Newburyport Framers x Museum of Old Newbury

The relationship formed in September 2022, a great collaboration begin between Newburyport Framers and the Museum of Old Newbury, when we began printing images from the Museum’s collection for our customers. It is a wonderful alliance and makes me feel that we are part of a greater village. For each print, the museum is paid a user fee, we work out the printing and framing, and our customer happily takes home an amazing historic photo to enjoy.

On our website under “Art” you can find a small sampling of images from the Museum’s collection. For example, the above image of the Joppa Flats clam shacks is now hanging in the shop.  It’s amazing to see what was once such a small photo blown to a large scale, illuminating every interesting detail.  It is certainly a crowd pleaser, as everyone, for the most part, knows this bend in Water Street. So many folks who come through our door have relatives or friends that “live right across the street,” or have a story about a moved clam shack that is now a garden shed in a nearby town; the history goes on and on.

The collection is vast and ever-growing and full of images of ships, portraits, landscapes, and more, all telling a story of this amazing area we call home in the most artful way. The settings and subjects of these images tell the story of a place rich in history, but, for me, they also spark a visual connection to familiar images in art history. I find many of them incredibly beautiful, and I certainly have my favorites. The 1889 “Black Ducks and Snipe” is a glass plate photograph from the recently acquired Winder collection. The piece is beautiful in it’s own right as an abstraction, but also conjures up a deep connection to timeless themes in art and life. I find this to be fascinating. It feels like following links in time and finding a thread that connects us.

Dead Partidge oil painting by Jan Baptist Weenix, 1650 Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery The Hague Netherlands

When we first began to explore the idea of our collaboration with the museum, I remember going to the basement on High Street and sifting though boxes and boxes of images. The collection is vast, rich in history, and full of untapped beauty. I felt so excited and quickly overwhelmed. I had to go back a few times. Eventually, I submitted to my visual fatigue. I couldn’t possibly stand over another box and look anymore. I knew I could only scratch the surface and I found comfort in viewing a small sampling of the photos that has been made available to preview on Digital Commonwealth through a grant to the Museum. A cup of tea, a comfy seat, and my computer made the task of image hunting much more enjoyable. I succeeded in choosing a few of my favorites and making them available to view on our website.

As time passed, Newburyport Framers x The Museum of Old Newbury is blossoming. We are all inspired to make more of the collection available, and we realized we could create this same pleasant experience for you.  Keep on the lookout as we develop our plan to make Newburyport Framers a landing place for you to view the collection.  We will have a comfy spot for you in the shop to search the collection for your favorites. If you find an image that makes your heart sing, we offer a professional Canon inkjet art reproduction printer and would be happy to print a custom size for you. We are also hoping to offer prints of the most prestigious paintings in the Museum’s collection. You can shop for frames while you wait for the print and maybe even enjoy a cup of tea.

One of my favorite photos from the collection is the image of a group surrounding a balloon. It is always amazing and not often surprising to see the potential and fruit of a good collaboration. We are so looking forward to seeing our plans through. I hope you can join in our enthusiasm.

Cheers,

P