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Vol. 90 No. 40
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Nautical Mile sets sail with first Pirate Fest By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
Courtesy Robyn Workman
Zach Alexander, one of the featured performers at Pirate Fest, strikes a commanding presence on the Dark Star ahead of his scheduled magic shows during the upcoming celebration on the Nautical Mile.
The Nautical Mile in Freeport is expected to come alive Sunday from 12 to 6 p.m. with swashbuckling excitement as the community prepares for its first Pirate Fest, a soon-to-be annual event designed to extend the vibrancy of the waterfront district well beyond the summer months. Organized by a coalition of local vendors, the Freeport Chamber of Commerce, and the Nautical Mile Business Organization, the festival promises to be packed with family-friendly fun, community spirit, and a hearty dose of pirate-themed adventure. A ribbon-cutting ceremony will kick off the festivities at noon in front of the chamber’s office —where Sapphire Yacht is docked — and a lively boat parade will launch the event. Both private and commercial vessels will be transformed into pirate ships, parading through the canals and bays for up to an hour. CoNtiNueD oN PAge 4
Local artist’s painting journey reaches Art Alcove By MoHAMMAD RAFIQ mrafiq@liherald.com
This month, the Long Island Arts Council at Freeport’s Art Alcove, at the Recreation Center, features the work of Arlene Gomez, a Baldwin resident whose journey as an artist has been as rich and varied as the landscapes she paints. Gome z’s story is one of movement, adaptation and a lifelong search for belonging, both in her community and in her art. The path that Gomez, 72, took to the Freeport exhibit began with a nudge from her local senior citizens club. She
recalls that her tutor, Ralph Cappozzi, encouraged her to submit her work to the council, which was seeking artists to exhibit during Hispanic Heritage Month, Sept. 15 to Oct. 15. Although she identifies as “ P u e r t o R i c a n , S p a n i a rd , American,” Gomez insists that her art is not focused on her heritage. “I do more expressionistic, but then realistic at the same time,” she said, noting that her paintings are primarily landscapes. Born Arlene Bracero-Vallejo in Brooklyn to a military family, she spent her early childhood in Ger many before retur ning to New York. She
describes a childhood shaped by frequent moves, and a closeknit family. “We traveled to Germany, military-style, and I was raised there until I was about 8 years old,” she explained. After returning to Brooklyn, her family lived with her grandparents before settling in Manhattan’s Lower East Side projects. Her father was a sergeant in the army, and Gomez remembers her upbringing as lower income. In 1972, after she married Ivan Gomez, now 75, they moved to Baldwin, where they raised two sons. Arlene credits her early interest in art to inspiring
teachers and mentors. “I had a teacher there that inspired me with her art,” she recalls of her junior high years JHS 60 Beha on the Lower East Side. While at Washington Irving High School she attended summer programs in art at Pratt and Cooper Union, and later studied design at the Fashion Institute of Technolo-
gy, launching a career in textile design that lasted 15 years. Her work in textiles took her to studios and mills across the country, where she created designs and ensured that clients got “exactly the color that he or she wanted.” Gomez took a break from her career to raise her chilCoNtiNueD oN PAge 10