Art Program For New Generation of Beach Painters

This article was submitted by Anne Driscoll

The is hosting a Beach Painter Plein Air Art Program as the third Fish Tales from the Fish House community lecture series on Saturday, July 14 at 10 a.m. at Fisherman’s Beach. Anita Balliro, an art teacher at , will host the program in which the public is invited to come paint on the beach in the tradition of the Swampscott/Lynn Beach Painters of the 19th century.

The outdoor painting program is a follow up to a Fish Tales from the Fish House lecture that Anita Balliro gave about the Swampscott/Lynn Beach Painters on Wednesday, June 6 at 7 p.m. Both programs are being co-sponsored by ARTS (Arts Resources for the Town of Swampscott), a non-profit whose mission is to improve the quality of life in Swampscott by fostering lifelong appreciation of and participation in visual, literary, and performing arts within the community. Balliro is a member of ARTS and a longtime promoter of the arts and will be assisted by fellow ARTS member Julie Brooks, owner of the GaGa Gallery, 359 Humphrey St., Swampscott.

The plein air art class is free, although donations are accepted and space is limited to 20 participants. Adults and children are invited and all abilities are welcome, weather permitting. Some paints, easels and drawing boards will be available but participants are encouraged to bring their own easels and paints. Registration is required. For more information and to make your reservation, call 781.962.5587.

“Swampscott has such a long and storied connection to the sea, we hope Fish Tales from the Fish House is a new tradition that celebrates our rich history,” said Steve Speranza, Swampscott Yacht Club rear commodore. “We are pleased and excited that Anita is following up her lecture on Swampscott’s own colony of American Impressionist painters that flourished along our shores with an actual demonstration where they once painted.”

Balliro, who teaches art at Swampscott High School, says the fisherman from Swampscott provided compelling subjects for plein air artists who set up their easels along the shore. The works of the Swampscott/Lynn Beach Painters are highly regarded and very collectible. These artists, such as William Partridge Burpee, C.E.L. Green, Edward Burrill and Charles H. Woodbury, were accomplished American Impressionists working here in our midst, although many had trained in Paris.

The Swampscott Yacht Club is housed at the Fish House, which was built in 1896, is on the National Historic Register of Historic Places and is the only municipal fish house on the East Coast. The lecture series was conceived of, in part, to share the richness of community life and the history of coastal Swampscott, as well as introduce community members to the treasured Fish House.

The Swampscott Yacht Club is a volunteer club founded in 1933 for the purpose of promoting yachting and sailboat racing. Located on the second floor of the Fish House, there are more than 200 members, about half of whom are boaters, enjoying fishing, sailing, power boating, kayaking or rowing. Membership costs as little as $340 per year.