BostonZest

See Anyone You Recognize?

This is the south facing side of the frieze on the tower of the First Baptist Church of Boston.

This work of art was designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi, the same sculptor who created the Statue of Liberty in New York Harbor.

Bostonian Edward Everett Hale wrote, "...he told me himself that the heads which you will see there are portraits of distinguished citizens of Boston of that time. If you buy the right photographs, and magnify them with the right glasses, you will find Sumner and, I think Garrison, and probably Everett and Phillips."

Next time you're walking near here, stop and look up. The tower is 176 feet high. The frieze was carved by Italian craftmen, after the stones were set in place. They worked up where we see the figures. 

Need some Valentine's Day gift ideas? Click over to Amazon and do some planning and if you do buy something there, they'll put a few coins in our tip cup.  

Details:
Words: Penny Cherubino
Photos: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Valentine's Day Live Performances at Half Price

 

Here's the BosTix booth in Copley Square. There's a second one at Quincy Market.

Treat your Valentine to the serendipity of a live performance at half-price by strolling to one of the BosTix ticket booths and selecting from the available offerings. You could do it on the 14th, the weekend before, or you could present your sweetheart with a gift certifcate or promissory note to do it when the mood strikes!

Add a meal at one of the many inexpensive, ethnic restaurants around the city, and you have a great afternoon or evening at a reasonable price. 

BosTix is a program of ArtsBoston. If your budget is flush, you can support the arts with a visit to their main site where you can see all the great entertainment available around the area. 

Related Post with links to others:

Valentine's Day 2012 - Romantic Dining in Boston 

Do you have an Amazon Gift Certificate to use? Remember to click over to Amazon from here to support this site!

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photography: © 2012 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Reopening

We're making the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum our Friday Link, this week, to remind you that it's about to reopen. 

Preview events for members are scheduled on Monday the 16th through Wednesday the 18th. It opens to the public on Thursday the 19th and for three days admission is free, if you snag one of the reserved time slots. The Gardner Museum site says, 

"The Gardner Museum reopens in January, and admission is free Jan. 19-21! Timed tickets are required and limited, and must be reserved in advance. Reserve online, or by calling the Box Office at: 617-278-5156 ."

Café G

And, of particular importance to those of us who have missed the Café, the wonderful food from Chef/Owner Peter Crowley will be back. They're already taking reservations for the new Café G as it is now called.

It has been relocated to the new wing of the Gardner and after years of working in very tight quarters, we're confident they have provided this fine chef with everything he needs to stretch his culinary reach.

We'll be reporting back on our first visits to one of our favorite places in Boston.

Related Posts:

Hanging Nasturtiums at the Gardner Museum

Romance at the Gardner Museum– Valentine's Weekend Destination 

The Gardner Museum Cafe's Edible Nasturtium Menu

Gardner Museum’s “Frank Hatch First Day Free!”

If you are one of our readers from outside the Boston area, you can do your research on the Gardner Museum right there at home and enjoy your visit more when you get here.

Details:

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

280 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115 (map & reviews)

(617) 566-1401

gardnermuseum.org‎

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Screenshot: courtesy of the Gardner Museum 

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Gibson House Museum Holiday Open House

The Gibson House Museum Holiday Open House is our Friday Link. The staff and volunteers have decorated the house in appropriate Victorian style. On Sunday, December 11th, they are opening their doors to friends and neighbors from 1 to 4 p.m. Admission will be free for this event.

They invited us in while they were decorating, so we could give you a sneak preview.

If you can't make the open house on Sunday, or if you have a holiday guest who would love to see what the homes in the Back Bay looked like a hundred years ago, you can take a guided tour of the Gibson House. And if you do that while the decorations are in place, you'll have a bonus dose of holiday spirit at no extra charge!

We hope you've enjoyed another year of recommendations and tips from BostonZest. If you have, you can support the site by using links like this to start your Amazon shopping from here.

Details:
Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Society of Arts & Crafts: Our Friday Link

Earlier this week, we stopped into the Society of Arts and Crafts at 175 Newbury Street. This is one of our favorite spots on Newbury Street. And, it's today's Friday Link.

(Share your favorite local businesses with other readers. And, if you can provide a link to the website or map to find your choice of a great place to shop for holiday gifts, please add it in the comment section below.)

They've been in business on the street for more than 100 years. And, the work of more than 250 artists and master craftspeople is sold through this shop. About half of these are from this region. 

You'll find an ever changing assortment of gifts for everyone at a wide range of prices. Here are just a few of the selections we found there this week.

At home, these wonderful felted scarfs curl themselves into roses. When you wear them, they become a sculptural frame for you. 

There's another way to shop local when you do decide to buy from a site like Amazon. That is to begin that shopping at a local business like BostonZest. When you click through to Amazon from here, they pay us a commission on everything you buy. That helps to support the people who produce the information you find here. 

The Craftsman and the Critic: Defining Usefulness and Beauty in Arts and Crafts-era Boston

The Arts and crafts movement

Contemporary American Folk Art: A Collector's Guide

Details:

Society of Arts & Crafts

 www.societyofcrafts.org

175 Newbury Street, Boston, MA 02116 (map)

(617) 266-1810

 

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino

Photos: ©2011 Penny & Ed Cherubino 

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.

Where Is This Lion and Who Was He Designed to Help?

Do you recognize the Lion in this fountain? Time to play "Attention to Detail™" This is the game where we give you a clue, and you try to figure out where you've seen it. When you're ready for the answer, click through, and you'll get more information about this fellow including where to find him.

Clues for this one are:

It is downtown and near an award winning park.

Post your best guess in the comments here and add any tidbit you know about this landmark. When you're ready to confirm what you think, click through or scroll down for the answer.

Are you planning a staycation or do you have company coming? Here's a page full of guidebooks to Boston. It's fun to play tourist in this great city of ours, and it's nice to have some up-to-date books to lend to visitors.

 

Autumn Color, one way or another....

There's more than one way to add autumn color to the Provincetown scene. In front of the Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) was this bright sculpure titled "I Was Once a Forest" by Frank Vasello. And, PAAM is our Friday link today! 

 

If you're planning a fall foray to the Outer Cape, add this fine art stop to your itinerary. Right now, the hours are, "October - May noon to 5 pm, Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday also open by appointment."

PAAM's Mission is: "The objects and purposes of this association shall be to promote and cultivate the practice and appreciation of all branches of the fine arts, to assemble and maintain in the town of Provincetown and environs a collection of works of art of merit, to hold exhibitions, and by forums, concerts and similar activities to promote education of the public in the arts and social intercourse between artists and laymen. To these ends it shall operate strictly within its charter as a nonprofit, educational, artistic and cultural organization."

Provincetown in still a community of artists and PAAM is the artistic heartbeat of the town. Admission is just $7 and is free for PAAM members and on Friday evenings. The sculpture garden surrounding the museum is always open and always free.

Need some new music for a new season? Amazon has 16 million songs and some of them are free!

Details:

Provincetown Art Association and Museum (PAAM) 

460 Commercial Street, Provincetown, MA 02657-2415 (map)

(508) 487-1750

Words: Penny & Ed Cherubino
Photos: © 2011 Penny Cherubino

Note on Comments: We monitor comments constantly and anything that is pure spam, inappropriate, or nasty is swept away. In addition to readers' comments, we welcome hearing from the people, places, and services we cover. Often those comments add great insights for our readers. As long as it doesn’t become a pure ad, we’d love to hear from you.