Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news

Pontine Theatre kicks off 45th Season with ‘Migraciones’

PORTSMOUTH — Pontine Theatre kicks off its 45th Season Aug.  26 to Aug. 28 with performances of Migraciones by Paradox Teatro.  Performances are scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday, at 3 p.m. and Sunday, at 2 p.m., at the 1845 Plains Schoolhouse, 1 Plains Ave, Portsmouth.  The Sunday performance is followed by a workshop presented by the company members. A video of the live performance will be available to view online beginning Sept. 2. Tickets for both the live and online events are available at www.pontine.org.

Migraciones is a poignant meditation on the global migration situation, which inspires compassion for the global refugee crisis. Sofia Padila, a resident of Mexico and Davey Steinman, a resident of the US, created Migraciones out of their shared fear of the increasingly harsh US-Mexico border restrictions and the potential loss of a future together.  Padilla says "We needed to talk in our show about it, bringing more awareness to the subject, and also to honor all the people whose needs push them to migrate far from their homes forever.”

This production was developed with support from the Jim Henson Foundation and is touring New England following a tour of Mexico. The New England tour is partially funded by a great from New England Foundation for the Arts.

The Art Center hosts ‘An Evening with Thom Hindle’

DOVER — The Art Center presents: “Images of the Past…The Thom Hindle Collection” Sept. 3 to Sept. 30, and “An Evening with Thom Hindle” an in person book signing of his new release “Dover, N.H. Through Time Volume Two” on Saturday, Sept. 10, from 6 to 9 p.m.

Dover Trolley
Dover Trolley

In celebration of the upcoming 400th anniversary of the founding of Dover, New Hampshire in 1623, The Art Center presents The Thom Hindle Collection: an insightful, historically significant exhibition dedicated to the rich history of Dover, New Hampshire and surrounding areas.

Thom Hindle, the curator of this collection, is himself notable in the history of Dover. He taught classes at UNH, is a past president of Dover’s historical society, and, at one point, was in charge of the Woodman Institute. However, Thom is best known as a local photographer, with a long-time photography business on Atkinson Street. Thom has been, and continues to be, a mainstay of Dover taking pictures of the city he loves.

Jenny plane at Hampton Beach
Jenny plane at Hampton Beach

His avid interest in history and photography inevitably merged as he discovered early photographers' work of the city. Consisting of glass plate negatives, photographers’ notebooks, and antique cameras that he collected and catalogued over the last 50 years, the collection now numbers over 100,000 objects that have been studiously preserved by Hindle and stored in a climate-controlled environment to ensure they last for future generations to study and enjoy.

This immense collection includes not only images from Dover’s past but also Rochester, Farmington, Concord and Massachusetts, as well as Maine, Vermont and New York.

Steamer Mt Washington
Steamer Mt Washington

Throughout the month of September, The Art Center will feature photographs Hindle reproduced from original glass negatives representing the works of local and Boston area photographers that have never been exhibited before. Focusing this exhibit on the years 1900 through the 1950s, Hindle chose to display a variety of themes. Vintage images of Dover, Rochester and Portsmouth are set along with exquisite “Portraits” including families, children, a World War I soldier and a nurse circa 1910. “Transportation” bursts with images of street cars, trains, bicycles, motorcycles, automobiles and even an old Jenny airplane at Hampton Beach. The 1939 World’s Fair, Washington DC in the 1920s, fish shanties at Ogunquit, clam shacks at Joppa Flats and more are explored in “Travel”. Early swimming costumes, Short Sands at York in 1910, the original Farragut Hotel in Rye and the Nubble Light and Bell Tower from the 1930s are all in the section “On The Beach”. “Camping-Fishing” will be of particular interest to the outdoorsmen and women who want to see how old-fashioned camps were set up and what gear was used by both fishermen and hunters back in the day.

Thom Hindle has published several articles and authored books. “DOVER a Century of Change” was published in 1994, “Tri-City Memories” published 2014, “Factory on Fire” published in 2017 and “Dover, N.H. Through Time” which was published in 2020. The Art Center is pleased to invite guests to the artist’s reception to meet Thom Hindle in person on September 10th from 6-9 PM to sign his just released 128 page “Dover, N.H. Through Time Volume Two” with over 325 photographs in sepia and full color.

This exhibit is sponsored by Northeast Delta Dental and Kennebunk Savings.

Please visit The Art Center located at 1 Washington St., Dover NH, Suite 1177. Gallery hours are Monday through Friday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Click www.theartcenterdover.com or call 603-978-6702 for more information.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Exhibits, galleries, theater and more: Seacoast arts and culture news