North Truro’s Twine Field: Memories, Poems, & Paintings
Wednesday, August 16th, 7 pm
Into the 1950s, weir-fishery nets were laid out for repair and tarring in the historic Twine Fields above Pilgrim Pond. Now, the remaining 10 acres of the Twine Fields are a rare upland meadow where bobwhites call and fritillaries flit. Join us for an evening in celebration of this special place.
Poets Keith Althaus and Patric Pepper will read, artist Robert duToit will display some plein air work from the Twine Fields, and Gwen Kazlouskas-Noyes and Elizabeth Bradfield will share stories from Truro elders, such as Lilian A. Howard and Don Horton, who have passed them on.d
This event is part of a series of events raising awareness of the culturally and ecologically significant Twine Fields, which are currently under consideration for development. Local residents are raising funds to preserve this beautiful and critical land for the enjoyment of generations to come.
Poet Keith Althaus is author of three collections, most recently Cold Storage. Althaus’s honors include a Pushcart Prize, a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, and a grant from the Massachusetts Council for the Arts. After a 1969 fellowship at the Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center on Cape Cod, Althaus settled in North Truro, Massachusetts, with his wife, the artist Susan Baker. Together they run an art gallery.
Elizabeth Bradfield is the author of Once Removed, Approaching Ice, and Interpretive Work. Her poems and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Orion and many anthologies. She lives in North Truro, works as a naturalist locally as well as on expedition ships in the high latitudes, and teaches creative writing at Brandeis University. www.ebradfield.com
Artist Rob DuToit has been involved in numerous solo and group shows in Boston, New York, and the Outer Cape and is currently showing his work at Berta Walker Gallery in Provincetown. He has an MFA from Parsons School of Design, where he studied with Paul Resika and Leland Bell, and his early background in the sciences, especially biology, contribute to his appreciation of nature and the underlying structure of things. Rob began painting with oils and drawing with ink at the age of 10, inspired by Chinese paintings he saw at Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. A student of zen, he combines daily meditation practice as a way to further meet things “as they are.” Rob lives in Truro and is married to Janice Redman, the sculptor, and they have a son Alexander. robdutoit.com.
Gwen Kazlouskas-Noyes’s family roots grow three generations deep into the Twine Fields. An actress of stage and screen, an entrepreneur with three businesses at present and an energy medicine practitioner, Gwen holds a B.S. in Environmental studies and a minor in Oceanography and served as a naturalist for 21 years on the local whale watching fleets. Her love of the environment combined with her family history have fostered a deep passion for protecting this sacred space.
Poet Patric Pepper is author of a chapbook, Zoned Industrial, and a full-length collection, Temporary Apprehensions, winner of the Washington Writers’ Publishing House Poetry Prize. His latest collection, a chapbook titled Everything Pure as Nothing, is forthcoming from Finishing Line Press. Recent work has appeared in Beltway Poetry Quarterly, The Broadkill Review, Gargoyle, and The Innisfree Poetry Journal.
Works by Rob Dutoit will be on display at the Truro Highland House Museum through the end of August and are for sale. Any enquiries can be made through Rob DuToit and the Berta Walker Gallery, www.bertawalkergallery.com. Berta Walker has generously offered to donate 30% of any sales to the purchase of the Twine Fields property and 20% to support the Truro Historical Museum.