Photographer and Historian Les Bartlett on Motif No.1 Day

Les Bartlett will present on Motif No.1 Day at the Rockport Art Association. Don't miss the opportunity to hear Rockport's premier authority on the Motif give perspective on its role in history.

In the Gloucester Times: Motif No. 1 Day

Check out Les Bartlett's column in today's Gloucester Times:

Fourteen years ago, I first became enchanted by the little red fish shack in Rockport — Motif No. 1.

I had undertaken the design of a website for the Rockport Chamber of Commerce — what was to become www.rockportusa.com — and everywhere I looked, I suddenly saw Motif No. 1 popping up.

The Chamber's yearly guide, "The Rockport Anchor," featured the iconic shack on all its 48 covers,there was a yearly festival called "Motif No.1 Day," which had also been observed nearly 50 years. What was this about I wondered? Other important dates started to appear.

During the Blizzard of 1978, the original building was swept off it's foundation. Amidst a following storm of controversy, the town decided to rebuild. Why?

In 1933, a model float was created by the Rockport American Legion post and driven to the Chicago World's Fair. Why?

In 1930 the town of Rockport voted to make Motif No.1 the official symbol of the town. Why?

And so in 1998, at my request, for the first time the Motif building was open to the public, over 175 people traipsed thru and listened to a first telling of what was going on in 1932-33 Rockport.

Each year since 1998, in May at the weekend designated for Motif No. 1 Day, I have spun tales reflecting on these three "Whys?" — assembled a jigsaw puzzle left on the floor bed of the ocean and an outcropping of granite.

In 1933, Rockport emerges from isolation, the seaside village now visible as Small Town America. And Rockport wants to find a way to make the world sit up and take notice.

"Come to Rockport." The model fish shack in its travels, unlocks the doors of the Summer Colony, and ushers in the era of summer tourists, and ultimately, the day trippers.

In 1933, Chicago after a century of growth, now declines in the face of the Great Depression. "Come to the World's Fair." Discover a triumph over lost jobs, where "Science Finds, Industry Applies, Man Conforms."

"Here in Chicago, there is a plan behind the paintbrush."

As the World's Fair, and the American Legion Convention converge, attracting millions of visitors, and over 160,000 Legionnaires, the tiny float designed and painted by the masters of the Rockport Art Association sails along to a berth at the Navy Pier. Dappled colors from the sunrises and sunsets of Cape Ann and the grit of wind blown fishing boats, fascinate all of Chicago.

And so the story goes it's way. The float wins the parade competition before a cheering throng in Soldier Field. The float comes back to Rockport,

In time, it falls apart and the story falls apart.

As I pick up the boards to nail together the tale again this year, I think of the children of Cape Ann and the importance of their hearing this story of how a story can lead us to reflect and ask "Why?"

This year, I will be presenting a video film version of the talk and story at the Old Firehouse Trust in Rockport, Friday May 20th at 7pm.

Look ... on the wharf! It's not absurd, it's all about, Motif No.1.

Motif No. 1 Day Kickoff Features a New Film!

Leslie D. Bartlett, photographer, writer & historian, has put together a new film on Motif No. 1, the premier of which will kick off the 2011 Motif No. 1 Day festival. 

Motif No. 1 Day: Celebrating Rockport across the arts!

Please feel free to download & distribute the poster!

A Hint of What's To Come...

Our Motif No. 1 Day Schedule of Events will be posted soon. But for now, here's a glimpse into what will be going on in Rockport on May 22nd:

-> Rockport Music is presenting a slate of free community concerts at the beautiful new Shalin Liu Performance Center. Click here to learn more.

-> The one-and-only Brad Byrd will be performing as part of Motif No. 1 Day and at the Old Sloop Coffeehouse in Rockport on the evening of May 22nd.

-> Historian and photographer Les Bartlett will be presenting "Motif No. 1: Why it Matters" - a talk combined with historic photographs of Rockport and its famous fishing shack. Check out his new Motif No. 1 website here.

...all of this and more will be coming your way on May 22nd. See you in downtown Rockport!

Motif No.1 is the Star of the Show Yet Again...

Photo Credit: Kate Glass/Gloucester Daily Times

Read on for an excerpt from a story by Jonathan L'Ecuyer in the Gloucester Times about Motif No.1 or click here to read the full story.

ROCKPORT — Known to students of art and art history as one of the most painted and photographed landmarks in New England, the iconic, dark red fish shack overlooking Rockport Harbor from the tip of Bradley Wharf is about to get even greater international exposure.

Motif No. 1, Rockport's trademark structure, will be featured on "Where in the World," a new, Web-based National Geographic series that aims to spotlight some "lesser known" places in the world and "show what makes them special to the tourists that visit, and more importantly," producers say, "to the people who live there."

Set to share the spotlight with Motif No. 1 in the special feature are the town's scenic beauty, colorful history and proud residents.

"It's not widely known, but to the people who have been there, it is a lasting memory," said National Geographic Television associate producer Jason Kurtis, whose two-man crew filmed the Motif and several other Rockport landmarks over two days in mid-November. "Yet, it is the people of Rockport that make the town what it is; from my experience there, it is a town of people full of pride in what they do and in the town they live in and have grown up in."

During his stay at the Emerson Inn by the Sea, Kurtis interviewed several local historians, including Les Bartlett, Buddy Woods and Paul St. Germain. The president of the Thacher Island Association, St. Germain gave Kurtis a tour of the town, which included a visit to the quarries at Halibut Point State Park and a stop on Eden Road for a perfect view of Thacher Island's iconic twin lighthouses.

"They loved the quarry and they wanted to go out to the island," St. Germain said.

In the time Kurtis and his crew were in town, they filmed Motif No. 1, the Rockport Art Association, the quarry at Halibut Point, the former Cape Ann Tool Co. building and various street scenes in the downtown area.