For those in need of the supportive services of Lifebridge Northshore’s Grace Center, a day resource center on Main Street a couple of blocks from Gloucester Harbor, the ability to sail aboard a schooner may as well be an ocean away.
But that was not the case Wednesday morning, when about 35 guests set sail on the pinky schooner Ardelle thanks to master shipwright Capt. Harold Burnham and business manager Mary Kay Taylor, owners of Maritime Heritage Charters on Harbor Loop, who underwrote the opportunity, according to Cape Ann Museum Director Oliver Barker.
The sail was part of The Art of Lunch program Cape Ann Museum administers with the support of community partners to benefit Grace Center. This was the first time The Art of Lunch took Grace Center guests and staff on a sail around the harbor.
The Art of Lunch grew out of concerns about food insecurity on Cape Ann during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to ceramics artist and former Cape Ann Museum board member Nina Goodick and financial support from other board members.
The program teams up with other local businesses and organizations, such as Cape Ann Savings Bank, to underwrite the serving of lunch every other Wednesday by the Grace Center. Goodick said the need has increased since the program started.
The museum arranges a food donation and provides volunteers to help serve it. Together Gloucester Inc. is the partner with Cape Ann Museum in The Art of Lunch, now in its fifth year.
On Wednesday, Grace Center guests and others got the opportunity to explore Gloucester Harbor from the deck of the Ardelle.
Barker said in an email that as part of the guided visit, they visited areas of Gloucester Harbor that were fundamentally important in the careers of some of America’s greatest artists, including Fitz Henry Lane, Winslow Homer, Cecilia Beaux, Edward Hopper, Jane Peterson, Milton Avery, Adolph Gottlieb, Mark Rothko and others.
“During our time propelled by the winds on Gloucester Harbor,” Barker said in an email, “Harold and I shared the history behind the harbor’s development in the 1840s, and how the introduction of the train line in 1848 rapidly fueled the growth of what soon became America’s largest fishing port.”
“Along the way we also illuminated the stories behind the multitude of artists who were inspired by the presence of the fishing industry,” Barker said. “The vistas as well as the light so characteristically unique to Cape Ann have brought great notoriety to the harbor as one of the most painted in the history of American art.”
As they passed by Ten Pound Island, Goodick said Burnham asked everyone to go quiet and they could hear the sounds from the birds on the island as they sailed by.
“Everyone was relaxed and happy,” Goodick said.
“It was nice working with folks at the Grace Center and Cape Ann Museum and the folks on the sail,” Burnham said. He noted that when the Ardelle was built in 2010 and 2011, it was a community effort and built with no paid help.
“We are grateful to be able to pay it forward,” Burnham said.
Following the sail, Cape Ann Museum served lunch at Grace Center thanks to ongoing generous support by the Beauport Hospitality Group which donated more than 50 meals of fresh baked haddock, Barker said.
Assisting Grace Center staffers were Cape Ann Museum board members Tim Miller and Tom Janis.
“It was beyond what I could have hoped for,” Goodick said.
Grace Center Program Director Frank Freedman was not on the sail, but he said “when people returned they were just effusive in the praise and gratitude” for the experience. Barker’s presentation also resonated with guests. He said it was a wonderful collaboration among the Burnhams, Cape Ann Museum and Grace Center to give guests the chance to get out on the water.
He said some guests had mentioned seeing the Ardelle from the shore, and welcomed getting the perspective of being on board.
To learn more about The Art of Lunch, or to make a gift to support its mission, you may visit https://www.capeannmuseum.org/programs/community/art-of-lunch-2/.
Ethan Forman may be contacted at 978-675-2714, or at eforman@northofboston.com.