SALEM, MA — The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is pleased to announce the next phase of reopening and the easing of pandemic restrictions. Beginning on July 9, PEM will offer extended hours and start offering free COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday evenings. Additionally, PEM has lifted its mask mandate for staff and visitors in accordance with public health recommendations and will soon resume

by Joey Phoenix This past semester has been anything but “business as usual” as universities faced many challenges in determining how best to bring students back to campus, among which were the safety of programming that could be made available to students. And while it might have been easy for some colleges to put arts programming lower down on the

by Joey Phoenix Stuck inside? Working remotely? Need a new environment to dream away negative thoughts? No matter how old you are, your life will dramatically improve by adding a couple of ingredients to your day: great snacks and an EPIC blanket fort.  Here are some of the best blanket forts we’ve seen, plus some handy tips for building one of

by Joey Phoenix “It’s been a hard year so far, but you are stronger than you think you are…” New York-based Hannah Cranton (she/her) is a singer-songwriter and aspiring stop motion animator with deep North Shore roots. Not only was she raised here, but she is a former member of the bossa nova band, Clay Ventre and the Bond Girls

From The Center for Creative and Performing Arts at Salem State University The pandemic has created unique challenges for the arts in both how work is created and how work is shared with those who appreciate the arts. Artists are inherently problem solvers, and so our students and faculty have continued their work, just differently. Online exhibitions, rehearsing outside, rehearsing

This holiday season, we’re highlighting local businesses as part of our #StayLocal2020 campaign. Scroll to the bottom for more information. by Joey Phoenix It’s an unusual holiday season in an unusual year, and while you can still expect to hear some new songs on the radio alongside Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” one local collaboration has produced a

from Destination Salem Each October, Salem, Massachusetts, is an international destination for tourists looking to immerse themselves in its rich history. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the fall of 2020 will look a lot different in Salem than other years, however, there are many ways in which visitors can experience a rich, cultural visit. It is a great time to be

Images by Creative Collective On September 1st, local venues across the country went red for #WeMakeEvents, a coalition of trade bodies, businesses, unions, and live events workers. They lit up venues, homes, and cities red in over 1,500 locations across North America to raise public and media awareness in support of the live events sector. Live events employ over 12

New Englanders have bemoaned the loss of many things this year: baseball games, concerts, going out to eat mask-free; but very few things have hit as hard as the news that the Topsfield Fair won’t open for the season. “Since America’s Oldest Fair began in 1818, it has only been canceled two other times,” said The Essex Agricultural Society in

By Joey Phoenix  It’s the question of the year in a year full of endless questions: Do we send students back to school in person? The answer is undeniably complicated, and there’s little precedent for how to effectively deal with this crisis in the midst of an ongoing global pandemic. Many schools are looking to adopt a hybrid model where