Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Paula Estey 978-376-4746 / paulaestey@thepegcenter.org
Julie Cook 978-317-2030 / julie@cookbowe.com
The PEG Center Launches 2025 Initiatives & Programming
Newburyport, MA, Jan. 31, 2025 – The PEG Center, A Creative Hub for Social Change, kicks off its 2025 calendar with renewed vigor and commitment to human and climate justice.
Following a successful year-end fundraiser made possible by generous local support, the PEG Center will focus 2025 programming, art, and events on immigration, gun violence, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights, anti-racism, and the environmental crisis. The theme for the year is “And Justice for All.”
“The recent upheavals in national policies and the growing federal dismantling of basic human rights are sowing chaos and causing personal and civic harm. The PEG Center’s mission is to offer a three-part approach to activism through an educational perspective on the challenges, action, advocacy and ally-ship with justice causes, and art to creatively illuminate those issues,” said Paula Estey, Executive Director of the PEG Center. “We do this together, in community, and with the goal that each of us get involved in actions. There is a rapidly growing list of critical issues, and we want to be a Hub for gathering and organizing people into action. Together, we work toward changing our understanding and together, we create pathways for equity. We organize by gathering. We gather to organize.”
The PEG Center team has been working since September to hone their art and activism footprint in Newburyport and surrounding areas. It has a new mission, vision and purpose statement, as well as a strategic plan for the year ahead. They have a full calendar of events and programs of all kinds in which people can participate. For all events and programs, please register at www.thepegcenter.org.
EVENTS AND PROGRAMS
Thursday, February 20th, from 6-8pm, HUDDLE UP LAUNCH, at FRS UU First Parish Hall, 26 Pleasant St, Newburyport. The HUDDLE resumes monthly meetings on the third Thursday of the month, to talk, brainstorm, motivate, and support. The 2/20 meeting is called “To Begin Again.” This is an opportunity to be heard, to share concerns, ideas and hopes about human and climate justice, and to help set a course for the months ahead. Our Program Team will facilitate, and we will have break-out tables as part of our evening. Working together, we create a welcoming, safe and progressive place for all.
Thursday, February 27TH, from 6-8PM, COMMUNITY ART PROJECT LAUNCH “And Justice for All,” at FRS UU First Parish Hall, 26 Pleasant St, Newburyport. The public is invited to participate in our tenth Community Art Project (no art experience necessary, all ages invited), which upon completion will be a traveling wall mural throughout the area. The brainstorming meeting on 2/27 will be led by the Artist in Residence for this project, artist/ecologist Jenn Houle. This Community Art Project (CAP) has received funding from the Local Cultural Councils of Newburyport, West Newbury, Newbury, and Salisbury.
Ms. Houle will lead us in activities from, among other sources, Earth Charter www.earthcharter.org, that will help us describe the world we want to create. Houle will then collate and ruminate on our ideas and provide a sketch on the canvas panels. The public will then be invited to paint the mural over two dates in March TBD. All ages are invited to participate. All materials are provided. Bring your family and friends, invite your town officials--When the mural is completed, it will be shared locally at gathering places such as libraries, senior centers and city halls.
“We kick off each year with a community art project to engage people and provide an outlet for feelings and aspirations. “And Justice for All,” will be a three-piece, 12’ long, moveable canvas mural that shows the communities along the Merrimack River, including Newburyport, Amesbury, Salisbury, enjoying a clean, healthy river for all, aspirational community offerings like community centers, schools and public art, and all manner of local culture that will inspire us toward and exemplify justice for all,” Estey explained.
Saturday, March 1, 2025, from 9-10:30AM, The PEG Center BOOK GROUP LAUNCH, at FRS UU First Parish Hall, 26 Pleasant St, Newburyport. The PEG Center will launch its first new Book Club in 6 years. The book group will meet once a month, either on the last Wednesday from 6-7:30pm, or the first Saturday from 9-10:30AM (two separate groups), and be focused on activism, spirit and progressive values. You may choose which group you want to be in. Both groups will read the same book. The first book will be “We Were Made for These Times: Ten Lessons for Moving Through Change, Loss, and Disruption” by Kaira Jewel Lingo. March 1st will be a meet and greet, short discussion and a schedule for reading. When you sign up, you will be contacted with the first assignment.
BEGINNING March 4th, 1-3pm, “Office Hours” at NU Kitchen, 19 Pleasant Street, Newburyport. Come, sit, chat, have tea, talk activism with Paula and Julie. Every Tuesday and Thursday.
Thursday, March 13 from 6-8 PM, “FIGHTING FOR HOME: Immigration in a Hostile Era” at The Barn, 1 Old Wharf Road, West Newbury, MA. The PEG Center and Huddle will present an educational panel on “FIGHTING FOR HOME: Immigration in a Hostile Era” with speakers from local and national immigration groups, to help us paint the current picture and form strategies for the essential activist work ahead. The public is invited to attend and encouraged to pre-register. There will be artwork on display and an artists talk as part of the immigration event.
“There is no ‘Home’ unless all of us have one,” said Estey. “In an era of emergency in human rights across our country, who gets to call the U.S. home and who doesn’t has become a reality of otherness and demonizing. Immigrants and refugees in our communities are frightened and uncertain, and we want to lend our hearts and efforts to an understanding of the current state and stakes, and to resist, push back and fight for human rights. The time is now. The stakes are enormous. And change happens when we join our energies and intentions into a strong force for right actions.”
Thursday, March 20th, HUDDLE UP, 6-8pm, at FRS UU First Parish Hall, 26 Pleasant St, Newburyport. We will implement actions gleaned from immigration panel.
For all events and programs, please register on our website www.thepegcenter.org. A $10 suggested donation for each is invited.
Here is a recap of upcoming events
· First HUDDLE UP meeting of 2025, Thursday, February 20, 5-7pm
MONTHLY HUDDLE DATES moving forward
Thursday, March 20, Thursday, April 17, May 15
· Community Art Project Launch, Thursday, February 27, 5-7pm, with muralist and ecologist Jenn Houle leading the conversation
· Activist Book Group Launch, Saturday, March 1st, 9am-10:30am.
· “Office Hours” with Paula and Julie, March 4th and 6th and every Tuesday and Thursday, 1-3pm.
· Immigration Program, Speakers, Art, Artist Talk: “FIGHTING FOR HOME: Immigration in a Hostile Era,” Thursday, March 13th, 6-8pm.
· March 20 Huddle UP, 6-8pm. Implement actions gleaned from immigration panel.
About the PEG Center, A Creative Hub for Social Change
The mission of the PEG Center, A Creative Hub for Social Change, is to inspire change in social and environmental justice through art, education and advocacy. We believe that creativity, education and advocacy bring about lasting change. We believe that supporting diverse voices creates an inclusive life for all. As a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization, we fulfill our mission through curated art, community projects, educational forums, cultural events, calls to action, and rapid response to community need. Our shared vision is a world where we each care deeply for all people and the Earth. Follow us at www.thepegcenter.org for events, programs and more.
The Huddle was born in February of 2017 to gather our community in dialogue, discussion and action. Over these past eight years, it has grown into a consistently active organization recognized by the City. There are four locations along our Clipper City Rail Trail that exemplify the Huddle’s work: a community art project mural called Lost and Found, a vegetable plot with more than 10 volunteer gardeners who grow food for a local meal kitchen, the Edible Avenue of Indigenous edible plants, and the Garden of Remembrance grove in honor of the victims of the Uvalde massacre.