“Soy sauce and seaweed go really well with potato chips.” —Jose Andres
Time to feed our curiosity with all kinds of things you may have never thought about before. Trying something new — even if it doesn’t sound good to you — brings you back to life. Martha’s Vineyard Museum’s mission is a space where you can experience things that challenge us all to learn, create, share, and experience more.
Did you know, for example, that oral history curator Linsey Lee has been collecting voices and visuals of Island folk for 35 years? Linsey has dedicated her life to telling the stories of other people’s lives. And on Friday afternoon, Oct. 4th, at 5:30 pm, we will turn the tables and learn about her life. NPR’s Mara Liasson, an old friend of Linsey’s, returns to the Vineyard for the very important task of drawing information out of this Island treasure. No easy task. If anyone can, it’s Liasson. Linsey and she have been connected from the very beginning of Mara’s career, when in 1976 she wrote an article about Linsey Lee and her book “Edible Wild Plants of Martha’s Vineyard.” Come witness and participate in this nostalgic conversation by asking your own questions. Mara and Linsey will not have a chat like this for us again anytime soon.
October at MVM is going to be sensational in the truest meaning of the word. All our senses will be engaged. “Lunch Lectures” are back, and October’s installment of our beloved monthly series, Oct. 4 at noon, will be with Kristina Hook, a Wampanoag elder born and raised on the Island, who will share the story of her upbringing, foraging, and cooking with her mother and grandmother. Saturday, Oct. 5, will definitely be a bustling kind of day with the opening of “The Secret Life of Seaweed,” which will have touch tanks and other sensory experiences to get our hands on. It will dive deep into the ways in which seaweed has played an important role in Vineyard life for centuries — from farming to cuisine, art to conservation. It’s also “MVM’s Game Day and Book Sale,” where all day you can play outdoor games and shop historical books of all sorts, with sales to benefit our capacity to bring you programming that serves our entire Island community.
Looking ahead to next week, there are two compelling talks to join us for. Wednesday, Oct. 9 at 5 pm, it’s “Like Nowhere Else with Matt Pelikan.” Matt is the program director of the Martha’s Vineyard Atlas for Life, a program of BiodiversityWorks MV. As a companion to MVM’s exhibition, “Human/Nature: Art and Conservation on M.V.,” Matt will use some of the artwork displayed to transport us into the blissful and bucolic refuge of our unique and quite diverse natural world. Thursday, Oct. 10 at 5 pm, Dr. Kevin Loughlin, a retired urologist and historian on presidential health and their visits to the Vineyard, will present “Presidential Retreats: M.V. as a Historical Haven.” There are more presidents who have visited the Island than you might think. C-SPAN will be coming, so you know it’s a big deal.
It’s easy to get caught up in the din of life, and at the end of the day just plop down on the softest surface in our vicinity. But what if all that was needed to revive and recharge our experience of life was to come hear someone talk about something you have either never examined before, or something you are already interested in knowing more about? The museum is that comfy place to reassess, refresh, and revive our outlook on life.
Visit mvmuseum.org for more information about upcoming exhibitions and events. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday year-round. Regular hours are 10–4 pm and summer-season hours, through Sunday, Oct. 13, are 10–5 pm. Admission is free to members; admission for nonmembers is $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $5 for children 7 to 17, and free for children 6 and under. Islander rates are available.
