2nd Annual Sentinels on the Sound Set for 7/14-9/2

This summer, for a 2nd year, the New London Maritime Society - Custom House Maritime Museum  hosts Sentinels on the Sound, a celebration of New London's lighthouse heritage. This year,  events are  spread out across the summer on three different weekends, each with a different flavor. 

The weekends are July 14-15 (in conjunction with Don't Miss the Boats), August 4-5, andSeptember 1-2. But everybody's favorite event from 2011 -- the lighthouse boat tours--will take place all three weekends.  Boat trips to New London Harbor Light and abound the lighthouses in the harbor take place on both the Saturdays and Sundays of each lighthouse weekend, and boat trips to Ledge Light take place on the Saturdays, only. All boat tours will leave from the Custom House pier. To see this year's boat tour schedule, visit the museum's website:www.nlmaritimesociety.org. To reserve a place on a tour, call the museum at860-447-2501 (best between 1 and 5 PM). This year, the Custom House Maritime Museum is again partnering with the Ledge Light Foundation and Project Oceanology on the tours to Ledge Light.  The three lighthouse weekends are sponsored, in part, by a grant from Veolia / New London Water Authority.     

  

In addition to the boat tours, each weekend will have its own mix of special events and exhibitions. On the first lighthouse weekend, July 14-15, highlights include a new exhibition, a circus (& juggling workshop), and a performance.  

 

Mark Shasha returns to his native New London with Moonjellies and Daydreams: The Art of Mark Shasha, which opens on Saturday, July 14th at the Custom House Maritime Museum. An opening reception with the artist is planned for Saturday, July 14th 2-4pm. Please note: Mark Shasha also will be available at the museum from 1-5pm on Sunday, July 15th. Shasha was first published in the Groton News when he was 14 years old as a student at New London High School. He later continued his studies at the Rhode Island School of Design and moved to Boston to illustrate for The Globe, The Phoenix and other publications. Today his paintings and prints are collected internationally and millions have read his books.

This exhibit will feature some of Shasha's early illustrations and work from the 1980's to the award-winning seascape and landscape paintings that are his primary area of interest in recent years. The exhibition will be on view through September 15, 2012, and Mark's book, Night of the Moon Jellies, and posters are available for purchase at the Museum Shop. 

 

Saturday, July 14, prepare to be amazed as the spell-binding Nimble Arts Circus returns for the 3rd year in a row to New London's Parade Plaza, with FREE performances at 4 and 6:30 PM.   Nimble Arts Summer Circus was founded by award-winning aerialists Elsie & Serenity Smith, formerly of Cirque du Soleil. Identical twins specializing in aerial acrobatics, their teaching & performing backgrounds include a 4-year tour on Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco, as well as Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey Circus, Circus of the Kids, the New Pickle Circus, Pilobolus, the Actor's Gym, Circus Juventus, Umo Ensemble & Canopy Aerial Dance Studio. As performers they present a duo trapeze and duo fabric act, as well as various solos on aerial apparatus. Serenity also performs a partner handbalancing act with her husband, Bill Forchion. Bill, besides performing with Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros., & The Pickle Family Circus, has an extensive career as a stunt man and actor in film & television. 

If you haven't seen their show, you should. This is the real deal.     --Jacques Rapide, Paris Times

Saturday, July 14 is another great day in New London. Why not make a day of it?  

Come to downtown New London to see Don't Miss the Boats, have Lunch, take a juggling workshop at 2 with circus acrobats, meet artist Mark Shasha at 3 at the Custom House,catch a Lighthouse Harbor tour at 4, be amazed by Nimble Arts Summer Circus on  Parade Plaza at 6:30, stay on downtown for Supper.