From the Director’s Desk
Belle Carver Struck
As I write this, the sun is setting over the Merrimack River and, although my office window faces Water Street, the orange hues and purple wispy clouds are reflected in the windows of The Tannery.
Forty years ago I arrived from South Boston and stood on this very street, in this very town, in my tutu and pink ballet shoes, outside a black box theater waiting for my entrance in a production of Hans Christian Anderson’s The Shadow (some of you reading this were there).
Thirty years ago I returned from Oregon, got a job as a bookseller at the old Book Rack on State Street and began Muggle Midnight Madness and dressed up as “PIG” from If You Give a Pig a Pancake on Saturdays (the inside of that pig head had its own heavy weather) while my dad read stories to the children of our town.
Twenty years ago I began my career as an artist and educator working with teenagers and adults down the street from our town. Sitting here thinking of what I want to say to all of you members and subscribers…it is simply this: we are the lucky ones. We get to live and work here in this special place.
I have ideas for raising money, serving our members, diversifying our classes, workshops and raising our community impact. I want to hear your ideas about these things too. I can, and will, talk about all of those things in the months to come. On this cold winter afternoon I would rather say something from the heart.
I want to say thank you for welcoming me home.
I feel so lucky to be able to get stuck in and create with all of you. I hope we can make the NAA a hub for fun, for art, for education, for all ages, and all experience levels. I hope we can make it a place to listen, to learn, to love and to care for one another. I want the NAA to be a reflection of our town. It is not just a building. It is the human beings that make it special.
One of my heroes, bell hooks, wrote, “When we choose to love, we choose to move against fear, against alienation and separation. The choice to love is a choice to connect, to find ourselves in the other.” I cannot wait to connect with all of you in this magical, crazy, beautiful, creative, gravitational anomaly called Newburyport, Massachusetts: our city and our town. -Belle.
*Belle will be posting open hours for visits and drop-in conversations in the coming weeks. Stay tuned for more info!
Date: 6/27/2025: 2025 Auction and Event Schedule
Dear Members, Sponsors and Friends,
As we move forward in this year of reflection and renewal, the Board of Directors and I have taken this opportunity to reimagine how we approach our annual auction. After much discussion and understanding that the auction is a beloved annual gathering, we have decided that this year’s auction will include a series of smaller events, culminating in a September celebration for all our amazing supporters!
Why the change?
We want to maximize the power your support of Newburyport Art has in sustaining our mission to make the arts available to everyone in our region. Producing several, smaller events allow us to not only save money, but broaden the accessibility, number and diversity of support opportunities, all while keeping the annual celebration everyone loves.
The Art Of Giving: Artists & Benefactors
Framing our Future: September 2025 at Newburyport Art
I am happy to announce we are presenting an entire month of fundraising initiatives this September. They are:
Member’s Only Auction Exhibition (Sargent & Hartson Galleries). Member artwork (Donated by you ideally at %100 with a minimum bid) Tax write-off! Enter your work HERE
Collector’s Collection (Hills Gallery). This will be artwork (not necessarily affiliated with NAA) donated from your private collection for sale (Donated by you at %100) Tax write-off! Upload your collector piece (s) HERE
Membership Drive 800! Since January our membership has increased from 500 to over 650-Let’s aim for the stars and make it 800 members strong! You do not have to be an artist to be a member, we have many tiers of support and membership gives you discounts on events/classes/workshops as well as many other benefits! Become a Member today!
Art Block Party & Silent Auction: September 20th 4-7pm in the Range Light Sculpture Garden (inside if weather happens). Food Trucks, Lawn Games, Bespoke Cocktails, Art Giveaways, Prizes and Silent Auction.
How can I participate and/or support this month-long fundraiser?
Donate Artwork! We love your work, we live with it everyday and love telling your stories. Let us chat you up to strangers and friends alike! Upload HERE
Sign Up new members! For every new member you get to join NAA you will be entered into a raffle for a guided day trip to the Boston Public Library Print Archives with Executive Director Belle Carver Struck. Bring your member in to sign up in person or have them mention your name when signing themselves up to enter.
Become a trained NAA Volunteer! We have quarterly training sessions. The next ones are Friday July 11th & Friday July 18th from 10-11am @ 65 Water Street. Sign up HERE.
Become a NAA ‘Framing our Future’ Sponsor! Give a one-time donation (naming opportunity) of $500-$5000 toward a Monthly Artist Speaker series for 2026, Scholarships or capital improvements to our beautiful building! Contact belle@newburyportart.org for more information.
Rent our space for your next corporate retreat, business breakfast, holiday party or special event. Prices range from $800-$4000 depending on parameters. Contact belle@newburyportart.org for more information.
Come Celebrate with Newburyport Art!
FAQ
How is this different from previous years? We will not be having a LIVE auction under the tent and formal auction program. All donated work will be available in the galleries and online for the entire month.
Will the LIVE Auction and formal party return? Yes! We are interested in mixing up how we format our fundraising initiatives moving forward, so this is an experiment in changing the format and the party. We intend to see how this is received and how successful it is before deciding what format it will take in 2026. We know all of us enjoy an art party!
What if I want to Donate Artwork, but not at %100? I hear you! We are all making ends meet right now. That being said, we are a small arts non profit that has seen state and national grant funding evaporate over the last few months and we are asking you to help us raise money by bragging about and selling your beautiful work at %100 donation. Doing it this way saves us loads of administrative bookkeeping and processing time on the back end. We understand it will not be feasible for everyone.
December 5, 2024
Our town. Newburyport. What is it about this town that keeps pulling us back to it? Is it the cobblestones, the salt air, the pink houses and bed races? Is it the theater, the musicians, the artists and the chefs? Is it the piping plovers, the boat builders, the shipwrecks and the abolitionists? After forty years orbiting this place, I am still trying to put words to the magic of Newburyport. It is a kind of gravity that tugs at all of us in our solitary orbits. It has its own heavy weather. The Coast Guard is stationed here for a very good reason.
My suspicion is that the magnetic pull has something to do with you and me. Thornton Wilder wrote in Our Town, “We all know that something is eternal. And it ain’t houses and it ain’t names, and it ain’t earth, and it ain’t even the stars . . . everybody knows in their bones that something is eternal, and that something has to do with human beings.”