Arts Tour: Picture Perfect

October 2008 | BY Hilary Nangle | December 2008, Issue 64

The Old North Wharf district spreads holiday cheer with a Christmas tree in a dory. HEATHER STRAUCH/ NANTUCKET ISLAND CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Christmas. An island. Nantucket. Each word conjures up an image, each laced with magic, but string them together-an island Christmas on Nantucket-and the result is the stuff of holiday dreams.

During the darkest days of the year, Nantucket Noel-the official holiday season that lasts from Thanksgiving to Christmas-makes dreams come true. Wood smoke and balsam scent the salty air, wreaths brighten doorways and twinkling trees line downtown streets. It’s a festive time to visit not only the island but its artisans as well.

For 35 years, islanders have gathered in downtown Nantucket to celebrate community and the season. Summer residents return to illuminate shuttered homes. Museums and shops reopen. A lighthouse wreath welcomes those arriving by boat, including Santa. There are concerts, a pageant, even a talking tree.

“There’s a real feeling of an old-fashioned Christmas, says Jayne Hare Dane, partner in the island’s Dane Gallery. “The whole community gets involved with celebrating the season and the beauty and history of Nantucket.”

Downtown Nantucket twinkles during the holiday season. Photo credit:Tom Nangle

That history dates back to the early 1800s, when Nantucket, located 30 miles off the coast of Hyannis, Mass., on Cape Cod, was the whaling capital of the world. It’s not hard to visualize that heyday, when the shops now sprinkling the wharves were fishing shanties, and when ships returned with not only exotic cargoes and whale oil but also ivory carved and baskets woven during the long months at sea.

Grand homes-some open for tours during Nantucket Noel- still harbor treasures from far-flung locales; scrimshanders, basket weavers and other artisans still pepper the island; and during the holidays, carolers in Victorian garb parade through the downtown.

For more of “Arts Tour: Picture Perfect,” pick up the December 2008 issue of AmericanStyle today!