|
March
15, 1998
The
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society
FOR
RELEASE ON OR PRIOR TO: Thursday, March 26th, 1998
American
Whalers’ Artistry Highlighted at
Mel
Fisher Maritime Heritage Society’s March Lecture
The
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society continues its new
monthly lecture series with a presentation on the
whalers’ art form known as scrimshaw. Scrimshaw—A
Legacy of American Folk Art and History will be
explored by folklorist Michael McManus at 7:00 PM on
Thursday, March 26, in the theater of the Society’s
200 Greene Street museum. McManus will share his
knowledge of this art form by offering commentary
accompanied by slides from the collections of four great
whaling museums. The program, funded by the Florida
Humanities Council, is free and open to the public.
About
200,000 whalers from New England and New York created
the intricately carved bone or ivory known as scrimshaw
during their long whaling voyages. Although not artists per
se, these scrimshanders produced works of compelling
beauty and craftsmanship that are distinctive to
American whaling—and the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage
Society is proud to present their artistry to Keys
audiences.
Founded
in 1982, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society is an
independent, not-for-profit organization dedicated to
exhibition, education, archaeology, preservation, and
research into New World maritime activity. Its Key West
museum holds the richest single collection of
l7th-century maritime and shipwreck antiquities in the
Western Hemisphere. The Florida Humanities Council (FHC)
is a non-profit organization funded by private
donations, the National Endowment for the Humanities,
and Florida’s Department of State, Division of
Cultural Affairs.
Everyone
interested in art and maritime history is invited to
attend the March 26 presentation and learn more about
the fascinating art of scrimshaw. For more information,
please call the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society at
305-294-2633 (extension 17).
|
