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 “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

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

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

From North Shore CDC and Punto Urban Art Museum Click here for free COVID resources In May, North Shore Community Development Coalition (North Shore CDC) held a call for Massachusetts-based creatives to use their artistic powers of communication, empathy, and advocacy to develop Public Service Announcements (PSA) for primarily low-income, immigrant, non-English speaking communities. Through its on-the-grounds-work, North Shore CDC

On Friday, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced that the state would move forward with phase two of its reopening plan today, June 22, advancing into part 2 of step 2 just 10 days after the phase officially began. The biggest part of this phase is that indoor dining is now allowed, with many restrictions. Businesses on the North Shore are

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced this past weekend that the state can begin Phase 2 – The Cautious Phase – of reopening today, with the added information that this will come in two parts. This essentially means that some businesses that were included in the initial Phase 2 documentation won’t be able to open right away – like, for example,

by Joey PhoenixImages by EmVision Productions What do you have to look forward to? What allows you to stay hopeful when the world is turned upside down?  In May of this year, minority-led EmVision Productions released a limited series of videos called #StayHopeful. The series features eight people: an artist-entrepreneur, a student government candidate, an activist-entrepreneur, an author, a hip

Image by John Andrews Massachusetts’ Governor Charlie Baker issued an order effective Wednesday, May 6 requiring face masks or cloth face coverings in both outdoor and indoor public places where social distancing is not possible. Exceptions include children under the age of 2 and those unable to wear a mask or face covering due to a medical condition. Click here to read the