Exhibition opening: Thursday, September 18, 2014, 6pm

On view: September 19, 2014-January 9, 2015
Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm

Roundtable discussion: Monday, November 3, 2014, 6pm

Italian Americans, mostly from Sicily, make up about a quarter of the population of Gloucester, Massachusetts--the oldest fishing port in the United States. Many Sicilians arrived from Trapani during the great wave of Italian immigration, and more immigrated after World War II, especially from Terrasini (Palermo province). Immigrants Paolo and Anna Ciaramitaro opened Caffé Sicilia in the West End of Gloucester in 1989. In 2009, Maria Cracchiolo and her mother, Nina D'Amico, also Sicilian Americans, became the new owners.

Of modest dimensions, the café is a cozy community gathering place for Italian Americans and their fellow citizens and friends, including photographer Paul Cary Goldberg, who began photographing there in spring 2007 and soon became part of the café's morning routine. The photographs in this exhibition are intimate images--candid portraits of his Sicilian-American neighbors and their everyday lives. They also speak to the recent experiences of Gloucester's fishermen, who, with the fishing industry in a beleaguered state, have found work in other sectors and have become activists in matters of fishermen's rights, fishing regulations, and city governance.

The roundtable discussion on Monday, November 3, will feature photographer Paul Cary Goldberg and residents of Gloucester: Caffé Sicilia owners Maria Cracchiolo and Nina D'Amico; president of Fluid Technologies Ralph Puopolo; fisherman Captain Enzo Russo; fisherman Captain Domenic Sanfilippo; and healthcare activist Sefatia Romeo Theken.

Free & Open to the Public

John D. Calandra Italian American Institute
25 West 43rd Street, 17th floor - New York, New York 10036
(Between 5th and 6th Avenues)

RSVP by calling (212) 642-2094. RSVP encouraged but not required.

For further information see www.qc.edu/calandra.