Seascapes: Spring/Summer 2013

When I asked the editor if he had a suggested theme for “Seascapes,” he offered that it would come to me from the overall content of this issue of the Mystic Seaport Magazine. He was correct. In fact, I didn’t get past page 4… this page. One look at the painting by Anthony Davis, “Up Close and Personal,” which accompanies “Seascapes,” and the answer was there. How could one look at those waves and not be reconnected with one’s personal relationship with the sea? The painting speaks to both the beauty and power of a restless sea that draws us to its edge and invites us to sail to distant horizons.

In early February, author and sailor John Rousmaniere spoke at the American Schooner Association’s annual meeting at Mystic Seaport about seamanship and the hard lessons that we have learned (or not learned) from going to sea. John began his talk with a segment regarding the mystique and awe of the sea, and he asked us to reflect back on our first sail and the feelings it evoked as the water rushed by the leeward rail. He referenced Joseph Conrad’s The Mirror of the Sea and suggested it be re-read annually as food for the maritime soul. John’s words reminded me of maritime historian Gaddis Smith’s assertion that “the sea connects all things,” which I’m sure would also resonate with a room full of ardent schooner sailors.

We’ve all had our own deep and personal experiences from and with the sea, and we are fortunate that Davis, Rousmaniere, Conrad, and others add their own interpretations to our evolving “collection.” As mariners, we understand what lies at the core of their work, and we are grateful for their expressions of the sea ethic. At Mystic Seaport, we, too, present a tangible, diverse interpretation of our maritime heritage. Our skilled teachers, interpreters, shipwrights, instructors, and curators provide insight and access to our nation’s maritime heritage for seasoned seamen and women, as well as neophytes. Some are given their first encounter with the sea, be it from the shore or their first experience rowing a boat. Our goal is that our visitors’ Mystic Seaport experiences will significantly influence how they understand our maritime history and heritage and will ultimately lead toward developing interested and responsible citizens of the sea.

This summer will be a most noteworthy one at the Museum: Civil War Naval Encampment, Sea Music Festival, WoodenBoat Show, the launch of the Charles W. Morgan, Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous, Antique Marine Engine Show, and the Antique Vehicle Show… and that is just for starters!

Be sure your membership is up-to-date and plan on Mystic Seaport being your place of choice for a summer filled with maritime heritage and the celebration of same.

Stephen C. White
President

Time, it seems these days, is a commodity in both short supply and high demand. We are so busy that we wish to have more of it, only to spend what we have on getting more things done and fulfilling our many obligations. Taking one’s time – to linger, to pause, to appreciate – is a skill that is difficult to exercise, perhaps now more than ever. How fortunate we are to have a place like Mystic Seaport where “taking one’s time” is valued, if not required.

Last spring, two new exhibits opened that require time – a good amount of it – to truly appreciate the quality of the objects, the skill of the artists, and the beauty of the presentation. “Treasures from the Collections” represents the finest examples from our collections and is stunningly presented in a transformed Schaefer Exhibit Hall. It is the combination of curatorial and exhibiting expertise that draws in the visitor and demands one’s attention. An hour (or two) quickly passes, leaving one thirsty for more. In the Dalvero Academy’s “Restoring a Past, Charting a Future – An Artistic Discovery of America’s Whaling Legacy,” located in the Stillman Building, 24 artists share the results of 2 ½ years of work inspired by Mystic Seaport and Charles W. Morgan. Each artist’s contribution creates a unique section of a masterpiece quilt of contemporary interpretation that surprises the visitor by its depth when viewed individually or collectively. And yes, not surprisingly, it requires time to fully comprehend the talent of each artist and the messages within his/her exhibit pieces as a part of the whole.

Luckily for our members, these two exhibits, and everything else at the Museum, can be visited time and time again. In this era where we check off our “to-dos” or “must-sees,” engaging places like Mystic Seaport are all the more essential, as they allow us to go deeper and to slow the pace of time by getting lost in experience and content. This is a value we cultivate and share, and one that is supported by your annual membership and philanthropic gifts.

Our latest presentation from our curators, scholars, and exhibit creators is actually found at another institution, the Lyman Allyn Art Museum in New London, CT, where “The Rockets’ Red Glare: Connecticut and the War of 1812″ opened in July. This is the result of five local institutions collectively telling the local story of the War of 1812. It is a wonderful representation of effective collaboration. Please be sure to see this exhibition (and buy and read the companion book), as many of these objects are rarely seen, and the Connecticut story of the War of 1812 has never been told like this, thanks to the great work of the collaborating institutions: Lyman Allyn Art Museum, Mystic Seaport, New London County Historical Society, New London Maritime Society, and Stonington Historical Society.

Stephen C. White
President

It has long been the mission of Mystic Seaport to attend to the broad education of its visitors and members, both young and old. Today our educational programs span kindergarten to post-graduate levels in our effort “to inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” We provide both formal and interactive educational opportunities to expose our students to elements of our maritime heritage that have helped to define what America was, is, and will become. Museums in general are particularly good at expanding learning opportunities, but Mystic Seaport is especially well equipped to provide students with programs that are participatory, immersive, and multidisciplinary and which capitalize on both the depth and breadth of collections, museum educators, and campus assets. Further, primary source material (rare these days!) is considered in context to foster deeper understanding, and thus we can broadly complement the work that is done in more traditional academic settings.

In the 1980s, Howard Gardner presented his theory of multiple intelligences which evolved over time to include seven (and potentially two more) discernible intelligences or preferred modes for learning and expression, including spatial, linguistic, logical-mathematical, and bodily-kinesthetic. While each of us possesses all these intelligences to varying degrees, we generally prefer and find greatest success through one or two of these cognitive abilities. How fortunate we are that author H. Melville, painter J. E. Buttersworth, and yacht designer O. Stephens each found his preferred mode. But I propose for the sake of this issue (if not for the Museum itself), that Gardner omitted an important intelligence: sea intelligence. While he suggests that “naturalistic” is a potential eighth intelligence, I submit that our staff, members, and volunteers understand from personal experience the unique and powerful call of the sea, respond favorably to the motion of a vessel and the smell of the sea, and identify with that certain longing for what is over the maritime horizon. At Mystic Seaport we expose students to this sea intelligence and some take to it…. well, as a duck to water.

Quite simply, Gardner’s philosophy stresses the importance of providing individuals with opportunities to explore and learn within their preferred or dominant modality. To that end, educators and parents should work towards getting students out of the traditional classroom setting and giving them the chance to connect to their own preferred manner in which to experience the world, by exposing them to physical activities, drama, music groups, engineering activities, and, yes, maritime museums. Those who have been fortunate enough to come to the Museum to experience Ship to Shore, Williams-Mystic, apprenticeships and internships, Brilliant, Ocean Classroom Foundation programs, and Conrad Camp (to name just a few) know what I mean. Without exposure to immersive sea experiences, some might never discover a latent potential or the possibility of linking their sea intelligence with spatial intelligence and becoming a shipwright, for example.

Enjoy this education issue, and feel welcome to give us a call to sign up for a program to connect with your sea intelligence.

Stephen C. White
President

Seascapes: Fall/Winter 2011

It was on July 21, 1841 at 10 a.m. that the Charles W. Morgan was launched from the Hillman Brothers Shipyard in New Bedford to join her many “sister” ships in the first great global industry. As whalers took to sea, even in 1841, these sturdy vessels were still charting the seas and discovering previously unknown islands in the Pacific. They were whalers, yes, but they were indeed explorers and risk takers who circumnavigated the globe. On July 21, 2011 at 3 p.m. we celebrated the Charles W. Morgan‘s 170th birthday, honored her caregivers over all these years, and reflected upon her current state of restoration in the anticipation of launching her two years hence on her 172nd birthday.

And it was at 6 a.m. on the same day that the current age of exploration came to a (temporary?) end when the space shuttle Atlantis rolled to a stop in Florida. She, too, circumnavigated the globe, albeit far away from the ebb and flow of the tides, but still subject to gravity and the moon’s influence. As she sat there on the tarmac, she immediately became a proud symbol of a bold age of exploration in much the same way that the Morgan has served, proudly, as a solitary symbol of her age of exploration and the spirit of American enterprise. Though vastly different, the Atlantis and the Morgan are both vehicles which have served to inspire generations of Americans and beyond.

Such icons, if you will, prompt us to ask “what’s next?” We know the answers to what followed the active career of the Charles W. Morgan, and we know it is important that her stories and the stories of her successors be shared with the public in the most meaningful manner possible. The same will be said of Atlantis in the years to come, but we cannot yet answer the question of “what’s next.” We can only hope that exploration, whether it is of space or even the depths of the ocean, will continue in order to support mankind and to answer significant questions yet unfulfilled.

This issue of the Mystic Seaport Magazine honors the last 70 years of the Morgan‘s great history known as her “Mystic years.” It will not be long before the Mystic years are greater in number than her whaling years, but it will always be those years at sea that will make the Charles W. Morgan an enduring symbol, much like Atlantis and her “ship” mates in space will represent the most recent age of exploration for generations to come.

Stephen C. White
President

Seascapes: Spring/Summer 2011

Something has been gnawing at me lately. I am burdened by the realization that, while we are the stewards of a nationally significant collection, Mystic Seaport is also largely responsible for keeping our nation’s great maritime traditions alive and vibrant, and seeing to it that they are passed forward to our rising generations. The present economic realities make this obligation exceedingly challenging, but that inspires us all the more to remain steadfast in our resolve to maintain these traditions, such as large and small timber work, sail making, sea music, sail training, rigging, shipsmithing, coopering and storytelling.

Mystic Seaport has been a key resource and location over the years for passing forward these skills, and we are proud of that role as we see our “alumni” actively involved across the nation in advancing these important traditions. Fortunately, we are joined in this work by our partner museums in the Council of American Maritime Museums, the programs within ASTA, the instructors at schools such as WoodenBoat and IYRS, and experiential programs such as Ocean Classroom Foundation. All help to ensure that our great maritime traditions are perpetuated. But in these times that we all confront, these skills are at risk; they are vulnerable and susceptible to our responses to a weak economy. It’s why gatherings of like-minded enthusiasts at events such as the Sea Music Festival and the WoodenBoat Show are so important.They remind us all of how critical these skills are to our maritime heritage and how hard we must advocate for funding and opportunities to keep them strong.

We know that it takes scores and scores of trained, dedicated practitioners, artisans, performers, researchers and scholars to ensure that these great traditions remain alive, and not solely remembered in scholarly papers, books or documentaries. Our skilled staff at Mystic Seaport are not merely adding life to history through their regular work at the Museum; they are, indeed, responsible for advancing the very skills that helped make history. The essential question for us these days is not so much where and how these skills will be passed on, but if we will be able to commit enough resources so that rising generations are suitably trained both to inherit the obligation and to then pass on the skill. With each reduction, nationwide, of programs and experiences, we weaken the knowledge base and thereby threaten the tradition itself of transferring knowledge from generation to generation. These skills that characterize our maritime heritage are as important to preserve and keep in the public eye as the objects themselves. As museums and practitioners, we must remember that our collective commitment to the American maritime experience depends largely on the qualified people who share it and teach it. To those of you who are members of Mystic Seaport and other tradition-based organizations, please know that through your membership dues and Annual Fund contributions you are helping to sustain these traditions that define and characterize our maritime heritage.

See you on the grounds.

Stephen C. White
President

Seascapes: Summer 2010

Mystic Seaport represents many things to its 17,000 members and 275,000 visitors, but I suspect that there are two predominant elements that define us to most: boats and water…and we have an abundance of both! With summer on the horizon, it’s time, thankfully, to return our thoughts to getting out on the water. This issue of the magazine serves as your summer planner for how the Museum can add value to your weekday and weekend experience for you, your family, and your guests.

For many, Mystic Seaport is a gateway, especially for families, to the water. Whether it’s sitting on a pier or bulkhead, taking a trip on the Sabino or perhaps renting a Whitehall for a row, we help meet that natural urge to return to the sea. Even though the horizon is short at Mystic Seaport with the Groton side just 200 yards away, our interaction with vessels takes us to far-reaching destinations. Let your imagination run at the Museum and there’s no telling where you’ll end up!

This month we closed our most popular winter exhibit: “Skills of the Sailor.” What a sight it was to see children (and their parents!) making believe they were in some far-off land or on great ship as they furled sails and practiced their knots. I think most sailors would agree that skills learned at sea become skills for life, and even today our visitors can enjoy adding a new skill to their sea chest.

And the reason we emptied the Schaefer Building this spring was to make way for the much-anticipated “Tugs!” exhibit. What fun it will be to showcase tugboats and towboats, those unsung heroes of port life worldwide and to tell the many stories and share the diverse talents of the essential vessels that symbolize the everyman of boats. The exhibit is interactive and engaging, and it will include a pool outside where future tug captains can experiment with the concepts of pushing and pulling.

Local tug favorites will pay us visits from time to time as their schedules permit to call even greater attention to their specialized role in our maritime heritage. And please keep a look out for our own tug, Kingston II, that may well play an “active” role in bringing more attention to the world of tugs. We will do our best, too, to acknowledge the key role that crews of tugs play in assisting ships navigate the often congested and complicated ports and by helping them find the security of their transient berths.

So come join us again this summer, either on the water or at “Tugs!” – or both! Regardless of what you choose, it will no doubt be another busy and exciting summer at Mystic Seaport.

See you at “Tugs!”

Stephen C. White
President

Seascapes: Spring 2010

INSPIRATION! Mystic Seaport believes that inspiration should be at the very core of important museum work, and that applies to staff, scholars and visitors alike. These days nothing provides more pure inspiration than the Charles W. Morgan herself. Over the past several months, the Museum, as well as its members and guests, has been abuzz with excited conversation regarding the prospect of the Charles W. Morgan going to sea again post-restoration. As you are undoubtedly aware by now, the Museum’s Board of Trustees voted unanimously to authorize the Museum staff to continue with its planning to sail the Morgan on a ceremonial 38th voyage in 2013, having agreed that it is both feasible and responsible to undertake such a venture — without a doubt, a bold and decisive decision.

Even to the casual museum visitor, the image of the Morgan floating down the Mystic River and eventually setting sail for New Bedford and beyond stirs up both romantic and historic emotions. The question remains: why would Mystic Seaport undertake such an enormous venture — why bother?

While the feature article within answers that question more fully, I will offer here that we must because with this restoration and renewed strength, she becomes the vessel through which the Museum connects America — in a most authentic and compelling manner — to a significant aspect of its maritime and economic roots. It reminds us and allows us all to consider, through dialogue and action, some of the challenges that America faced over a century and a half ago in the midst of the Industrial Revolution.

Great museums are expected to push the boundaries of interpretation and to engage the public in “conversations” about its past and the relevant human condition. We believe that restoring and sailing the Charles W. Morgan is potentially the fullest expression of the Museums’s dual responsibility of stewardship and education, giving us the unique chance to demonstrate what we have learned over time about what our ancestors faced as they sailed in search of solutions to our nation’s challenges and needs.

To visit the Morgan today as she sits in the Henry B. duPont Preservation Shipyard is an inspiration in itself. To witness the careful restoration by our skilled staff inspires one to want to help in some meaningful way. I, for one, cannot get enough of it and am truly inspired by the work and by the notion that in 2013 she, our Charles W. Morgan, will once again live as the ship she was built to be. I hope that you will also find inspiration in this voyage and find a way to help our effort.

One final thought on inspiration: what other organization has the skill, talent and resolve to restore a 19th-century vessel AND to sail her again? You know the answer, as you are a proud member. Please spread the word, and thank you for your unfailing support!

See you on the Morgan,

Stephen C. White
President

Visitors come to Mystic Seaport for numerous reasons — to research in the Collections Research Center, to spend quality time with family, to view a new exhibit on a favorite topic, to be part of an engaging, authentic community — but many are unsure just what to expect from this must-see national treasure. After all, Mystic Seaport isn’t a typical museum.

The entrance to the Museum grounds is deceiving and, in fact, keeps the first-time visitor guessing until arriving at the observation deck or emerging from the Visitor Reception Center when they enter an unanticipated new world. Just 70 yards (I measured!) from busy Greenmanville Avenue, they come upon the unexpected — a serene river, an estuary really, that borders the entire length of the Museum campus. It’s there and then that the visitor begins to understand just what makes Mystic Seaport atypical.

The late Waldo Howland, a great friend of the Museum, knew well the river’s educational and emotional power and wrote, in addition to all his wonderful books, an enduring paper for the Museum’s leadership, “The River, The River, The River.” He felt that it was essential that visitors, no matter what their maritime knowledge might be, experience the river in some personal manner during their visit and that the Museum should bring greater focus to bear on its natural asset. In essence, he felt that as rich and deep as the Museum’s maritime resources are, it is the river that contributes mightily to defining what the Mystic Seaport experience is.

Today, we strive to honor Waldo’s vision and directive. Some visitors arrive on weekends by water taxi aboard Liberty from the drawbridge, while others take advantage of Necessity to shuttle between the south and north ends, and Sabino gives her passengers a special feeling of the river in her own unique manner. When Breck Marshall glides by it’s all one can do to refrain from leaping aboard! But it’s the little boats — the small craft — that truly bring life to the river through the boat livery at the Boathouse. Mothers and fathers have a chance to introduce their children to a new experience on the water through rowing or sailing, and they patiently help their “crew” overcome any fears they may have. Our sailing camp, of course, brings color and drama to the river in the summer months, as only Dyer Dhows can, as our future’s next great captains learn the skills to navigate and to avoid potential calamity. Finally, there is nothing quite like the dramatic activity during the WoodenBoat Show and the Antique & Classic Boat Rendezvous to take us all back to a different era.

Being a seaport, it’s important for us to be as active as possible, for as ships and boats come and go important stories are told of where they’ve been and what the crew has learned, even if it may be just a cruise around the river between the bridges. One can almost hear the stories that children are telling back home or in school about their experiences “at sea,” for there is nothing better than a well-told sea story. Speaking of which, did you catch the Moby-Dick Marathon?

It was indeed a busy summer on the river…..when the sun shone. I think Waldo would be proud.

See you on the river,

Stephen C. White
President

These days organizations are fixated on restating and interpreting mission statements, a vitally important process, to be sure. But I wonder if more attention shouldn’t be given to the spirit of an institution? A mission statement, after all, no matter how meaningful and well drafted, will ring hollow without being fully complemented by institutional spirit.

Since joining the Museum during the cold winter months (when even “spirit” had found other places to reside), I have witnessed and experienced firsthand Mystic Seaport’s spirit awaken and blossom. In fact, I’m feeling somewhat overwhelmed by all that the spirit means here, and I understand far better why so many have been deeply committed to the Museum for so long. Spend some extended time here as a member, visitor, volunteer or employee and you’ll know what I mean.

We find this spirit, you see, in the very heart of the institution — its people. They are collectors and conservers; they are exhibitors and interpreters; and they are caretakers and stewards. They actively tell the story of Mystic Seaport from their perspective as protectors and promoters. They reach out and engage the visitors to draw them in so that they, too, can be captured by the spirit unique to a museum of this sort.

But the spirit of a museum extends well beyond its many caretakers. We find it everywhere we look and in the unique experience that each visit yields. It’s in the smell of the wood and in the unique story that each object brings to bear. The spirit is in the hush of the collection, quiet behind its protective doors, and it’s in the decks and holds of each vessel whose journeys we can only begin to imagine.

Without doubt, it’s in the joy of a child’s face while experiencing the joy of sailing a small boat solo. At an outdoor museum, it’s also in the quiet of the morning and in the peaceful dusk of evening. Those of you who come by boat know well what I mean here, as you have the campus to yourselves during those special times. If you’ve spent any time at all at sea, Mystic Seaport and its spirit speaks directly to you. It surprises you around every corner, and if you’re lucky enough to have a private moment on the campus away from the crowds, there’s no telling where the spirit here will take you. Are you a fisherman, a carver, a painter or a yachtsman? This is part of the magic here that brings you back to the campus. It’s what you’ve come to expect from Mystic Seaport and the role players, interpreters, and volunteers who help connect you to our Museum spirit.

See you on the L.A. Dunton,

Stephen C. White
President

As you can see, the message from the President has changed to Seascapes from Sightings. Those of you who have gone to sea and those who have stood at the shoreline dreaming of a destination beyond the horizon know well the reflective places to which the seascape transports us. Painters and poets have long captured that mood and the seascape itself so that others, too, may enjoy and interpret what is so unique to the sea and its environs. This page in our magazine gives me a chance to reflect upon what I see here at Mystic Seaport and well beyond our own shores. As we enjoy these glorious summer months when the Museum is at its zenith of activity and vitality, the village, the ships and the duPont Shipyard are alive and telling their compelling stories as only they can. Pay attention to the faces on children during these times and one can’t help but be inspired by the “magic of Mystic.” Yet we all know that museums, like Mystic Seaport, are facing an economic storm that challenges our ability to tell these stories well and to protect our treasures, both large and small. Museums in particular find it difficult to navigate through such storms, as we are so rich in physical assets yet so limited in cash to cover even our most essential and basic expenses.

In such times, it’s you, our members, volunteers and friends, on whom we must depend, even more then ever. Our dedicated staff, whose numbers have sadly been depleted, can only withstand so much work and pressure, and our amazing corps of volunteers have done their best to fill the gaps and to add value to the experience of each visitor. In order for the Museum to fulfill its mission and flourish in doing so, it’s critical that we grow the Annual Fund by at least 50% in this fiscal year, meaning that we will look to members and friends to make the Museum their philanthropic priority this year and for the next two. By realizing this goal, we can then begin to reinstate some of those things that have been eliminated in recent months, as well as create new programs that can reinvigorate our community. In addition, we are renewing our efforts to find more corporate support, and we are building broader partnerships with other leading organizations that share our values and our responsibility to America.

Along this focused journey, we will look for fresh, new ideas that will help Mystic Seaport stand taller in the region and in the genre. We are exploring new ways to expand our outreach and how we share the spirit of the Museum with those who can’t make the trip to Mystic or with those who aren’t aware, yet, of this jewel on the Connecticut coast.

Finally, come climb aboard and crawl around the Charles W. Morgan, hauled ashore in our shipyard. Here you will see, smell, hear, and feel all that Mystic Seaport is and acutely observe how authentic and critical our work truly is.

Stephen C. White
President