Go Thoreau! Celebrating 200 years!

Happy 200th Birthday, Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

The Dennis Libraries are celebrating all year. Visit dennislibrariesthoreaubicentennial.blogspot.com for lectures, book clubs, and other activities related to Thoreau and our appreciation of nature.

"Kindness is the only investment that never fails."

Coloring for the Soul: Pumpkin Designing

Saturday, October 14th from 11-2

Join Avis for another great Coloring for the Soul workshop! With the fall season in full swing, participants will design a pumpkin with markers, designs and embellishments! 

Participants should bring 1 fake pumpkin, 1 black permanent marker, plus patterns/designs from coloring books. Optional items, for the daring, are glitter, embellishments, and fabric paint! Don't forget a bag lunch.

Sign-up is required, please call the library to register 508-760-6219. 

DPL Book Club Cancelled for 9/20

Due to the expected storm, there will be no Dennis Public Library Book Club meeting on Wednesday, September 20th. Please be safe and we will see you next month to discuss "The Bean Tree" by Barbara Kingsolver!

Documentary: Tick Days

Saturday, September 30th at Noon

TICK DAYS is a documentary addressing the growing and under-recognized health crisis here on the Cape and across New England. The threat from ticks is no longer just about Lyme disease. Deer ticks carry new pathogens, such as Powassan virus. And a new tick, called Lone Star, has established itself on Cape Cod. "It's hand to hand combat. You can't afford to lose a single fight!"

The film was directed and produced by Marnie Crawford Samuelson and Shane Hofeldt. It features Barnstable County Extension's Tick Man, Larry Dapsis- part tick detective, part evangelist- as he tries to protect Cape Codders and visitors from becoming infected. 

Join us to view this documentary and take part in a discussion with Larry Dapsis and Marnie Crawford Samuelson on this important topic.

Game Day

Saturday, September 16th 11-1

Join us for a family friendly game day! 

We will have classic games set up in the meeting room. All ages are welcome. No need to sign-up for this drop-in program. 

Games will include Apples to Apples, Chutes and Ladders, Connect Four, Battleship and more! We hope you can make it. 

September Art Display

September Artists: Ellie Weinberger and Kat Sylvester

Enjoy the art display in our meeting room throughout the month of September, featuring Ellie Weinberger and Kat Sylvester. An Artists' Reception will be held on Thursday, September 14th from 5:00-7:00. We hope you can join us!

Ellie Weinberger has always enjoyed creating art through drawing and painting since a very young age.  After raising a family and moving to Cape Cod she has more consistently been devoting her time and energy to her art.

She paints in oils and especially enjoys capturing the natural beauty of the Cape's seascapes, marshes, and landscapes. 

Ellie has studied with various excellent local artists and has exhibited her work at the Cape Cod Cultural Center, Artist Paintbox Gallery, Orleans Artist Cottages, Monday painters in Dennis Village, Brewster Ladies Library, as well as banks, town halls and other businesses.

Ellie feels fortunate to live in an area surrounded by such natural beauty which provides amazing inspiration to express her art.  She is also grateful for meeting and painting with many talented Cape Cod artists.

Kat Sylvester has been an artist since she was a child. Her Mother, Father and paternal Grandmother were artistic and supported and encouraged her to pursue Art as a career. She loves the beach and lives on Cape Cod. "Enchanting, magical and colorful as I find the Cape, I have equally strong feelings for the majesty and big sky of Arizona and enjoy spending time there as well."

Kat is a former commercial illustrator and graphic designer focused on loving and making fine art. Much of her work stems from her illustration background. "I am not so much a photorealistic painter. My work encompasses many of the elements and colors of my design background." Much of her work contains a spiritual and emotional exuberance and celebrates the peace and wonder of life and everything in it.

A teacher at some of the finest art programs on the Cape, Kat has instructed various art disciplines at institutions such as the Dennis-Yarmouth Adult Education Program, the Falmouth Artist Guild, the Sandwich Community School and Nauset Community Education Program. She enjoys participating in numerous exhibitions and art shows Capewide, and shows her work at Eastwind Gallery in Orleans and Picture This! in Sandwich. Kat is a member of Cotuit Center for the Arts, the Yarmouth Art Guild and a juried member of Cape Cod Art Association. She is a life-long learner and enjoys taking classes with her fellow artists.

Kat is not your average Cape Cod landscape painter and works in many and varied mediums. Be it gorgeous watercolor florals or sculptures, she makes works in acrylics, pastels and oils as well. "I have to admit, I definitely paint like a female. My colors are soft and my subjects can be bold and meaningful statements - always a sensitive expression of myself."

Peleg Nye~ The Jonah of Cape Cod

Thursday, August 31st at 6:30

Local author and historian Nils V. Bockmann will be at the library to tell the tale of Pelege Nye, the Jonah of Cape Cod. 

Pelege Nye, a 19th century Cape Cod whaler knew the story of Jonah. Every whaler did. Nye is the only one known to have duplicated the biblical tale. On a whaling voyage in 1865, Nye was at the prow of a small whale boat ready to deliver the deathblow to a harpooned sperm whale. He was knocked off of the boat and straight into the whale's gaping mouth. Hunter and hunted slipped beneath the surface. Miraculously, Nye survived!

Through meticulous research, author Nils V. Bockmann recreates the life of Pelege Nye and the dangerous world in which he lived. Join us for this fascinating presentation on a local tale.

August Art Display

We have the pleasure of showcasing the works of two wonderful artists in our meeting room throughout the month of August. This month we are featuring Carol Livingston and Lee Nemmers. Make sure you stop by the meeting room to see their works.

Carol Livingston:
"Every canvas is an adventure. I don’t always know where it will lead me, but it is always fun. I try to incorporate design into each piece and I like to experiment with different techniques." 

A graduate of Vesper George School of Art in Boston, Carol started her commercial art career as a fashion illustrator and then a hard goods illustrator working for many retail stores in New England. Eventually, she became a layout and mechanical artist. She then became a technical illustrator, always improving on her pen and ink skills. When the Internet came along, Carol learned how to design web sites. She did not, however, give up her pen and ink skills, which now consist of scribble and stipple renderings. Later in life Carol began painting with oils, using a digital camera to work up compositions in Photoshop and then to translate them onto canvas. 

Lee Nemmers:

"I love color. It's a gift of the natural world that we all share, and it's my primary means of expression. The light that color contains feels like a source of life, and the way that light is revealed through the use of color can be joyful. Much like music, color elicits an emotional response. I also seek patterns and movement in the play of color and light, patterns that can suddenly mesh to suggest the natural light and human environment without seeking to represent it. Using a palette knife is a simple technique for discovering those patterns, and often feels to me like the freedom of exploring without a map, using my intuition to find a path through a playful landscape of abstract images."

The creative spark is irresistible, and so Lee fans it by stretching her imagination with the pure enjoyment of color, light, texture and composition. She finds joy in the painting process. Working in the moment generates inner harmony, for Lee a key to creativity.