Burton and Sargent events on May 1

From the Gloucester Daily Times

Celebrating Burton

The Cape Ann Museum will present "The Art and Legacy of Virginia Lee Burton," a lecture by Elleman, this Saturday at 3 p.m. Elleman will talk about the artistry and power of Burton's illustrations, looking at specific images that demonstrate why her books were so popular when they were published and why they continue to be acclaimed today. She will also draw parallels between Burton's picture books and her Folly Cove Designs. Elleman is a writer, critic, educator and editor.

A published author, Elleman wrote "Tomie dePaola, His Art and His Stories" (Putnam, 1999); "Holiday House: Its First 65 Years" (Holiday House, 2000); and "Virginia Lee Burton: A Life in Art" (Houghton, 2002).

Admission is free for museum members and $10 for non-members. Please call 978-283-0455, x11 to make a reservation. The museum, 27 Pleasant St. in Gloucester, offers free admission on Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon through the end of May. For details, call 978-283-0455.

Sargent Museum to host birthday party

The Sargent House Museum will host an evening birthday celebration tomorrow at 7 for Judith Sargent Murray, a Gloucester native and 18th century writer and early advocate of women's equality. Murray, born in 1751, would be 258 years old if she were alive today. The celebration will feature a keynote address by Roz Barnett, an author and researcher on women's work and family lives. There will be a cake and champagne celebration and a short dramatic reading of a selection from Murray's life-long collection of letters. Gloucester Mayor Carolyn Kirk recently declared May 1, 2009, "Judith Sargent Murray Day" in honor of this pioneering American woman writer and thinker.

Call (978)281-2432 for information or tickets.

On Saturday, the museum will offer free admission to visitors who bring birthday cards for Judith Sargent Murray. The organizers encourage families to bring daughters and others to the museum to help celebrate Sargent Murray's birthday.

Barnett is a senior scientist at the Women's Studies Research Center at Brandeis University and executive director of its Community, Families & Work Program.

The Rev. Sarah Clark, a Unitarian Universalist minister and Rockport native who has an extensive background in theater arts, will present the dramatic reading of Sargent Murray's letters in the museum.

Those Telling Lines: The Art of Virginia Lee Burton

The excellent Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, MA, is featuring an exhibition on the art and design of Gloucester's Virginia Lee Burton this March 24–June 21, 2009. It includes not just her picture book art, but also designs she produced with the Folly Cove Artists.

The Carle Museum is a really nice, bite-sized museum—not surprisingly it's super kid friendly, but the child-free won't feel weird or talked down to.

Related events include a talk by the composer of the recent Katy and the Big Snow symphony and a screening of the performance. Not that I want to think about any more Big Snows this year.

Katy and the Big Snow set to music

The Cape Ann Symphony's musical retelling of Gloucester children's author Virginia Lee Burton's Katy and the Big Snowcommemorates Burton's centennial year, and this winter's weather is certainly cooperating with the theme.

The Gloucester Lyceum presents a talk about the process of transforming the picture book into a musical piece on Thursday, January 15, at the Sawyer Free Library. The library also owns much of the original artwork for Katy and other books by Burton.

The performance itself—presented by local composer Robert J. Bradshaw—is scheduled for Saturday, January 24, at 2 pm, Gloucester's Fuller Auditorium. Details and tickets are available at the Cape Ann Symphony's site.