How to be a Covid-Safe Culture Vulture on the Eastern Shore — In Person or Virtually
Jane Jewell • April 27, 2021
Spring is here. The weather is beautiful. And you haven’t been hardly anywhere except perhaps work and the grocery store in a year. Maybe you’re even all vaccinated and ready to go. But where? You’d like to throw the mask off and just go. But, oh, those pesky variations lurking out there — even more contagious than original covid. And then there are all those virus-deniers and anti-maskers, making the rest of us rather uncomfortable to be around them. Don’t they care that they might infect someone else? Don’t they understand that we are all in this together? Apparently not.
Perhaps you’d prefer to go to Europe — Paris or Rome are both beautiful in the spring. South America is exotic and adventurous with trips down the Amazon or treks up the mountains to the dizzying heights of the old Incan city at Machu Picchu. But wait a minute! We can’t go there either — not yet, anyway. Many countries won’t admit Americans — or anyone else, for that matter. And really, who wants to risk going? Covid cases are rising all around the world.
So until we reach that longed-for condition called herd immunity, where can we go that will be fun, but less likely to be crowded, and more likely to be safe? How about a museum or art gallery? Here’s a list of places on the Eastern Shore and around the world where you can go and be fairly easily socially-distanced. In order to avoid disappointment during these pandemic times, be sure to check on open hours before heading out. Or, if you prefer, just stay home and visit these wonderful galleries virtually from home in your sweatpants.
The Academy Art Museum in Easton, Talbot County, has an amazing variety of exhibits, workshops, lectures, and other activities — both virtual and in-person (masks required). There are several art classes for home-schooled students, age 6 and up. Recently, Kent Island High School helped curate a new exhibit of unusual portraits selected from the museum’s permanent collection with some of the students' own artwork added in.
For adults, there are lectures, drawing and painting classes, some online and some in-person. Again masks are required and attendance is limited to insure adequate distancing. On Saturdays, there are outdoor en plein air drawing and painting sessions.
Check out The Academy Art Museum.
The Ward Museum of Waterfowl Art preserves the art and history of a quintessential Eastern Shore product — wooden decoys used in waterfowl hunting. On display are beautifully carved duck decoys along with antique maps showing the various migration flyways across America. The museum is based on the work of two brothers — Lemuel T. Ward (1897–1984) and Steven W. Ward (1895–1976). The brothers lived and worked in Crisfield on the Eastern Shore, but were known world-wide. The Ward brothers started carving during slack times at their barbershop. Their decoys were soon in greater demand than their barbering skills. Both then and now, their decoys commanded high prices. Original Ward decoys are rarely up for sale. Despite the recession, one decoy in 2013 sold for over $51,000. Most Ward decoys today are in museums or private collections.
Birds by other decoy carvers are also on display, including many of the contestants and winners of the museum’s annual Ward World Championship decoy carving competition, which draws entrants from all over the world. Exhibits and workshops explain the tools and techniques of decoy carving.
Located in Salisbury, the Ward Museum is a part of Salisbury University, and has the largest collection of waterfowl art in the world. Currently, the museum is open Wednesdays through Fridays, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m., and Saturdays 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Numerous virtual tours and videos are available via the website.
The Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park is in Church Creek, Maryland just outside Cambridge, in Dorchester County. You can visit in person (masked) or virtually. There is also an associated driving tour. The museum has exhibits, movies, lectures, and workshops all in a beautiful setting. Harriet Tubman led dozens of enslaved people to freedom in northern states and Canada in the years just before the Civil War. “I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger,” Tubman said. Her story is documented here and also at a smaller museum in downtown Cambridge. Both are worth a visit. Be sure to check out the marvelous mural on the outside wall of the Cambridge museum. During covid, the Underground Railroad center is open by appointment, Thursday-Sunday, 10am-4pm.
• Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad National Historic Park
• Harriet Tubman Driving Tour (covers 30 plus sites on the Eastern Shore—most in Dorchester County near Cambridge)
• Harriet Tubman Museum in downtown Cambridge, Thursday-Saturday noon – 3 p.m.
RiverArts in Chestertown, Kent County, has a plethora of online and in-person classes and exhibits. Visitors can vote for their favorites. Art and craft activities for children are held at the adjoining KidSpot. On Tuesdays from 5:00-5:45 p.m., you are invited to join RiverArts Salons for thought-provoking discussions on art and philosophy.
Just recently the world-famous Louvre Museum in Paris opened its doors to virtual tours. Other important museums also offer online access to their fabulous collections. In some ways, that access is even better than being there. You can get up much closer to the works. And there’s no crowds. It’s way cheaper. And safer. No packed airplanes. No expensive hotels. Well, truthfully, we’d really like to go in person, but until we can, here are some of the best national and international cultural sites that you can visit online.
• The Louvre in Paris, France
• Google Arts & Culture has virtual tours for a multitude of cultural sites around the world
• British Museum in London, England
• Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, New York
• Smithsonian Air and Space Museum reopens May 5 requiring reservations
Jane Jewell is a writer, editor, photographer, and teacher. She has worked in news, publishing, and as the director of a national writer's group. She lives in Chestertown with her husband Peter Heck, a ginger cat named Riley, and a lot of books.
Common Sense for the Eastern Shore
Right now, Congress is working on a fast-track bill that would make historic cuts to basic needs programs in order to finance another round of tax breaks for the wealthy and big corporations.
The House Agriculture Committee recently voted, along party lines, to advance legislation that would cut as much as $300 million from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. SNAP is the nation’s most important anti-hunger program, helping more than 41 million people in the U.S. pay for food. With potential cuts this large, it helps to know who benefits from this program in Maryland, and who would lose this assistance. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities compiled data on SNAP beneficiaries by congressional district, cited below, and produced the Maryland state datasheet , shown below. In Maryland, in 2023-24, 1 in 9 people lived in a household with SNAP benefits. In Maryland’s First Congressional District, in 2023-24: Almost 34,000 households used SNAP benefits. Of those households, 43% had at least one senior (over age 60). 29% of SNAP recipients were people of color. 15% were Black, non-Hispanic, higher than 11.8% nationally. 6% were Hispanic (19.4% nationally). There were 24,700 total veterans (ages 18-64). Of those, 2,200 lived in households that used SNAP benefits (9%). The CBPP SNAP datasheet for Maryland is below. See data from all the states and download factsheets here.
Apparently, some people think that the GOP’s “big beautiful bill” is a foregone conclusion, and that the struggle over the budget and Trump’s agenda is over and done. Not true. On Sunday night, the bill — given the alternate name “Big Bad Bullsh*t Bill” by the Democratic Women’s Caucus — was voted out of the House Budget Committee. The GOP plan is to pass this legislation in the House before Memorial Day. But that’s not the end of it. As Jessica Craven explained in her Chop Wood Carry Water column: “Remember, we have at least six weeks left in this process. The bill has to: Pass the House, Then head to the Senate where it will likely be rewritten almost completely, Then be passed there, Then be brought back to the House for reconciliation, And then, if the House changes that version at all, Go back to the Senate for another vote.” She adds, “Every step of that process is a place for us to kill it.” The bill is over a thousand pages long, and the American people will not get a chance to read it until it has passed the House. But, thanks to 5Calls , we know it includes:
Let's talk about our Eastern Shore Delegation, the representatives who are supposed to fight for our nine Shore counties in Annapolis, and what they actually got up to this session.
For the first time in recent memory, Virginia Democrats have candidates running in all 100 House of Delegates districts — a milestone party leaders and grassroots organizers say reflects rising momentum as President Donald Trump’s second term continues to galvanize opposition.
The 447th legislative session of the Maryland General Assembly adjourned on April 8. This End of Session Report highlights the work Shore Progress has done to fight for working families and bring real results home to the Shore. Over the 90-day session, lawmakers debated 1,901 bills and passed 878 into law. Shore Progress and members supported legislation that delivers for the Eastern Shore, protecting our environment, expanding access to housing and healthcare, strengthening workers’ rights, and more. Shore Progress Supported Legislation By The Numbers: Over 60 pieces of our backed legislation were passed. Another 15 passed in one Chamber but not the other. Legislation details are below, past the budget section. The 2026 Maryland State Budget How We Got Here: Maryland’s budget problems didn’t start overnight. They began under Governor Larry Hogan. Governor Hogan expanded the state budget yearly but blocked the legislature from moving money around or making common-sense changes. Instead of fixing the structural issues, Hogan used federal covid relief funds to hide the cracks and drained our state’s savings from $5.5 billion to $2.3 billion to boost his image before leaving office. How Trump/Musk Made It Worse: Maryland is facing a new fiscal crisis driven by the Trump–Musk administration, whose trade wars, tariff policies, and deep federal cuts have hit us harder than most, costing the state over 30,000 jobs, shuttering offices, and erasing promised investments. A University of Maryland study estimates Trump’s tariffs alone could cost us $2 billion, and those federal cuts have already added $300 million to our budget deficit. Covid aid gave us a short-term boost and even created a fake surplus under Hogan, but that money is gone, while housing, healthcare, and college prices keep rising. The Trump–Musk White House is only making things worse by slashing funding, gutting services, and eliminating research that Marylanders rely on. How The State Budget Fixes These Issues: This year, Maryland faced a $3 billion budget gap, and the General Assembly fixed it with a smart mix of cuts and fair new revenue, while protecting working families, schools, and health care. The 2025 Budget cuts $1.9 billion ($400 million less than last year) without gutting services people rely on. The General Assembly raised $1.2 billion in fair new revenue, mostly from the wealthiest Marylanders. The Budget ended with a $350 million surplus, plus $2.4 billion saved in the Rainy Day Fund (more than 9% of general fund revenue), which came in $7 million above what the Spending Affordability Committee called for. The budget protects funding for our schools, health care, transit, and public workers. The budget delivers real wins: $800 million more annually for transit and infrastructure, plus $500 million for long-term transportation needs. It invests $9.7 billion in public schools and boosts local education aid by $572.5 million, a 7% increase. If current revenue trends hold, no new taxes will be needed next session. Even better, 94% of Marylanders will see a tax cut or no change, while only the wealthiest 5% will finally pay their fair share. The tax system is smarter now. We’re: Taxing IT and data services like Texas and D.C. do; Raising taxes on cannabis and sports betting, not groceries or medicine; and Letting counties adjust income taxes. The budget also restores critical funding: $122 million for teacher planning $15 million for cancer research $11 million for crime victims $7 million for local business zones, and Continued support for public TV, the arts, and BCCC The budget invests in People with disabilities, with $181 million in services Growing private-sector jobs with $139 million in funding, including $27.5 million for quantum tech, $16 million for the Sunny Day Fund, and $10 million for infrastructure loans. Health care is protected for 1.5 million Marylanders, with $15.6 billion for Medicaid and higher provider pay. Public safety is getting a boost too, with $60 million for victim services, $5.5 million for juvenile services, and $5 million for parole and probation staffing. This budget also tackles climate change with $100 million for clean energy and solar projects, and $200 million in potential ratepayer relief. Public workers get a well-deserved raise, with $200 million in salary increases, including a 1% COLA and ~2.5% raises for union workers. The ultra-wealthy will finally chip in to pay for it: People earning over $750,000 will pay more, Millionaires will pay 6.5%, and Capital gains over $350,000 get a 2% surcharge. Deductions are capped for high earners, but working families can still deduct student loans, medical debt, and donations. This budget is bold, fair, and built to last. That’s why Shore Progress proudly supports it. Click on the arrows below for details in each section.
