Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/491440
140 | MAY + JUNE 2015 nshoremag.com in-depth LIVE toward hands-on experiences." In addition to the photography work- shop, Castle Hill recently launched two wildly popular fall programs using the fresh fruit that grows on the property—participants walk the estate with a naturalist, picking cranberries from the nearby bog or beach plums from the ever-pop- ular crescent of sand, then use the kitchen in the Great House to make cranberry relish or beach plum jam. The Trustees program planners are not alone. Currently, "interac- tivity" and "engagement" are trendy watchwords across the country, and cultural institutions are reacting with a spate of offerings designed to have visitors experience museums in whole new ways. FROM AUDIO ART TO RECYCLED CLOTHES The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) in Salem has offered occasional workshops for years, says Michelle Moon, assistant director for adult programs, but in 2014 it introduced the robust ArtSessions series, which hosts monthly workshops in a range of media. Classes have encompassed everything from handcrafting wood- en bowls to creating new fashions from old clothes to plein air painting along Salem's historic waterfront. In May, inspired by the special exhibi- tion Storyteller: The Photographs of Duane Michals, artist Jorge Colombo will lead a class in telling sequential stories using a smartphone. Later this year, a workshop will make audio art, in the vein of stories heard on the NPR radio program This American Life. Current exhibits inspire most ArtSessions, and Moon says classes take advantage of the entire mu- seum, inside and out, with visits to galleries, interactions with objects, and even outdoor explorations. To enhance the experience, PEM photographs by Elise Sinagra PEM's ArtSessions series includes handcrafting wooden bowls.