Project: OUTDOOR SHOWER Guests who get a chance to use the outdoor shower at the Block Island home of Larry Breakstone and his wife, Karen Levey, come away impressed. And for good reason: For starters, it’s got hot water, but the 4×8-foot structure is also spacious, offers a pleasant view of Block Island Sound, and […]
The wind was blowing hard and cold through Manchester, New Hampshire, the first week of April when I paid a visit to the newly renovated Currier Museum of Art, now re-opened after two years of construction. The stiff wind was enough to set the curls of scrap metal atop the Currier’s new hood ornament, a […]
There’s no such thing as bad art. I used to think that the work of the art critic was to judge art and artists, to sort out the good and dispose of the bad. Years ago, however, I came to realize that on the scale of human actions from genocide to sainthood, making art ranks […]
An Artist Among Us Thank you, Mel Allen, for the wonderful job you did with the Brendan Loughlin story [“Still Lifes,” January/February 2008, p. 16]. He’s my art teacher. I just love the ending, and I think you captured his generous and sincere nature. His mission is to spread light and joy. It’s so funny […]
We’re big fans of the 22-mile Cape Cod Rail Trail, especially when you take it in bits and pieces. But to be frank, the actual ride, even after the route’s recent refurbishment, can be a real yawner for kids. It’s a former railroad line, straight with very little grade. We like the ups and downs […]
If you drive down Main Street in Holyoke, Massachusetts, you’ll see the old block-long storefronts, broken and gapped now as tenement after tenement is condemned and demolished. Sometimes you can still see the rubble strewn around these empty lots, but mostly they’ve been cleared away, leaving fresh, undisturbed lawns of grass. Preservationists hate grass — […]
A recent cartoon in the New Yorker depicts two older couples sitting amidst the construction debris of the interior of a house. The host says, “Our dream is to live long enough to see the end of our renovation.” I have often spoken those words here, where, one room at a time, the walls have […]
Remembering a heartwarming holiday edition of “Mary’s Farm,” where Edie Clark reflects on the powers of cooking and friendship.
When graphic designer Carol Kolodny built her cottage in Vineyard Haven in 1981, she had plenty of room for herself and could accommodate her nephews on their frequent visits. But some 20 years later she was feeling crowded, particularly when company came calling, as it often does for residents of Martha’s Vineyard. “My brother joked […]
