(NEW BEDFORD, MA) – Robert K. Wallace will present “Discovering Whales, Petroglyphs, and Moby-Dick on the Olympic Peninsula in June 2008” on Friday, July 30 at 5:00 p.m. in the museum theater.

Free and open to the public, this illustrated talk will highlight some of the discoveries Robert Wallace made on the Makah Indian Reservation of the Olympic Peninsula during a two-week trip with landscape painter Kevin Muente.  Wallace will emphasize his encounters with gray whales, a humpback whale, and ancient Ozette petroglyphs in a sequence of events that brought Melville’s Moby-Dick to life before his very eyes.

Robert K. Wallace is a founder of the Melville Society Cultural Project at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.  He is author of Melville and Turner, Frank Stella’s Moby-Dick, and Douglass and Melville. He has taught Literature and the Arts at Northern Kentucky University since 1972.

For more information, contact:

Arthur Motta
Director, Marketing & Communications
(508) 997-0046, ext. 153
amotta@whalingmuseum.org

Join us for a fun-filled day celebrating Herman Melville’s birthday! Have fun with our exciting science activities and art projects, along with a reading of a children’s version of Moby Dick and live music. The winners of the Melville Art Contest will be announced and we will end the day with some birthday cake!  Activities for the birthday celebration are FREE and open to the public!

Date: Saturday, July 31, 2010

Time: 10:00am – 2:00pm

Location: New Bedford Whaling Museum

For more information, please contact Jenn Cruz at jcruz@whalingmuseum.org or (508) 997-0046 x117.

His new book, The Whale – In Search of the Giants of the Sea, won the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction. In a richly illustrated talk, Hoare will plumb the depths of the whale’s domain to reveal it as never before, trace its cultural history from Jonah to Free Willy, and show images from his ten years experience of whales, from Cape Cod to the Azores and New Zealand.

A widely followed commentator on the politics and proceedings of the International Whaling Commission, Hoare recently noted, “We stand at a crossroads for cetaceans. We see the fragile existence of these animals as a barometer of ecological threat. As symbols of an endangered world, they evoke, and provoke, anthropomorphism on a scale equal to their size and supposed intelligence.”

Philip Hoare is the author of several books, including Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant; Noel Coward; Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand; Spike Island; and England’s Lost Eden. He lives in Southampton, England, and frequently visits Cape Cod as a member of the Provincetown Center for Coastal Studies as a volunteer on its humpback whale identification program. He also written and narrated a BBC film documentary, The Hunt For Moby-Dick, which brought him to New Bedford five years ago.

The Whale has garnered praise on both sides of the Atlantic. Publishers Weekly said of the book, “With Melville as his mentor and Ishmael as his muse, the author haunts one-time whaling town New Bedford, Mass., America’s richest city in the mid–19th century thanks to whale oil and baleen… This tour de force is a sensuous biography of the great mammals that range on and under Earth’s oceans.”

For the New York Times Book Review, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote, “Genius… The Whale (is) a rhapsodic meditation on all things cetacean. Hoare is always on the lookout for the revealing detail. He also has a finely tuned sense of perspective and pacing.”

The Washington Post noted that Hoare’s work “is rigorous, something every serious student of whales — and, more widely conceived, of the natural world — will want to have at hand.” National Public Radio said, “You don’t have to love Moby-Dick to love this book. But if you do, The Whale is probably one of the most sublime reading experiences you’ll have this year.”

The lecture is free to the public. The book is available for sale in the Museum store.

This video posted to Youtube on May 14th by SouthCoastToday.com.

Music by the Marcus Monteiro Quartet

Catering by The Celtic Coffee House

Scrimshaw experts, collectors and fans will come together May 14–16 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum for the 21st annual Scrimshaw Weekend, a three-day international event that has something for everyone, from the curious-minded to the serious collector.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the scrimshaw capital of the world, and the annual Scrimshaw Weekend is the world’s only forum dedicated to the indigenous shipboard art of whalemen. Founded in 1989, this event attracts enthusiasts from four continents, all gathering to share the enjoyment of collecting and researching this beautiful artwork.

New this year is a Scrimshaw & Marine Antiques Show, which will include a Swap Meet & Sale with multiple dealers’ booths showing scrimshaw, marine antiques, books and more on Friday, May 14, from noon until 5 pm.

 Society invite you to join Mayor Scott W. Lang, elected officials and James P. Russell, Museum President, in announcing details of the New Bedford Whaling Museum’s largest expansion of exhibit space in a decade: within the Old Dartmouth’s original museum space.

When: Tomorrow, April 24th at 11:30 AM
Where: Jacobs Family Gallery

This brief press briefing will cover:
- Restoration work to the Museum’s Water Street side
- Work completion dates and Grand Opening event information
- Plans to open a Water Street entrance/exit during the summer
- First site tour of the new exhibit space work in progress

The elaborately carved pediment above the Water Street entrance of the original museum features a cartouche with a version of the city seal and motto, Lucem Diffundo (I Diffuse Light). The old museum space, long used for storage, will come alive again this summer.

The New Bedford Whaling Museum is the scrimshaw capital of the world, and the annual Scrimshaw Weekend is the world’s only forum dedicated to the indigenous shipboard art of whalemen. Founded in 1989, this event attracts enthusiasts from four continents, all gathering to share the enjoyment of collecting and researching this beautiful artwork.

New this year is a Scrimshaw & Marine Antiques Show, which will include a Swap Meet & Sale with multiple dealers’ booths showing scrimshaw, marine antiques, books and more on Friday, May 14, from noon until 5:00 pm.

The Friday evening lecture, “Scrimshaw…Through the Collectors’ Eyes,” will be presented at 8:00 pm by Nina Hellman, marine antiques dealer and author of “A Mariner’s Fancy, The Whaleman’s Art of Scrimshaw.”

On Saturday, May 15, a full schedule of events and activities will include two informative three-hour sessions. The morning session includes talks on “Distinguishing Characteristics of Scrimshaw by the Ceres Artisans,” “The Life and Adventures of the Ceres Scrimshander,” “The Four Ceres Artists Identified,” and “More about the Ceres Artists.” Respectively, speakers include Stuart M. Frank, Ph.D. (New Bedford Whaling Museum), Kenneth R. Martin, Ph.D. (former Director, Kendall Whaling Museum), Donald E. Ridley, P.E. (Volunteer Assistant Curator Emeritus, Kendall Whaling Museum and New Bedford Whaling Museum), and Judith N. Lund (Advisory Curator, New Bedford Whaling Museum).

whale ivory pie crimper

The afternoon session will include a talk by the dean of scrimshaw collectors, Judge Paul E. Vardeman, titled “Recollections of an old time collector and the recent discovery of new artists.” Other presentations include “The Sam McDowell Scrimshaw Collection,” “Recent Adventures and Discoveries at the Forensics Lab,” and a Collectors Market Report. Speakers include Dr. Frank, Richard Donnelly, and Andrew Jacobson. Mr. Donnelly is a long-time volunteer at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and a collaborator on a forthcoming catalogue of the museum’s scrimshaw collection.

A gala banquet on Saturday evening will conclude with two entertaining and informative programs, “Mystery Man of the Fake Susan’s Teeth” (about art fraud) and “Rugs and Floor Coverings on Scrimshaw,” and an ad hoc “Collectors’ Show-and-Tell.”

On Sunday, May 15, an optional fieldtrip will visit important private scrimshaw collections in Newbury and Lincoln, MA. The bus will leave from Fairhaven at 8:00 am, and from New Bedford at 8:15 am, returning by 6:00 pm. The price is $125 and lunch is included.

The fee for Scrimshaw Weekend, including admission to the museum and the Scrimshaw & Marine Antiques Show, scheduled meals, and all plenary sessions is $315 (Museum members $275) prior to May 1st. After May 1st the fee is $370 (Museum members $330). Saturday banquet and evening program is $65.

For the full schedule of events and program updates, please visit the museum website at www.whalingmuseum.org. For logistical information or to register, please contact visitor services at (508) 997-0046, ext 100 or email: frontdesk@whalingmuseum.org

Scrimshaw Weekend is supported in part by Northeast Auctions of Portsmouth, NH, and the Maine Antique Digest, which have generously helped to make this event possible.

“The Man and Whales Lecture Series” continues April 14, at 7:30 pm

Ken Hartnett photo by Ken Smith

Thursday, April 8 at 8:00 p.m. in Museum Theater

This final lecture in the series examines the activities of 19th Century Irish rebel and writer John Boyle O’Reilly. In 1869, O’Reilly escaped imprisonment in Australia with the help of the New Bedford whaler “Gazelle.” Later, from his new home in Boston, he helped organize the daring Catalpa expedition to liberate jailed Fenian comrades from their British captors. The story of the twin rescues makes O’Reilly a memorable figure, one who will be forever remembered for his immense courage and solid principles.
Ken Hartnett is an experienced news correspondent and author of the novel “A Saving Grace.” He was the editor of the New Bedford Standard-Times and Boston Magazine and was a news executive for WCVB and WGBH television in Boston. The Friendly Sons of St. Patrick is partnering with the Whaling Museum to present this lecture series.

To RSVP, call Pam Lowe, Visitor Services 508-997-0046, ext. 100.

Admission is free.