From inside the Center

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Congratulations to cooking instructor JJ Gonson—she was named 2008’s Best Personal Chef by Boston magazine.  From the article:

So you’re a little lazy. Or overworked. Or simply a really, really bad cook. No one has to know—not with Gonson around cover your tracks. Armed with fresh ingredients culled from local growers and farmers’ markets, the Cambridge-based chef swoops into homes throughout the Hub, leaving a week’s worth of healthy meals in her wake. And she’s not afraid to share her tricks, offering kitchen and pantry organization and private gourmet-grocery shopping, too.

JJ leads a cooking class for the 20 somethings’ Series this November, Banish the Bland, as well as her regular bevy of culinary lessons this fall.

Did you know that CCAE’s building coordinator Boby (”Bob”) Bear is the talented sign and lettering artist responsible for the window signs at Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, Leo’s Diner, and the Leavitt and Peirce smoke shop, among others?

Come check out the current staff art exhibit with a display about Boby’s work, plus some of the art and craftwork of other CCAE staff members: building coordinators Andrew (”Drew”) Schill and Hannah Dromgoole; systems analyst Scott Hall; controller Kadri Brattvet; and program planner Paula Ogier. There’s graphic novel inspired art, seaside landscapes, guitar amplifiers, urban street art, and more.

The exhibit runs now through September 29.

Cambridge Chronicle recently featured JJ Gonson, CCAE cooking instructor and proprietor of Cuisine En Locale, for a special home cookout last week.  A family opened up their home, and JJ brought loads of local food and health conscious foodies to share in an afternoon of good food.  People found out about the event through her mailing list, which you can sign up for at her website.  She’ll be hosting another one on Sunday, July 20th, this time picnic style, with a basket for you to bring to a park in Cambridge with the hosts, or to take on your own.

You can read the article here, or visit JJ’s website at enlocale.com

Happy Independence Day from all of us here at CCAE.  We’re closing up our buildings tomorrow, with a special weekend schedule to account for the holiday:

Saturday, July 5th - Classes will run at 12 Plympton Street (including FRHS-04). Brattle and Blacksmith House are closed.
Sunday, July 6th - Classes will run at 42 Brattle Street. Our regular open studio will also meet at 56 Brattle Street

The registration office will be closed Friday thru Sunday.

In the late 90s we used to host faculty readings here, events where writing instructors would get together and read from the projects they were working on. Judith Nies, one of our teachers, read a piece about her experience working as a congressional assistant in the late 60’s (a first for a woman at that time). That piece grew into a book that was just published, The Girl I left Behind - A Narrative History of the Sixties. Porter Square books hosts a publication party for her tomorrow, June 19, at 7:00 p.m. C-SPAN might show up for a taping.

You can read a snippet of the book in a story she wrote for Tufts Magazine. From the story:

One spring evening in 1968 as we were leaving the courts, we ran into a former classmate of Mac’s from Yale. Paul Gorman would eventually leave the political world to collaborate with the guru Ram Dass (aka Richard Alpert, A52) on such spiritual classics as The Only Dance There Is. But then he worked on Capitol Hill as the chief staff assistant for a group of liberal congressmen who were the key congressional opponents of the Vietnam War. When he asked what I did, I told him I was a lobbyist for the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the oldest peace organization in the country. “That’s a great organization,” he said. Astonishingly, not only had he heard of WILPF but he knew its members included the only two American women to have won the Nobel Peace Prize. He thought for a moment. “You should apply for my job,” he said. “You have the right background.” I was speechless. No women I knew worked as professionals on Capitol Hill. “I mean it,” he said. “Send me your résumé, and I’ll pass it on to the right people.”

You can read more about Judith and her book at her website: judithnies.com.

The Globe published an article today on an interesting group of whites in Boston who meet up each month to talk about race. You can read the article here. It also mentions CCAE’s White People Challenging Racism class, which begins this Summer on June 18th.

Phil Press began the Studio School in 1994 in response to student demand for a serious nonacademic alternative for adults to traditional art schools.  Several of our students have continued on to become acclaimed artists, and many continue to develop their craft here, each term. This month you can see the work of students and faculty at 42 Brattle.

Concept store in Harvard Square is selling limited edition Nike ‘Lobster’ dunk pakages. Sneaker fiends from all over have begun lining up outside the store for the goods, which release tomorrow, May 31st. The line has wrapped its way up Church street now, and started forming yesterday. From nikeskateboarding.org:

Concepts will be releasing their collaborative Nike SB “Lobster” Dunk on Saturday, May 31st. The shoe, inspired by the seafood heritage of New England, will be available in a limited edition set, available exclusively at Concepts. The first 200 pairs, which include the limited packaging, come equipped with a lobster claw rubber band, a tee shirt, a condiment box (which includes lobster shell cracker, fork, bib, an extra set of laces, and wet nap) and a poster, all put into a traditional paper bag used by typical, New England lobster retailers.

Not only will the packaging and bag be branded with the “Concepts Fishing Company” graphic, but the release at Concepts will also be catered by Legal Seafoods, who will be providing lobster appetizers. The release will be followed by a raffle for some additional exclusive goodies. The special pack will be extremely limited to 200 pairs, and will retail for $150 USD and the first 50 pairs will come with a special, limited edition wooden box.

Longtime Harvard Book Store owner Frank Kramer is selling his beloved store.  Read the Globe article here.