Mark Leary, Korey Martin and Dana Costa install custom doors and panels made by GNB Voc-Tech carpentry students for “Scrimshaw: Shipboard Art of the Whalers” opening May 13, 2pm.

Building the many and varied display cases needed for the world’s largest scrimshaw exhibit would have been a daunting task were it not for the students of Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School. Voc-Tech’s carpentry classes fabricated more than 29 custom doors and viewing panels for the new gallery, set to open to the public on Mothers Day, Sunday, May 13 at 2:00 p.m.

James Russell, museum president, lauded the students’ work, noting “How great is it that much of what we admire in the museum’s collection was made by master craftsmen! Today, skilled students from Voc-Tech are back at the museum, helping to build exhibits that house these masterpieces – to be enjoyed by New Bedford residents and visitors for years to come.”

The museum’s staff, designers and carpenters worked with GNB Voc-Tech’s coordinator of construction projects, Robert Gomes, and carpentry teacher, Donald Derosiers, on the exacting specifications for the elaborate cabinetry required to exhibit hundreds of rare examples of scrimshaw – the 19th century shipboard art of whalers. Students utilized the school’s state-of-the-art CNC (computer numerical control) milling machinery to create the seamless doorframes and panels.

Master carpenter, Dana Costa, rebuilt and refitted existing museum cases and installed the Voc-Tech components with the assistance of Mark Leary and Korey Martin.

The exhibit opening caps the museum’s 23rd annual Scrimshaw Weekend, May 11-13, which attracts scrimshaw experts, collectors and fans from around the world. Titled Scrimshaw: Shipboard Art of the Whalers, the exhibit is curated Dr. Stuart M. Frank, Senior Curator, with the assistance of museum volunteers John Antones, Richard Donnelly, Michael Gerstein, Vasant Gideon, Judith Lund, Barbara Moss, Sanford Moss, Catherine Reynolds and James Vaccarino.

The largest permanent exhibit of its kind, Scrimshaw: Shipboard Art of the Whalers coincides with the launch of a major new book on scrimshaw, titled Ingenious Contrivances, Curiously Carved: Scrimshaw in the New Bedford Whaling Museum by Dr. Frank – a 400-page reference with more than 700 photographs by Richard Donnelly.

Admission to the Sunday opening of the scrimshaw exhibit and book launch: regular admission rates apply. In honor of Mother’s Day, mothers are admitted free when accompanied by at least one member of her family.

Kirk J. Nelson

Kirk J. Nelson will present an illustrated lecture titled New Bedford Glass and Its Context on Thursday, April 26 at 7:30 p.m. – part of the 2012 Old Dartmouth Lyceum lecture series on fine and decorative arts. A reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Jacobs Family Gallery precedes the lecture.

Mr. Nelson is executive director of the New Bedford Museum of Glass, located at 61 Wamsutta Street. He earned his MA degree and Certificate of Museum Studies from the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture at the Winterthur Museum and the University of Delaware. An expert on the development of the American glass press during the 1820s and 1830s, Mr. Nelson is an Honorary Fellow of the Corning Museum of Glass, former Curator of Glass at the Sandwich Glass Museum and former Curator of Art & Decorative Arts at the Bennington Museum. He has lectured and published extensively on a wide variety of glass-related subjects. His practical glass working experience includes Pairpoint Crystal, Inc. of Sagamore, Massachusetts, and the operation of a glass studio in East Sandwich.

In 1993, Mr. Nelson was one of five founding trustees to establish the Glass Art Center, Inc., which was affiliated with Bradford College in Bradford, Massachusetts. After the closing of the college the Center relocated to New Bedford and reincorporated in 2006 as the New Bedford Museum of Glass.

The museum collection consists of 7,000 objects documenting more than 3,000 years of glassmaking history. It covers many regions and periods, from ancient to contemporary, with special emphasis on the city of New Bedford, celebrated in the late 19th century as the “Art Glass Headquarters of the Country.” Rose Amber glass, Crown Milano, Royal Flemish, Burmese and Lava glass are just a few of the exotic lines developed in New Bedford.

The museum’s library holds more than 8,000 volumes in ten languages on glass related topics, including the Shirley Collection of the Mount Washington Glass Company – containing the firm’s original glass patents, trade catalogs, correspondence, photographs, and international awards.

Admission to the lecture and reception: $15 members; $20 non-members. For tickets, call (508) 997-0046 Ext. 100.

The 2012 Speakers’ Series is presented by BayCoast Bank, and sponsored in part by C.E. Beckman, and Hampton Inn Fairhaven/New Bedford.

"The Whale Beached between Scheveningen and Katwijk, with Elegant Sightseers," by Esaias van den Velde, c.1617, is one of several Dutch Old Master whaling paintings in “Seven Continents, Seven Seas” opening February 9 and will be the subject of a free lecture by Dr. Stuart Frank at 7:30 p.m.

Admission to the opening, lecture and reception is free.

“This year marks the tenth anniversary of the gift of the entire holdings of the former Kendall Whaling Museum to the permanent collection of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. This provides a fitting occasion for showing highlights, reflecting the broad international and chronological compass of our combined collections,” said Dr. Frank.

Dutch Old Master whaling paintings will be represented, along with major British marine paintings of the 18th and 19th centuries by Continental European and American painters. The exhibit also includes visions of Africa, Australia, and Antarctica, representing all seven continents and all seven seas in the selected paintings, watercolors, ship models, Japanese scrolls and sculptural works.

Admission to all museum galleries on AHA! night is buy one, get one free (of equal or lesser value).

Zoologia Danica Pattedyr XVI by Lovendal. From NBWM Kendall Collection.

For those of you with an interest in whale vocalizations and a keen ear, you might be interested in this opportunity to aid in whale research.  ” The collective wisdom of the crowd is being called upon to help scientists decipher the language of pilot and killer whales in a project that could help us operate our machines in harmony with the ocean giants.”

After reading about unusual strandings and deaths of Cuvier’s Beaked Whales in the waters off of Italy over the last 36 hours, presumably in the same areas as sonar testing, this type of research and new knowledge is critically important. Let us know if you do choose to participate. Call Bob Rocha at extension 149.

Entanglement in gillnets, traps, weirs, purse seines, longlines and trawls are having a negative impact on 62 of the 72 species of toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises in our global ocean.  Unfortunately, if they steer clear of the nets and lines, they have to contend with water-borne pollution (including heavy metals, PCBs, DDT) and noise pollution.

We may have stopped deliberately hunting whales, but we haven’t stopped killing them.

So, for those of you who wanted to know what happens when a whale washes ashore, you have an answer provided by an expert.

In its announcement, AAM stated that reaccreditation is awarded only after a comprehensive yearlong examination and peer review of all aspects of the Whaling Museum’s mission, operations and programming. “Accreditation is emblematic of many things, the highest standards in museum operations, outstanding public programs, and long-term sustainability among them,” said Ford W. Bell, AAM president. “Accreditation is clearly a significant achievement. But put simply, it means the citizens of the communities served by these museums have in their midst one of America’s finest museums.”

In her letter to museum president, James Russell, Dr. Bonnie W. Styles, Chair of the AAM Accreditation Commission, wrote “We found the museum to be a highly performing organization that has a solid strategic plan, excellent community engagement and is dealing strategically and realistically with budget hardships. We particularly liked the three-tier intern apprenticeship program. The museum is also a good example of merging history and science together in exhibits and programming.”

Mr. Russell noted the importance of reaccreditation. “We are extremely proud of this achievement. It validates years of hard work on the part of our dedicated trustees, volunteers and staff – evaluated against the strictest professional and national standards. This honor elevates all of New Bedford and the South Coast region, and it reenergizes us in the continued building of a greater, stronger Whaling Museum,” he said.

AAM Accreditation recognizes the highest standards in individual museums and ensures that museums continue to uphold their public trust. Developed and sustained by museum professionals for 40 years, the AAM museum accreditation program is the field’s primary vehicle for quality assurance, self-regulation and public accountability.

Former Whaling Museum Trustee, Dr. Michael Moore of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), will represent the South Georgia Heritage Trust (SGHT) on an expedition cruise to Antarctica, South Georgia and the Falkland Islands, departing Ushuaia, Argentina on November 20, 2011, returning on December 8.

Made possible by SGHT’s collaboration with One Ocean Expeditions – well known for its high quality, safe and responsible Polar Expeditions – their ice-strengthened ship will take only 100 passengers. For this voyage only, One Ocean will make a generous donation to the SGHT Habitat Restoration Project, of which Dr. Moore has been part for many years.

To book, or with any other enquiry, call Denise at (970) 704-9178, or email alison.neil@sght.org. For more information see the One Ocean Expedition cruise flyer and details on the arctic exploration vessel, Akademic Ioffe.

"Whale" by William Daniell, 1807. From Whaling Museum Kendall Collection

Stranded Whales: Commodity and Conservation, May 18

(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Man and Whales: Changing Views Through Time, a free public lecture series at the New Bedford Whaling Museum, concludes on Wednesday, May 18 at 7:30 p.m. in the Cook Memorial Theater with a lecture titled “Stranded Whales: Commodity and Conservation.” A reception at 6:30 p.m. in the Jacobs Family Gallery precedes the lecture. Admission is free.

Before the Marine Mammal Protection Act was created, a stranded whale was destined to become food, oil and a host of other products.  Now, these animals are considered a source of information for whale/human interactions.

Michael P. Dyer, Maritime Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum, will take us back in history to when littoral peoples (seaside dwellers) scanned the shorelines in hopes of finding a stranded whale or dolphin.  This discussion will then shift forward to when stranded animals offered the rudiments of scientific understanding and ultimately the impetus toward actual whale hunting for commercial products and profit.

Katie Touhey Moore, Marine Mammal Rescue and Program Research Manager, International Fund for Animal Welfare, has been actively involved in rescue and rehabilitation of stranded cetaceans, as well as investigating and documenting the reasons for the deaths of these animals.  Katie will guide us through the process of assessment and attempted rescue and release. She will also elaborate on the knowledge gained from the necropsies.

As a finale to the Man & Whales lectures, the Whaling Museum is offering a unique opportunity to meet whales on Saturday, May 21. A special whale watch trip is available in partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, departing from the Whaling Museum at 8:00 a.m. to Capt. John Boats, 10 Town Wharf, Plymouth Harbor. Tickets are $75 per person, payable in advance, and include roundtrip transportation. Reservations are required and seating is limited. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Whaling Museum and WDCS. Please call Museum Admissions, 508-997-0046 ext.100, to RSVP for the free lectures and/or sign up for the whale watch.

This series is sponsored by ECHO (Education through Cultural and Historical Organizations) a program administered by the U.S. Dept. of Education. Offered in partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society.