Rockport, MA - June 24

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I primarily came to Rockport to attend a concert in the Rockport Chamber Music Festival, but I discovered that there's a lot more to Rockport than the Shalin Performance Center. Rockport is a small seaside town which used to subsist on granite quarries but is now home to 30+ art galleries! 

On the short walk from the train station to the downtown area, we passed a handful of suburban homes with very colorful gardens. There was one house with all sorts of pink and purple flowers. Shortly after, we happened upon our first gallery. Little did we know that there would be many more. The initial density of a few galleries per block turned into streets of consecutive art galleries. All in this quiet seaside town!

The fresh sea air is probably attractive to wealthy people in the area, supplying the clientele for the art galleries. Though I noticed that there was a mix of people visiting, including a decent portion of middle/working class Latin Americans.

Look at the calm blue waters!

During our gallery visits, I discovered some new favorite artists! Check them out:

  • Lana Gordon - It's very cool how a bunch of colorful circles can evoke emotions, images or memories. See the example below! It was also cool to talk to Lana herself and hear how she found inspiration for her work "Party Chatter."
"Summer Beach Garden" - photos don't do justice to the details but does it still evoke certain emotions or memories in you? There's also a place in the gallery where you get to touch how these layers of paint feel!
  • Judy Robinson-Cox - What first caught my attention was a women frozen in ice. How absurd, I thought, and wondered how that photo was staged. Then I realized that the subject was actually a little figurine. Other photos appeared ordinary at first, until you realize that the people are actually skating on an onion, not ice! Made me see ordinary objects in a new way! http://judy.robinson-cox.com/lilliput/index.html
  • Coco Berkman - cool whimsical stuff! Interesting that what I find online isn't exactly what I saw in the galleries
  • Jean-Pierre Weill - vitreography is cool!

We also visited Rockport Candle Co which had scents like Toes in the Sand Castle and Sweet Buttered Lobstah. Speaking of lobstah, I couldn't resist getting a lobster roll at Roy Moore's. 

The meat was sweet, but not as good as the lobster roll from Portland which smelled more of the sea. It probably would have been more worth it to just order a boiled lobster. It's cool that you can see the lobster traps on the dock and good to know that the local lobster business is still alive.

See the lobster traps! Also the red house is Motif #1

We enjoyed some nice views of the bay until the concert, where the pretty views persisted.

We had our seats right above the musicians, so I was mostly focused on them. But when I had to rest my eyes, the view of the beach and ocean behind the stage was perfect.

The musicians (Balourdet Quartet) played with great bravura and moved quite a bit to the music. From a masterclass with the Verona Quartet, this body movement helps with communication both amongst to the group and to the audience, and the Balourdet Quartet definitely had a unified sound.

My favorite part took place in Al Zand's "Strange Machines," which makes a statement about AI in that it often uses musical cliches (untastefully). The "machine" spits out an entire movement based on alberti before collapsing, as the musicians explain before the performance. During the performance, the audience collectively laughed at the sounds of the "machine" dying. It was cool to be a part of moment when everyone was engaging with the music.

After more enjoyment of the ocean views and air, we headed back to the train station for the ride home.

I leave you with a chicken and waffles chocolate bar that actually contains chicken flavored soup base! Only in a tourist shop...


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