Art

“Franklin Einspruch: Tangibilia" at There, New York, June 2024. (Photo by Franklin Einspruch)

Franklin Einspruch Distilling Everyday Life

“I come out of a dual background in illustration and abstract painting and have long sought ways to make figurative…

Jon Sarkin in his Fish City Studios, 39 Main St., Gloucester, Oct. 28, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Goodbye To Visionary Artist Jon Sarkin

The visionary artist Jon Sarkin died in his storefront Fish City Studios at 39 Main St. in Gloucester on Friday…

Steve Locke's exhibition "Family Pictures" at Gallery Kayafas, October to November 2016. (Courtesy Gallery Kayafas)

Boston’s Gallery Kayafas To Close After 21 Years

This week was a week of lasts at Gallery Kayafas in Boston. “Sitting here stuffing envelopes for the LAST exhibits,”…

Duke Riley, "Proud Winner of the Guinness Book of World Records Largest Sailors Valentine in the World," 2024, found plastic trash, mahogany frame. (Courtesy Praise Shadows Art Gallery)

Duke Riley Turns Dazzling 19th Century Maritime Crafts Into Fossil Fuel Warnings For Today

“Proud Winner of the Guinness Book of World Records Largest Sailors Valentine in the World,” an 8-foot-tall pattern of radiating…

Mermaid Promenade at Cambridge Arts River Festival, June 15, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: Mermaid Promenade at Cambridge Arts River Festival

The Mermaid Promenade kicked off the Cambridge Arts River Festival along the Charles River this morning. The parade, which I…

Ife Franklin's Ancestor Procession at Boston's Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in 2022. (Courtesy Ife Franklin)

Honoring The Enslaved And Healing At Ifé Franklin’s ‘Ancestor Processions’

“We’re there to lift up the spirits and the vibrations of the thousands of free and enslaved Africans and African-Americans…

Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Midcentury Gay Haven In Gloucester Revealed In Long Lost Ellsworth Kelly Drawing

Late last year, archivists made a dramatic discovery when paging through an old guest book at the Hammond Castle Museum…

Comics: Escape

William Schaff exhibition at The Collaborative Lab, Warren, Rhode Island, 2024.

William Schaff’s Visions Of Our Sordid Society Beset By Calamity

In some spiritual traditions the “Axis Mundi,” or axis of the world, is a place where heaven and earth come…

Howard Finster. Included in the exhibition "Behind the Brain of a Genius: Finster's Cut-Outs, Dimensions and Molds from the Paradise Garden Archive."

To Spread God’s Word, Howard Finster Created 46,991 Artworks. New Exhibit Reveals Method To His Productivity.

As the story goes, in 1976, when Howard Finster was 60, the Baptist preacher was painting a bicycle when he…

Thomas Saltsman's Halloween forest troll on Pleasant Street, Marblehead, Oct. 31, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Giant Troll Takes Over Thomas Saltsman’s Marblehead Driveway

Architect Thomas Saltsman, of the Boston firm SaltsmanBrenzel, has become a sensation for the giant installations that have taken over…

Vollis Simpson Whirligig Park & Museum, Wilson, North Carolina, June 19, 2019. (Greg Cook)

Wonderlands: Visionary And Folk Art Sites Across The U.S.

For several years now, I’ve been making pilgrimages to visionary sites across the United States. Below are a selection of…

Ted Degener (American, b. 1948). Tyree Guyton on the steps of one of the homes included in The Heidelberg Project in Detroit, Michigan, 1997. Archival pigment print. Photo courtesy Ted Degener

Ted Degener Has Spent 50 Years Photographing Creators Of Visionary Art Environments

For more than five decades, Ted Degener—who lives near Cornish, New Hampshire—has driven across the United States photographing more than…

Martin Prekop's Mirror House, Pittsburgh. (Sotheby's International Realty)

Martin Prekop’s Mirror House Is For Sale

The problem was the view. “If you looked out the bathroom window, you looked onto a brick wall,” the artist…

Old Sturbridge Village, Oct. 30, 2022. (© Greg Cook photo)

At Old Sturbridge Village, 1830s America Comes Alive With Chickens, Sheep, Cows, Pigs

Part of the fun of an old timey living-history museum like Old Sturbridge Village is the feeling that you’ve stepped…

Ruby Grove performed on Highland Avenue during the 2024 Somerville Porchfest, May 11, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: 2024 Somerville Porchfest

Somerville Porchfest is part hootenanny, part a giant open studios for bands. Inspired by an event in Ithaca, New York,…

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“To Be Continued: Photographs by Charles Daniels” at Nave Gallery, Somerville, May 2024. (Greg Cook photo)

Boston Rock History And Vintage Views Of Local Streets In Charles Daniels’s Photos

Charles Daniels always had one or more cameras with him—when he was strolling local streets; when he was emcee at…

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Billy Ruane at Bunratty's, 1988. (Mark Morelli photo)

‘Road To Ruane’ Remembers Legendary Boston Rock Impresario And Wild Man

“Billy Ruane walked into the room and he said, ‘I need an extra room for my birthday party. I think…

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Grant Houston of A Far Cry at Reuning & Son Violins, Brookline, March 25, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

If You Could Play One Of the World’s Best Violins Which One Would You Choose?

On Monday afternoon, musicians from the Boston chamber orchestra A Far Cry were picking out violins to borrow for the…

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From “The Last Repair Shop." (Courtesy of Breakwater Studios)

Oscar-Winning Documentary ‘Last Repair Shop’: Repairing Instruments To Make People Whole Again

“The Last Repair Shop” is an astonishing, tender, heartbreaking, inspiring look behind the scenes at the expertise and love that…

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Willie Alexander performs at his 80th Birthday Bash at The Cut in Gloucester, Jan. 13, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Willie Alexander, Godfather Of Boston Punk, Celebrates His 81st Birthday

I was lucky to spend last night celebrating the 81st birthday of my friend Willie Alexander—with a capacity crowd of…

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Hammond Castle Museum, Gloucester, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Midcentury Gay Haven In Gloucester Revealed In Long Lost Ellsworth Kelly Drawing

Late last year, archivists made a dramatic discovery when paging through an old guest book at the Hammond Castle Museum…

"Boston Comics in Color Festival" at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center in Roxbury, April 20, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

‘Comics in Color Festival’ Showcases Artists Of Color

The “Boston Comics in Color Festival” showcased comics creators of color with a hall full of comics for sale, talks…

Seymour Chwast, Illustration for The 12 Circus Rings. (Seymour Chwast Collection, Washington University Libraries, Department of Special Collections. © 1993 Seymour Chwast.)

The Children’s Books Of Celebrated Designer Seymour Chwast

In 1954, Seymour Chwast, along with a handful of friends he’d made while studying art and design at Cooper Union,…

Gary Gregory of the Printing Office of Edes & Gill, in the 1715 Clough House o the campus of Boston's Old North Church, Aug. 13, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

At Boston’s Old North Church, Reprinting The Dangerous Ideas That Sparked A Revolution

Though the first printing press was imported from Europe into the Americas around 1554, to Mexico City, and Harvard got…

"Small Mercies" by Dennis Lehane, 2023. (Harper Collins)

Amidst ‘70s Boston Desegregation Protests, A Mom Investigates Her Daughter’s Disappearance, In Dennis Lehane’s New Novel

Recommended The folks in Southie might not have money, but at least they take care of their own. That’s the…

From the exhibition "What Might You Do? Christian Robinson" at the Eric Carle Museum, Amherst, 2023.

Christian Robinson’s Books Share The Message Art Gave Him: You Matter

“It’s important for me to tell stories that reflect the diverse world that we live in,” picture book illustrator and…

The wreck of the Ada K. Damon at Steep Hill Beach at The Trustees' Crane Estate, Ipswich, March 16, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Century-Old Shipwreck Emerges From Sand At Ipswich’s Crane Beach

In February, pieces of a century-old shipwreck began emerging from the sand at the northwest end of Ipswich’s Crane Beach—a…

Looking and listening for bats at Cambridge's Mount Auburn Cemetery, Sept. 20, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Listening For Bats At Mount Auburn Cemetery

The group of nine of us began looking and listening for bats at Cambridge’s Mount Auburn Cemetery as night fell…

Herring Run at Horn Pond dam, Woburn. (©Greg Cook photo)

Herring Run At Horn Pond

Herring run at Horn Pond, Woburn, Massachusetts. In 2018, new fish ladders and spillways allowed herring to bypass dams on…

Dogwood blooming at Garden In The Woods, Framingham, April 30, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Spring At Garden In The Woods

Garden in the Woods is a 45-acre botanic garden operated by the Native Plant Trust in Framingham, Massachusetts. With more…

Swifty Swine Racing Pigs at the Topsfield Fair, Oct. 4, 2022. (©Greg Cook photo)

Pig Racing, Giant Pumpkins And Oxen At The Topsfield Fair

The annual Topsfield Fair in Topsfield, Massachusetts, from Sept. 30 to Oct. 10, 2022, offers giant pumpkins, racing pigs, an…

Bike To The Sea annual ride, June 5, 2022. (© Greg Cook)

Bike To The Sea | Rail-Trail From Everett To Lynn

Join us for Bike To The Sea’s 2022 ride along the Northern Strand Community Trail, from Everett’s Madeline English School…

Bread and Puppet Theater performs “The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus” on Cambridge Common, Sept. 8, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: Bread and Puppet Theater’s ‘Beginning After The End Of Humanity Circus’

Our friends Bread and Puppet Theater performed its “The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus” on Cambridge Common on…

Bread and Puppet Theater's "The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus" performed at Glover, Vermont, July 28, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Bread And Puppet’s ‘The Beginning After The End Of Humanity Circus’

Bread and Puppet Theater’s “The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus” is a satirical spectacle of papier-mâché beasts and…

"The Heron’s Flight" by Double Edge Theatre in Ashfield, Massachusetts, July 22, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

In Double Edge’s ‘Heron’s Flight,’ A Bird Sheds Its Wings On A Transformative Quest For Wisdom

“Herons are believed to be symbols of good luck and transformation,” Travis Coe, who co-directed “The Heron’s Flight” with Jennifer…

Ife Franklin's Ancestor Procession at Boston's Copp’s Hill Burying Ground in 2022. (Courtesy Ife Franklin)

Honoring The Enslaved And Healing At Ifé Franklin’s ‘Ancestor Processions’

“We’re there to lift up the spirits and the vibrations of the thousands of free and enslaved Africans and African-Americans…

“Book of Mountains and Seas." (Teddy Wolff photo)

‘Book Of Mountains And Seas’ Reenvisions Chinese Creation Myths Via Puppetry

“Shanhai jing”—which gives the title to the choral singing and puppetry performance “Book of Mountains and Seas” at ArtEmerson’s Emerson…

Bread and Puppet Theater's “The Hope Principle Show: Citizens’ Shame and Hope in the Time of Genocide" at Somerville’s Center for the Arts at the Armory, April 18, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Bread And Puppet Theater’s Indictment Of War On Gaza: ‘Hope Principle Show’

“And if our yelling does not reach their uninterested ears? Will we invent new yells that are harder to neglect?”…

Cambridge Carnival parade to Central Square, Sept. 8, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: Cambridge Carnival Parade

The 30th anniversary Cambridge Carnival included a parade of masqueraders costumed in feathers, plumes, bright-colored silks, and satin with jeweled…

Greasy Pole competition during St. Peter’s Fiesta, Gloucester. Friday, June 28, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester

The thrilling, bonkers Greasy Pole Contest increasingly brings attention to St. Peter’s Fiesta in Gloucester, the city’s annual kickoff off…

Mermaid Promenade at Cambridge Arts River Festival, June 15, 2024. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: Mermaid Promenade at Cambridge Arts River Festival

The Mermaid Promenade kicked off the Cambridge Arts River Festival along the Charles River this morning. The parade, which I…

Forward! Marching Band from Madison, Wisconsin, in the Honk Parade, Oct. 8, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Photos: Honk Parade From Somerville To Cambridge

Honk, the annual festival of activist street bands, arrived in Somerville and Cambridge this weekend. Begun here in 2006, the…

Agua, Sol y Sereno performs with youth from Hyde Square Task Force at Boston's Mozart Park, Sept. 15, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Puerto Rico’s Agua, Sol y Sereno Performs With Boston’s Hyde Square Task Force

The theater troupe Agua, Sol y Sereno from Puerto Rico performed and paraded with youth from Boston’s Hyde Square Task…

Procession during the annual Feast of the Madonna Della Cava in Boston's North End, Aug. 13, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

Feast Of The Madonna Della Cava In Boston’s North End

The Society of the Madonna Della Cava held their 103 anniversary Feast in Boston’s North End on Aug. 11 to…

"The Embrace" by Hank Willis Thomas, with assistance from Mass Design Group, on Boston Common, Jan. 19, 2023. (©Greg Cook photo)

MLK Memorial ‘The Embrace’ Unveiled At Boston Common

“This work is really about the capacity for each of us to be enveloped in love, and I feel enveloped…

Fermin Castro's sculpture "We Are Still Listening," 2022, at Symphony Park, Somerville. (©Greg Cook photo)

Deceased Beech Tree Turned Into Statue In Somerville Park

When a massive, old European beech tree at Somerville’s Symphony Park declined into disease, the city’s Parks and Open Space…

Rob “ProBlak” Gibbs at work on his "Breathe Life Together" mural at Dewey Square on Boston's Greenway, June 14, 2022. (©Greg Cook photo)

Rob ‘ProBlak’ Gibbs’ ‘Breathe Life Together” Mural On Boston’s Greenway

“My vision is to add to Boston’s skyline in a way that elevates the voices and work of those who’ve…

Moss installation by Heidi Schork and Jerome Jones at Boston's Jamaica Pond to celebrate Frederick Law Olmsted's 200th birthday on April 26, 2022. (Courtesy Heidi Schork)

Olmsted’s 200th Birthday Remembered With Moss Installation At Jamaica Pond

“Gradually and silently the charm comes over us; we know not exactly where or how” reads a moss installation by…

Christmas lights at 403 Lynn Fells Parkway, Saugus. 2021. (©Greg Cook photo)

Best Christmas Decorations Around Greater Boston

Below is Wonderland’s guide to dazzling holiday decorations around greater Boston, from Attleboro to Somerville (listed by community, in alphabetical…

Halloween display at 4 Lake St., Saugus, October 2021. (©Greg Cook photo)

Halloween Displays Around Greater Boston

Some highlights of Halloween displays around Greater Boston for 2021 (listed by community, in alphabetical order). If this is the…