Watertown Cultural Council Seeks New Members

The following information was provided by the Watertown Cultural Council:

Are you interested in enriching the lives of Watertown residents?  Do you have an interest in the arts, humanities or sciences? 

The Watertown Cultural Council is seeking new members who would like to serve on the Council and help us select and promote new projects in the future. All Watertown residents are eligible to apply, and we especially encourage people with experience in grants evaluation, social media, public relations, finance and program development to contact us. If you would like to speak with a member of the Council about your possible participation, please email our WCC Chair, Lois Pond at lzpond@gmail.com or watertowncultural@gmail.com and we will get back in touch with you to answer your questions. We particularly encourage community members from underserved populations to apply. For more information, please see our website: watertownculturalcouncil.org

The Watertown Cultural Council is part of a network of 329 Local Cultural Councils serving all 351 cities and towns in the Commonwealth. The LCC Program is the largest grassroots cultural funding network in the nation, supporting thousands of community-based projects in the arts, interpretive sciences, and humanities every year.

Small Saves Gets His Skates Sharpened in This Week’s Comic

James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Watertown Cable Show Celebrates Popeye’s 90th Anniversary

The following information was provided by Fred Grandinetti:

To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Popeye the Sailor’s animated cartoon debut in July 2023 Drawing With Fred will be airing Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba’s Forty Thieves. The Watertown Cable Access TV show, created by Watertown resident Fred Grandinetti, will show the special color cartoon produced in 1937 by The Fleischer Studios for Paramount Pictures. “It is twice as long as a regular short subject featuring multi-dimensional backgrounds,” said Grandinetti, who added that it was the second Popeye cartoon to be made in color, after 1936’s Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor. The episode of Drawing With Fred will begin airing on July 10, and will run for two weeks on WCA-TV’s Public Channel (RCN Channel 3, Comcast Channel 9), and online (click here). Since his animated cartoon debut in 1933 Popeye has gone on to be featured in approximately 500 cartoons for both theater and television screens.

Small Saves Celebrates the Fourth of July

James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Small Saves Does Some Grocery Shopping in This Week’s Cartoon

James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Watertown Summer Concerts Open This Week with Folk Duo

90-Mile Portage90-Mile Portage, made up of pianist/composer Ben Cosgrove and singer/songwriter Jamie Kallestad, will perform on Aug. 10 in Watertown’s free Saltonstall Park Concert. A concert by folk duo Jamie Kallestad and Ben Cosgrove, known as 90-Mile Portage, will kick off Watertown’s Summer Concert Series. The free concerts are held at Saltonstall Park (next to City Hall) on Wednesdays from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Attendees can bring their own chairs and blankets to watch the concert from the grass in front of the stage. The concerts feature a variety of musical styles, and there will be a double-header on July 5, and a kids’ concert on Aug.

Small Saves Cartoon: Where a Goalie Feels Most Comfortable

James DeMarco grew up in Watertown and became a goaltender at age 5. It’s his life’s passion to stand between the pipes and keep the puck out of the net. Combining this with the love of cartooning Small Saves emerged in 1991 and took on a life of his own. “To play goal – then come home and draw Small Saves — is my ideal definition of a good day.”

Art Exhibit at Library Feature Work of Syrian Painter, Reception Planned

The following information was provided by the Refugee Support Group of Watertown Citizens for Peace:

Honoring UN World Refugee Day, the Refugee Support Group of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the Environment presents “The Art of Refuge,” a narrative installation of the work of Syrian painter Samera Birawi, who took refuge in Turkey after the bombing of her homeland began. Installed in the T. Ross Gallery of the Watertown Free Public library, The Art of Refuge brings a voice and images that strongly tell a story of life and death, and hope. The paintings, often created from actual photographs of the depicted events, weave a first-hand narrative of a country descending into violence, highlighting its impact on children. Yet, the artist wants to keep alive the memory of earlier peace in her town of Idlib, near Aleppo, in a geographical area of ancestral culture that designed the first alphabets 12,000 years ago, and produced the finest olive oil:

“We will remain there as long as the olive trees remain.”

Exhibit Reception: Thursday, June 22, 5:30-8 p.m., including live Zoom from Turkey with the artist at 6:30 p.m., 1st floor, Watertown Free Public Library, Watertown Savings Bank Room. Refreshments will be served

The exhibition will run from June 1-3o, 2023

Three women, born in the Middle East, the United States and Europe, teamed up to convey the art of Samera Birawi: Youla Hana, member of the Refugee Support Group; Sue-Ellen Tcherepnin, President of Watertown Citizens for Peace, Justice & the environment/Refugee Support Group Founder; and Christine Arveil, Curator of the exhibition.