New Bedford Whaling Museum

Address
18 Johnny Cake Hill
New Bedford, MA 02740 United States Get Directions
Phone (508) 997-0046

Events at this venue

Today

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • Art Talks! May Babcock

    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States +1 more

    Wednesday, December 2, 12:00-1:00pm Free, virtual program; registration required Online series featuring conversations with artists working on projects with or at the New Bedford Whaling Museum. About the artist: I’m May Babcock, a papermaking artist using natural materials in New England. I grew up in rural Connecticut surrounded by forests, rivers and ponds, vegetable and flower gardens. I received scholarships to attend the University of Connecticut for a BFA in painting and printmaking and went to Louisiana State University for my MFA and to learn papermaking. As a biracial artist of Taiwanese-Chinese descent I never felt like I belonged. Exploring specific sites is a search for belonging, plant fibers, and connection with place. Babcock’s series New Ecologies, with works constructed from sites around New England will be on view at the New Bedford Whaling Museum beginning in November of 2026.

  • First Friday: Sharks Come Cruisin’ with the Whale Guitar

    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Friday, December 4, 2026 | 5:00 PM to 8:00 PM Closing out the Museum’s 2026 First Fridays series, the Harbor View Gallery fills with voices, strings, and sea songs as The Whale Guitar takes center stage alongside Sharks Come Cruisin’. This evening features ocean-inspired music, participatory performance, and a celebration of maritime sound and community. Based in Providence, RI, Sharks Come Cruisin’ plays an energetic mix of sea shanties and maritime music, bringing audiences together through shared song and celebration. First Fridays offer an evening experience at the Museum with extended gallery hours, a cash bar, light bites, and access to all Museum galleries throughout the night. Program Schedule 5:00–5:30 PM | Gallery Access & Arrival Explore the Museum’s galleries, or enjoy light refreshments in the Harbor View Gallery and learn about The Whale Guitar Project before the evening’s performances begin. 5:30–6:30 PM | Ocean Mic: Instrument of Change Curated by Jennifer Long, Ocean Mic highlights 4–6 guitarists performing on The Whale Guitar, an “Instrument of Change” made from reclaimed materials. 6:30–8:00 PM | Sing-Along Sea Shanties with Sharks Come Cruisin’ The evening builds into a lively, participatory showcase led by Sharks Come Cruisin’, featuring traditional and contemporary sea shanties. […]

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • Author Book Talk: Steve Mentz

    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States +1 more

    Thursday, December 17 | 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM Free, virtual program; registration required About the Author: Steve Mentz is Professor of English and chair of the Department at St. John’s University, where he teaches Shakespeare, literary theory, and the “blue humanities” with a focus on environmental questions. Responding in his research and teaching to ecological crisis has brought his work beyond Shakespeare to embrace oceanic culture, environmental philosophy, and artistic performances. He believes that all arts are performing arts, and his Shakespeare classes see at least one live performance each semester. He is the author of Ocean (2020), published in Bloomsbury’s Object Lessons series, Break Up the Anthropocene (2019), Shipwreck Modernity: Ecologies of Globalization, 1550-1719 (2015), At the Bottom of Shakespeare’s Ocean (2009), and Romance for Sale in Early Modern England (2006), editor or co-editor of six collections: The Cultural History of the Sea in the Early Modern Age (2021), The Routledge Companion to Marine and Maritime Worlds, 1400-1800 (2020), The Sea in Nineteenth-Century Anglophone Literary Culture (2017), Oceanic New York (2015), The Age of Thomas Nashe (2013), and Rogues and Early Modern English Culture (2004), and has published numerous articles and chapters on ecocriticism, Shakespeare, early modern literature, […]

  • Liquid Spine: Film, Dance, and Dialogue

    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Thursday, December 17, 2026 | Doors at 5:30 PM | Program at 6:00 PM Cook Memorial Theater Presented in conjunction with the exhibition New Ecologies: May Babcock (on view November 20, 2026–April 18, 2027), this special evening program brings together film, contemporary dance, and conversation to explore how artists respond to changing landscapes and emerging ecological systems. Liquid Spine is a global dance film and performance series that uses movement, site, and community engagement to unearth the environmental needs of water systems around the world. Created in site-sensitive locations, the series highlights region-specific ecological concerns while affirming the interdependence of human and nonhuman life. The program features screenings of two short films from the Liquid Spine series—Augusta and Great Marsh. Liquid Spine: Augusta examines the environmental and public health challenges facing Sicily’s “Black Triangle,” a region shaped by seaside industry. Liquid Spine: Great Marsh centers on the Great Marsh as a vital stopover for migratory birds, while also affirming the fundamental need for safe spaces and refuge for all living beings navigating uncertain landscapes. These films resonate closely with May Babcock’s eco-centric practice, which transforms locally sourced grasses, sediment, and fibers into sculptural forms that reflect new, adaptive ecologies emerging […]

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]

  • Moby-Dick Marathon 2027

    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Join us in celebrating the 31st annual Moby-Dick Marathon, the Museum’s world-renowned tribute to Herman Melville’s epic tale of obsession, adventure, and the sea. Each January, readers and Melville enthusiasts from around the globe gather in New Bedford—the very port where Melville himself once set sail—to take part in a 25-hour, cover-to-cover reading of Moby-Dick. This extraordinary event transforms the Museum into a stage for literature, history, and community. Visitors can immerse themselves in Melville-inspired programs, including thought-provoking conversations with scholars, dramatic performances, hands-on activities for all ages, and behind-the-scenes experiences that bring Melville’s world vividly to life. The Marathon commemorates Melville’s 1841 departure aboard the whaleship Acushnet—the journey that would inspire one of America’s greatest novels. Thirty years on, the celebration continues to grow, uniting generations of readers, performers, and maritime enthusiasts in a shared quest for the elusive white whale.

  • LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900

    LIFELONG LEARNING: Short-course in the History of Photography, 1839-1900
    New Bedford Whaling Museum 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford, MA, United States

    Co-Led by Naomi Slipp, Douglas and Cynthia Crocker Endowed Chair for the Chief Curator & Director of Museum Learning; Marina Dawn Wells, Assistant Curator of History & Culture This unique virtual course combines six weekly 80-minute sessions of lecture and discussion, with a culminating hands-on workshop at the Museum. Learn what photography is and how it transformed the world directly from experts in the field using the vast resources of the NBWM photography collection as your study materials. Everyone walks around today with a camera in our pocket. But that was not always the case. Our world is saturated with photographic images – from magazine covers and Facebook feeds to Instagram and billboards–but have you ever stopped to wonder how these images work, what they are trying to say to you, or what histories they may connect with? This course introduces life-long learners to the history of photography, from the invention of the medium in 1839 to the birth of Kodak and snapshot photography in 1900. Photographs will be studied as art objects and historical artifacts. Themes include technological innovations; debates between art photography, commercial photography, and documentary photography; government and private patronage; individual or collective endeavors; original and published […]