New Bedford Whaling Museum

"What did you do this weekend? Oh, nothing..."

I don't know about you, our excitement has turned into exhaustion after a 25-hour Moby-Dick Marathon with more than 1500 visitors from 31 states and 6 countries.

Luckily, our team can recharge today as the New Bedford Whaling Museum's winter hours kick in today, and we are now closed on Mondays.

Our new hours are Tuesday-Saturday, 9:00am-4:00pm, and Sundays, 11:00am-4:00pm.

Starting soon: Chapter 105!

Nearly 30 Chapters remain in the 2024 Moby-Dick Marathon. Hundreds of visitors pushed through the night and are in full steam ahead to complete Herman Melville's Moby-Dick by this afternoon.

There are also many activities today, and if you're snowed in, you can view our marathon livestream!

Important links:

Marathon Activities and schedule: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/

Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yotqlSznpg

2024 Moby-Dick Marathon Merchandise: https://store.whalingmuseum.org/collections/moby-dick-collection

The Moby-Dick Marathon arrives!

The 28th annual Moby Dick Marathon starts TODAY, and we cannot contain our excitement.

Important links:

Full Weekend Timeline: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/

Moby-Dick Marathon Stream: https://youtu.be/1yotqlSznpg

View the Portuguese Mini Marathon: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ktDzZyiJRmSBIEYdHWqM7A #/registration

Also be sure to tag us in any photos you share. We’d love to see them!

📸: Members of Culture*Park prepare for the live performance of Chapter 40

The stage is set, and our team is ready for the 28th annual Moby-Dick Marathon!

❄️: With snow in our forecast, the NBWM will remain open, and the Moby-Dick Marathon will continue. Our team will be watching the forecast closely, and if anything changes, we'll have information about the Marathon on our social media pages, website, and email lists.

The Marathon starts tonight with a sold-out dinner and presentation from artist Jos Sances and Melville Scholars.

On Saturday, January 5:

Enjoy free parking at the Elm Street Garage, a short walk from the NBWM.

9:30AM: Stump the Melville Scholars Gameshow

10:00AM: Little Whalers Story Time with the New Bedford Public Library

11:30 AM: Moby-Dick Extracts

12:00PM: Moby-Dick Marathon Begins

1:30PM: Father Mapple's Sermon at the New Bedford Seamen's Bethel

2:00PM: Portuguese Moby-Dick Marathon

2:15PM: Moby Dick Marathon Continues

2:30 pm Chat with Melville Scholars

3:00 pm Make Your Mark

3:45 to 5:45 pm Screen Printing Demonstration with Jos Sances

8:00PM: Chapter 40 Performance by the Culture*Park

10:00PM: The New Bedford Whaling Museum closes doors to new visitors.

Sunday, January 7

7:00AM: The NBWM Reopens

8:00 am The 20th-Hour Treat

9:30 am Chat with Melville scholars

10:30 am Imagining Melville, Podcast with Unburied Books

1:00 pm Epilogue

Get full details of the Moby-Dick Marathon: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/

From New Bedford to New York.

The American Folk Art Museum's latest exhibition: "Unnamed Figures: Black Presence and Absence in the Early American North." features two New Bedford Whaling Museum paintings from Joseph Shoemaker Russel.

As a corrective to histories that define slavery and anti-Black racism as a largely Southern issue, the exhibition offers a new window into Black representation in a region that is often overlooked in narratives of early African American history.

The exhibition includes 125 remarkable works including two paintings from the New Bedford Whaling Museum Collection.

The American Folk Art Museum invites visitors to focus on figures who appear or are omitted from early American images between the late 1600s and early 1800s. The exhibition runs until March 24, 2024.

🎨: Joseph Shoemaker Russell (American, 1795-1860). Dining Room of Abraham Russell, New Bedford, c. 1840s. Watercolor on paper, 6.5 x 9 in. (16.5 x 22.9 cm.) New Bedford Whaling Museum, Gift of Mrs. Edward K. Simpson, 1962.4.13. Image courtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

Could this be the future of Boston's Innovation District?

Mark your calendars for January 24, at 5:30pm, for an "Inundation District" screening by David Abdel and Ted Blanco.

The film explores the construction of Boston's Innovation District along the Atlantic Ocean well after scientists began warning of the climate change threats. The city, which already has more high-tide flooding than nearly any other in the United States, called its new quarter the Innovation District. But with seas rising inexorably and at an accelerating rate, others call the neighborhood by a different name: Inundation District.

The 79-minute film, a production by The Boston Globe, was released in the fall of 2023. This film is presented in conversation with the upcoming exhibition Framing the Domestic Sea: Photographs by Jeffery C. Becton, a new body of work by this celebrated Maine artist. The exhibition will be on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum's Wattles Gallery from January 12, 2024, to May 5, 2024.

Becton's digital photographic collages are surreal and panoramic in scope. The layered visual images evoke the past, New England’s varied histories, the maritime world, and contemporary environmental concerns.

Reserve your tickets for the film: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/inundation-district-film-screening/

📸: Inundation District, David Abdel, Ted Blanco

Dust off your Moby-Dick book, and get ready for an epic adventure this weekend!

125 chapters, 25 hours, 200+ readers, The Moby-Dick Marathon returns to New Bedford!

This Friday, January 5th at 6:00pm, kick off the Marathon with a dinner and presentation of Melville Scholars and hear from artist Sance Joy, and his mural "Or the Whale: An Ark that Includes Us All."

On Saturday, January 6, starting at 9:30 am, pregame with Melville activities including Stump the Scholars, Little Whalers Story time with the New Bedford Public Library, and get ready 12:00pm launch of the Moby-Dick Marathon.

Attend in person or stream it online and make a donation to the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Learn more about the weekend: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/

Welcome, 2024! 🤩

It's with a heavy heart that we inform you our winter hours are now active. (Temporarily!)

The New Bedford Whaling Museum will be closed on Mondays and open Tuesday- Saturdays 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Sunday 11:00am-4:00pm.

The new hours allow us to prepare all the exciting things for this year, and perform some minor cardiovascular surgery on whale hearts.

Plan your visit: www.whalingmuseum.org/visit

Time is running out! A small gift can go a long way.

Today's the last day to contribute to the New Bedford Whaling Museum Fund with an end-of-the-year gift.

Contribute today to have your donation doubled with a matching donation from friends of the NBWM.

Your contribution allows us to continue our 123-year-old art, history, science, and culture mission.

Make a gift today: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/support/give/ -fund

Kick off the New Year at the New Bedford Whaling Museum during the 2024 City Celebrates New Year’s Eve party!

From 5:00-8:00pm on Dec. 31, spend the evening with the Toe Jam Puppet band, Vinny’s Miracle Fish puppets, and photobooth! The event is free and open to the public!

Learn more: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/toejampuppetband/

"I've never been in a theater before..." - a First Grader from Fall River, walking into the New Bedford Museum Cook Memorial Theater for the first time.

In 2023, the New Bedford Whaling Museum gave a unique art, history, science, and culture experience to more than 6,000 school children attending field trips.

This wouldn't be possible if it weren't for thousands of dollars of support from our community. Contribute $25 to the Museum Fund to offer exciting and engaging opportunities for more school children in 2024.

Contribute by Dec. 31, and have your contribution doubled thanks to a $25,000match challenge from friends of the NBWM.

Give today: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/support/give/

"It is the easiest thing in the world for a man to look as if he had a great secret in him." -Moby-Dick, Herman Melville

We're one week away from the 2024 Moby Dick Marathon. The Marathon kicks off on Saturday, January 6 at 9:30am.

Admission is free to the event, and we suggest making a donation to the New Bedford Whaling Museum. We'll have the event streamed online for those who can't make it.

Learn more:https://www.whalingmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/MDM-Reading-Timetable.pdf

📸: John Robson, Moby Dick Marathon, 2001

More than 77,000 visitors explored the New Bedford Whaling Museum this year!

It's all thanks to our community support! It's not too late to make a small gift of $25 to our Museum Fund. Your contribution ensures future generations learn about New Bedford's art, history, science, and culture.

Make a contribution before Dec. 31 and have your donation matched, thanks to a match challenge from friends of the NBWM, who will match up to $25,000!

Contribute to the Museum Fund: https://buy.acmeticketing.com/donate/495

🎨: Celeste Roberge (American, b. 1951), Fisherman’s Knit Sweater, 2022. Cast bronze from original made of seaweed and wax, 31 x 37 x 11 in. (78.7 x 94 x 28 cm.), courtesy of the artist.

We loved sharing more than 10 new exhibitions with you this year! We have so much in store for you in 2024.

Which New Bedford Whaling Museum exhibition was your favorite during 2023?

1️⃣: The Stars that Guide Us: Roy Rossow
2️⃣: A Singularly Marine and Fabulous Produce: The Cultures of Seaweed
3️⃣: Sculptures on the Plaza
4️⃣: All Hands
5️⃣: Now and Soon and Somehow Forever: Candice Smith Corby and William Petitt
6️⃣: Whale Strandings: Daniel Ranalli
7️⃣: Marine Heatwaves: Deb Ehrens
8️⃣: Seals and Society
9️⃣: Common Ground: Community Stories
🔟: Re/Framing the View: Nineteenth-Century American Landscapes

Holiday Greetings from the New Bedford Whaling Museum!

Photographer Howard M. Wood made this holiday card featuring a New Bedford Wharf snow scene around the late 1800's with the Bark Eliza Adams on the right side and Niger at the left.

📸: Howard M. Wood, undated. 1991.48.10.28, NBWM

We’re closed today. We’re waiting on some last minute gifts to arrive. 🎁

On Christmas Eve, 1908, New Bedford Postal Carriers hustled throughout the city to deliver last-minute packages and holiday cards.

This photo comes from our collection of Standard Times negative plate images from the early 1900's.

Happy Holidays!

📸: Maker once known, 1908, Negative Plate Glass Photograph, Standard-Times

Museum Fund match increase!

Some of our area friends are willing to match $25,000 in end of year gift giving towards the Museum Fund.

Contribute $25 to the Museum Fund by Dec 31. and have your donation doubled by friends of the NBWM.

Your contribution allows us to continue our art, history, science, and culture mission for future generations of museum visitors.

Contribute today: https://buy.acmeticketing.com/donate/495

We welcomed our final field trip visitors of 2023 this week. Just like our Fairhaven and Dartmouth student visitors, we are ready for the holiday break!

The New Bedford Whaling Museum will be closed on the holidays, including December 24, 25, and January 1, 2024.

Starting January 2, 2024 we will be operating in winter hours. The Museum will be open from Tuesday - Saturday from 9:00am - 4:00pm, and Sunday 11:00am - 4:00pm.

Visit our website to confirm operating hours: www.whalingmuseum.org/visit

Who is ready for 2024?🎉

Kick off the new year during the City of New Bedford’s City Celebrates! New Year's Eve celebration at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

From 5:00pm to 8:00pm, sing silly songs and wear your dancing shoes as the Toe Jam Puppet Band fills the Jacob’s Family Gallery. While at the museum, take a photo at the Photo Booth in the lobby.

Afterward, peruse other fun events with our downtown neighbors!

Learn more by visiting Destination New Bedford

"Call me Ishmael..." 🐋

Michael J. Bobbit, Executive Director of Mass Cultural Council, will be headlining January's 2024 Moby Dick Marathon, and reading Moby Dick's iconic opening lines!

Michael J. Bobbitt is a theater director, choreographer, and playwright who has dedicated his professional career to arts leadership. He joined Mass Cultural Council as Executive Director in February 2021, and is the highest-ranking cultural official in Massachusetts state government.

He previously served as Artistic Director of the New Repertory Theatre in Watertown, MA; immediately prior to this he held the same position at the Adventure Theatre-MTC in Maryland for 12 years. While in Maryland Michael led the organization to be a respected regional theatre training company and a nationally influential professional Theatre for Young Audiences.

The Moby Dick Marathon kicks off January 5-7, 2024. Attend or Stream the Moby Dick Marathon: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/moby-dick-marathon-2024/

Double your donation!

Starting today online gifts to the New Bedford Whaling Museum Fund will be matched dollar for dollar up to $20,000 by a group of Museum Trustees.

The NBWM's art, history, science, and culture mission relies on support from thousands of community contributions.

Give online today to make your annual gift go twice as far: https://buy.acmeticketing.com/donate/495

🎉These volunteers have 225 combined years at the New Bedford Whaling Museum!

This past week, the NBWM Volunteer Council pinned volunteers with anniversary pins. Join us in congratulating:

25 Years of Service: Thomas Flynn
20 Years of Service: Jennifer Rodriguez, Donna Junier, Barbara Poznysz, Robert Mogilnicki, and Susan Barnet
15 years of Service: Louisa Medeiros, Paula Cabral, Lorraine Carey, Erin Burlinson,
10 years of service: Kathleen McAuliffe, Mary Biltcliffe, Estelle Keches
5 Years of service: Jane Pucello, Charles Chace,

Calling all Herman Melville fans and K-12 educators!

Apply to join the 2024 NEH Summer Institute for K-12 Educators: Moby-Dick and the World of Whaling in the Digital Age. The institute takes place during a three-week hybrid Summer Institute online June 23-28 and in New Bedford, Massachusetts, July 7-19, 2024.

Join 25 K-12 educators, and explore Herman Melville's Moby Dick like never before. Participating teachers will encounter the dynamic worlds of Moby-Dick.

This Institute will empower teachers from around the nation to journey boldly and immersively with their students into Moby-Dick and to dramatize the imperative value of the humanities as an essential force of social revitalization.

Apply Today: https://www.teachingmelville.org/

🎨: Isaac Walton Tabor (American 1860 - 1933 ). Moby Dick Swam Swiftly Round and Round the Wrecked Crew, painting,New Bedford Whaling Museum, 2001.100.4874

🐳: Moby Dick Marathon items have arrived!

The Museum Store is fully stocked with new Moby Dick Marathon items. Shirts, tote bags, water bottles, pins, and of course, Herman Melville's Moby Dick. Kick off 2024's Moby Dick Marathon in style!

Visit our Museum Shop for our full selection: https://store.whalingmuseum.org/collections/moby-dick-collection

Coming this January: "Framing the Domestic Sea: Photographs by Jeffery Becton."

Renowned Maine artist Jeffery Becton's digital collages offer a surreal exploration of intertidal spaces and atmospheric conditions around his Deer Isle home. These thought-provoking images blur the lines between dream and reality, challenging perceptions of time, history, and our environmental impact.

Becton's works, inspired by New England's histories and contemporary environmental concerns, invite a deep dive into the complexities of human connection with the natural world. The exhibition serves as a catalyst for discussions on maritime history, intergenerational legacies, and the pressing environmental issues of our time, particularly the impacts of climate change on coastal communities.

The exhibition opens on January 15 at the New Bedford Whaling Museum and runs until May 5, 2024.

Learn more about the exhibition: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/.../framing-the-domestic.../

📸: Jeffery C. Becton (American; b. 1947), Waking Up, 2021. Photomontage on aluminum, 20 x 34 inches, image courtesy of the artist.

On this day Dec 12, 1959, one Finback Whale stranded itself on the Provincetown coast. It was a cloudy day, 42 degrees, and wind gusts of 22mph from the southwest.

The stranding is memorialized by artist Daniel Ranalli and his exhibition "Whale Strandings." The exhibition includes Ranalli's research and memorializing of whale strandings dating back to the early 1600s across the globe.

"Whale Strandings" remains on display at the New Bedford Whaling Museum until February 19, 2024.

Learn more: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/exhibition/whale-strandings-daniel-ranalli/

The conservation of Raleigh's Panorama is the largest aluminum panel reversal ever undertaken.

On Wed. Dec. 13, join a virtual conversation with conservator Gianfranco Pocobene and explore his team's groundbreaking conservation efforts. This conservation was no easy feat, and took more than 385 hours of labor to return the painting as originally intended.

Register for our virtual conversation: https://www.whalingmuseum.org/program/the-conservation-of-charles-sidney-raleighs-panorama-of-a-whaling-voyage/

In case you missed our Portuguese and Lusophone-World Lecture Series with Maria Lawton, it's now available to view!

Visit our YouTube channel for a recording of all of our programs from this year and past. While you're there subscribe to our channel so you never miss a recording!

The Portuguese and Lusophone-World Lecture Series, Featuring Maria Lawton Join us for an enriching evening dedicated to Lusophone culture and heritage, featuring the popular Maria Lawton – Author, Host, and Producer of the award-wi...