With over three dozen documentaries being shown throughout the week, I assumed that the overly excited crowd would have a lot to say…I was right. Most responses came from JUNIOR which screened on Thursday night and proved to be a crowd favorite. The audience was intrigued by the festival and gave us their insight on independent filmmaking and their views on specific films including Jury award winner SEVERE CLEAR. Take a look at a short video I made with my interviews with the crowd!

Severe Clear producer Kristian Fraga and First Lieutenant Mike Scotti at last weekend's filmmaker discussion. Photo by Dinah Cardin
Severe Clear won the 2010 Salem Film Festival Jury Prize. The prize was announced at last night’s Wrap Party, sponsored by Art Throb. The film will soon be shown in New York and L.A. and Salem is proud to have had the film here first.
Severe Clear features video shot by First Lieutenant Mike Scotti, capturing the chaos and complexity of war during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Read this post on the festival blog to learn more about the filmmakers and the Salem audience’s reaction.
The festival’s Audience Award will be announced during Sunday night’s Oscar Party at CinemaSalem.
There’s no better way to spend a snowy evening than looking at artwork inspired by summer, watching lush filmmaking and sipping wine.
Tonight, join the Salem Arts Association for their opening reception of Seeds of Summer from 6:30 to 8:30 at SATV (285 Derby St.) and then head over to the Salem Film Festival for an evening of films, followed by the Art Throb sponsored wrap party, which begins at 9:30. There, sip wines from Salem Wine Imports and find out who has won the Jury Prize. more »
Caged Birds do sing, while Los Sugar Kings return to Salem
Well, my (sometimes) caged bird, Pedro, a small parrot with a big voice, doesn’t really sing and he doesn’t really talk. However, he’d be the first to tell you that caged birds do sing, and the ones in residency at Kitty O’Shea’s every Monday night in March and probably April can sing amazing. more »
Workshop at Salem State College
Monday, March 8, 11 a.m.
Meier Hall, Rm. 238
Get published on Art Throb
Bring story ideas, photos, videos or artwork to the workshop and share them with founder/editor Dinah Cardin and the group. At this editorial meeting, shape your story/project for potential online publication.
Public welcome to attend.
Gaga Gallery: Reception for Corinne Varon “Four Decades of Visual Expression”
Sunday March 7 from 3 to 5 PM
Gaga Gallery is located at 459 Humphrey Street in Swampscott. Learn more at gallerygaga.com.
Corinna Varon has been a visual artist since her childhood in Peru, and is currently exhibiting some of her haunting work in Swampscott. more »
ART THROB is an independent publication on Boston’s North Shore and a collaboration of many talented contributors.
We aim to chronicle the importance of art in our every day lives. We have a constant re-occurring theme that art is in the cracks and crevasses of the sidewalk, in a way of looking at life and in the people around us.
Quick Q and A with professor and photographer Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis teaches photography at Salem State College and is a founding member of the experimental electro-pop group Machine 475. The British native likes shooting out in the U.S West. This is a summed up version of his answers to some quick questions from a curious student.
Q: When did you start photographing enough to know you wanted to make it a career?
A: Started photographing when went to RISD in 1990. Landscape pictures as a portfolio that got him accepted. Age 30 at RISD. more »
Millie multiplies in Newburyport
Four years ago, almost to the day, I was driving through the center of downtown Salem, when I noticed that a new business was opening. Trying to avoid hitting a pedestrian in the cobblestone crosswalk on Washington Street, I slowed to almost a hault when I saw the sign…”Modern Millie Vintage and Consignments”.
Being an avid thrifter, lover of consignment shops, fan of vintage clothing, and a bit of a fashionista, I was more than thrilled at this new addition to the Salem shopping community. more »
There’s an old saying in the boat business that “if it looks good, it is good.” No where, I believe, is this more obvious than in my beautiful Piscataqua wherry. I’ve been rowing this the last 12 years around Salem Sound. As pretty a dory as there is, and yes she rows like a dream. Breakfast at the “Driftwood”, no problem, lunch at “Misery”, sounds good. (Actually doesn’t sound good but is). Form and function in perfect harmony. more »
Recipe: Healthy quinoa peanut butter pancakes
On a Sunday morning, we found some ingredients in the cabinets to create these hearty, but healthy pancakes that tasted perfect for this cold mid-winter weather. more »
Serious Moonlight: Not quite romantic, nor comedy, but that’s OK
After a couple of weeks of heavy in the screening room, I decided that we could use something a touch lighter. Although, as light films go, it’s pretty heavy. Confused? Yeah, I was too.
The trailer, indeed most of the marketing materials, for Serious Moonlight, starring Meg Ryan, Timothy Hutton, Justin Long, and Kristen Bell all point toward a screwball romantic comedy. Ryan fastens Hutton to a toilet with duct tape. Hijinks ensue. Sounds pretty funny, right? more »
North Shore arts backers key to public funding effort
Three North Shore House members are among the strongest advocates for the arts in the Massachusetts Legislature. more »
Record store confessions, visual arts and dancing to the King of Pop
So this dude Nick Hornby wrote a book called “High Fidelity” about a dude who goes through some relationship troubles and then ends up reflecting on his life as it revolves around his job, Record Store Owner.
He’s got this cast of goofy characters who work with him and surround him at the store and talk about music in the terms that make you feel like there’s something you’re missing if you don’t really know anything about records. more »
“The dark,” a poem by Donna Jay
The dark scares me
Because it is dark.
It is black with no one around me.
Someone might come and get me. more »
Our digital responses: A look at arts writing then and now
By Dinah Cardin
There are 300,000 “art blogs” out there right now. Fortunately, this one is about this community and that might be the reason you are reading it. more »
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The Garbage Man on Pleasure Island
Edgewater Plaza is an office park located off of Pleasure Island Road, on the graveyard of what once was New England’s premier destination for fun and games- PLEASURE ISLAND. The roller coaster is under the parking lot. The merry-go-round is beneath the feet of corporate executives and senior V.P.’s. The tent of oddities and curiosities is now the site of the cafeteria. more »
A few months back I talked about being the platonic date, and all that goes along with it–the curious stares, the rumors, the hey are those two together conversations. I suppose that’s the harmless end of platonica (has anyone co-opted this term for anything else yet?). A recent conversation with a friend though, reminded me of the more… shall we say “difficult platonica” which is when there is a boyfriend or girlfriend involved. more »
Proximity isn’t a prerequisite for dating chemistry, but it sure does help. To make water, two hydrogens and one oxygen need to be in the same atomic neighborhood. However, two people can make, well, water wherever Jet Blue flies, if they want. more »