early spring is an opportunity to clean up, clean out, and beautify with art. It’s a win-win-win, and I hope you will participate in one way or another.

Model Car Races:
Following the Yard & yART sale on April 4th, Crisfield will be having its first Crisfield Art on Wheels model car race at The Crab Place at 504 Maryland Avenue from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm. This free event is sponsored by The Crab Place, the Crisfield Arts & Entertainment District Project, Captain’s Carry Out, and Sam’s Auto Center. Participants must register in advance. See https://www.crisfieldarts.org/events for more details and how to register. It’s going to be a lot of fun!
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Smith Island Baking Company Launches New Products:
The Smith Island Baking Company at 45 West Chesapeake Avenue in Crisfield is launching various new products in time for holiday fun. Earlier this month they offered a heart-shaped Red Velvet cake in time for Valentine’s Day. For St. Patrick’s Day, they are offering a new cake called Baileys Reduction Buttercream. Also, they recently introduced a new cake called Old Bay Buttercream as well as a line of Gluten Free cakes. Their new products come in three versions each: cakes, cake bites, and ice cream. For their whole product list, go to: https://smithislandcake.com/ I can’t wait to see what they come up with next!

Crisfield Nominated for Hgtv’s “Home Town Takeover”:
Crisfield has been nominated to be part of the new HGTV show “Home Town Takeover” where a group of renovators travel from town to town revitalizing old communities. The submission was a team effort from a Crisfield Facebook group. Adam Durham’s company, Modulation Studios, produced the video which was submitted. The video included drone work from William Johnson, and creative consultation from people in the Arts & Entertainment District. It can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/DkgA9rcAmEI

The group who did the submission did so because they believe that Crisfield comes from a rich heritage that spans across centuries, and they hope to receive word from HGTV that it has been chosen for the show very soon. Fingers crossed!

Strong Women of the Eastern Shore Art Exhibition:
In response to Governor Larry Hogan’s call for 2020 to be “The Year of the Woman” and “Women’s History Month”, the Somerset County Arts Council announced Strong Women of the Eastern Shore, an exhibition of five lower Eastern Shore artists. From March 9 – March 31, the West Main Street Gallery located at 1100 W. Main St. will present work by five extraordinary Eastern Shore artists:

1. Salisbury’s Petra Bernstein was born and raised in the German countryside, where she learned to appreciate nature at an early age. Her artwork ranges from close-up photographs and paintings of flora and fauna to abstract interpretations of nature’s mysteries. Living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, she incorporates the everchanging environment of the Wicomico River into her work.
2.  Katie Brown is a mixed-media artist living in Berlin. She studied studio art at the University of Mary Washington, and after graduation she interned at the Smithsonian Institution’s Office of Exhibits Central, assisting in the model shop. A native to the Eastern Shore, Katie returned in 2013 to begin working at the Art League of Ocean City, where she became Gallery Manager.
3. Megan Burak is a painter who uses painting as a form of storytelling. She says, “I strive to create a number of different narratives within a single frame. Life is complex and strange, and people have individual reactions to the things they go through.  My intention is to allow the viewer to use the events in their life as a way to connect with the stories of my paintings and, in turn, form a story for themselves.”
4. Angela Herbert-Hodges creates original watercolor paintings. She grew up in a small village in the rolling countryside of Cumbria. Having lived and worked in London, Paris, Spain, and Zimbabwe, she’s now taken root on the Eastern Shore as a Contemporary Watercolorist. She uses papers, Gouache and pencil to create vibrant paintings of landscapes, people, and African wildlife.
5. Last, but not least, there is Erica Matthews, a photographer and active advocate for art education on the Lower Eastern Shore. She lives in Salisbury and manages her photo studio, Dream Images, where she captures the beauty and mystique in her subjects with a use of color and light that transcends description. She received her B.A. in Applied Design/Commercial Photography from the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in 2013.

What are you doing between March 9 and March 31? Why not plan to visit the Somerset County Arts Council Gallery, see the work of these Strong Women of the Eastern Shore, and be inspired? An opening reception with light refreshments will take place on Friday, March 13th from 5:00 – 7:00 pm. Come out and meet the artists!

New Crisfield Business Directory:
The City of Crisfield is aiming to boost the online presence of its businesses via targeted advertising from April to June. Additionally, they’ll be creating a business directory website of all local Crisfield businesses through a grant provided by the USDA. Local business owner Linda Singh has been selected to develop the directory and marketing plan for the City. She will create press releases for broadcast, print, online media outlets and unique travel/event websites within a three to five-hour radius of Crisfield. This will be a real boost to local businesses because it will attract tourists to Crisfield and help them find businesses once they arrive. Kudos to the City for this initiative.

Other upcoming events in March:

March 19 Open Mic at the Corbin
6 pm.  Corbin Studio and Gallery, 4 East Main Street, Crisfield.  All types of performances are welcomed, including written word, music, and rap.  For more information, please visit crisfieldarts.org.

March 21 World Poetry Day Celebration
2 – 4 pm.  Corbin Studio and Gallery, 3 East Main Street, Crisfield.  Volunteer haiku-rock-painting-party and bench dedication led by Babs McGrory of Vowel Mouth Poetry & Pi-ku Poetry.  For more information, please visit CrisfieldArts.org.

March 23 and March 30 American Cruise Lines’ American Constitution in port at Crisfield
So, once again, we have things moving in a positive direction in Crisfield. It all adds up. If you combine what’s in this newsletter with what was in the previous one, you’ll see 40-50 new projects in the works. We’re still in the middle of winter, but it’s exciting to me to see that things are continuing to mount up as we advance toward our summer season. I truly believe by the time we get into the season you will see the impact of significant progress here. Keep the faith…

Great things are happening in Crisfield!

Best regards to all,
Charlotte

Charlotte Scott, President
Greater Crisfield Action Coalition, Inc.
PO Box 144
Crisfield, MD 21817
www.greatercrisfieldmd.org
410-251-1669

*The Greater Crisfield Action Coalition, Inc. (GCAC) is a 501(c)3 not for profit economic development corporation run by an all-volunteer, non-paid Board of Directors

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”  — Margaret Mead, anthropologist