Vineyard Gazette

3 days ago | vineyardgazette.com | Louisa Hufstader

Hundreds of people packed the Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs Tuesday to hear two freed Israeli hostages describe their time as prisoners in Gaza. The audience welcomed couple Sapir Cohen and Sasha Troufanov, who were interviewed for more than an hour by Rabbi Tzvi Alperowitz and his wife, Hadassah, of Chabad on the Vineyard. On Oct.

4 days ago | vineyardgazette.com | Louisa Hufstader

In Dear Edvard: Munch and His Muses, composer Steven Shoenberg and librettist Richard Michelson weave a captivating musical tale of longing, despair and redemption in a Copenhagen clinic for the mentally unwell. The play premiered at the Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse over the weekend and runs through July 5. The story is set in 1908, still the dawn of modern psychiatry, and painter Edvard Munch is a middle-aged mess.

5 days ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katrina Liu

The Chilmark Preschool got the green light this week to start construction on the new school.  The Chilmark select board gave its final approval at a meeting Tuesday after months of back-and-forth to get necessary approvals and documents in order.  In 2023, the town voted to construct a new preschool during the annual town meeting and then decided to build the facility on town-owned land.

5 days ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katrina Liu

Education, connection and food were on the menu during the Taste of Juneteenth Sunday afternoon. Hosted by the NAACP of Martha’s Vineyard, the annual event widened its scope this year. “In past years, we’ve had tents outside with all kinds of food, but today we are going to provide a taste of learning,” Toni Kauffman, former president of the Martha’s Vineyard NAACP branch, said to the crowd. Toni Kauffman addresses the crowd.

6 days ago | vineyardgazette.com | Katrina Liu

Reflection and celebration were the focus of the Juneteenth Jubilee Festival this weekend in Oak Bluffs. Made a federal holiday in 2021, Juneteenth recognizes when enslaved people in Texas finally heard they were free in 1865, more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation. To commemorate the holiday, the cultural festival on Saturday highlighted Black art, music and achievement.