Launching – The Lost Artists of Artists of Fairhaven Podcast Series!
A new podcast concept and liaison with Fairhaven residents
The Artist Index Website Project was inspired in 2009 by a 1989 newspaper ad placed by Mary Jean Blasdale, the former curator of the New Bedford Whaling Museum. Her ad implored, “A name, a birthday, an exhibition date… Mary Jean Blasdale would like to know more about the works of the following New Bedford artists.” Based on her dogged research and the information she received, she wrote the Artists of New Bedford: A biographical dictionary in 1990.
This week, The Southcoast Artists Index Podcast is launching a new podcast series focusing specifically on the artists of Fairhaven who have been overlooked, forgotten, or never celebrated for their contributions as Visual, Performing, Literary, and Culinary artists. It’s also about our continued efforts to document every South Coast artist, from those of the past to the present, in one place: The Artists Index’s database.
Our podcast series host, Autumn Liv Cyr, is launching The Lost Artists of Fairhaven. She is taking our podcast programming in a new direction. Autumn’s series is focused and will actively invite listeners to contribute any information they may have about the artists on her extensive and growing list: The Lost Artists of Fairhaven. Specifically, the artists who were born, lived, educated, or worked in the historical seacoast town of Fairhaven, Massachusetts.
Autumn is a Fine Artist, Graphic Designer, Writer, and Musician, born and raised in the South Coast – a Fairhaven native. She is also a multidisciplinary visual artist, writer, and musician now living in New Bedford, Massachusetts, with over 10 years of professional experience. Autumn enjoys using various media. She was also a guest on Podcast Episode 81.
Her ten-episode series, funded in part by a grant from the Fairhaven Cultural Council, a local agency that is supported by the Mass Cultural Council, a state agency, will create a platform for listeners to submit anecdotes, information, and images to help her document the lives and legacies of Fairhaven-connected artists for them to be known to the next generations.
Taking the cue from Mary Jean Blasdale, Autumn needs “a name, a birthday, an exhibition date…” anything to attach to her list. She needs listeners to contribute the name of any artist they are acquainted with, either by family ties, friendship, or other relationships.
Autumn would also like to extend an invitation for you to be her in-studio or Zoom-assisted podcast guest to share your memories of friends, acquaintances, and relatives who helped make Fairhaven’s and the Southcoast’s creative community what it is today. You can also assist Autumn by sharing this article and her podcasts with others who may have information she can incorporate into her series. These stories will become part of the history of the South Coast’s creative community.
Here is our current and incomplete list of recently deceased artists and those from the past. Those marked with an asterisk indicate we have some information on them, but would be grateful for more. Those marked with two asterisks indicate they have ties to Fairhaven, which we would like to verify. If you know of any artists’ names that need to be added, please let us know!
Ray Veary – Actor
Willoughby “Bill” Elliott – Artist*
Severin “Sig” Haines – Artist*
Milton Healy – Artist*
Vivian Goncalves Lewis – Artist*
Arthur Moniz – Artist*
Philip Tucker Gidley, Jr. – Artist*
Alvan Stripinis – Artist/Educator*
Claire A. “Penny” Baker – Artist
Joseph St. Pierre – AKA Tomb – Graffiti Artist
Cheryl I. Moniz – Artist*
Paul Clayton – Musician**
René Ricard – Writer**
Raymond G. Bisaillon – Artist/Educator**
Clem Daley – Artist**
John Ryan – Photographer**
Walter E. Owen – Artist/Cartoonist*
Theodore Thomas – Orchestra Leader*
Maggie Kerr Peirce – Musician*
James B. “Jim” Atkins – Artist*
Why? At The Artists Index, we are driven by this African proverb:
“You die twice. The first time is when you draw your last breath. The second is when the last person who spoke your name draws theirs.”
LISTEN TO AUTUMN’S PODCAST HERE!
AND WHILE YOU’RE HERE: Please consider donating whatever you can to ensure that our mission continues as we document the legacies of South Coast Artists.
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