New Bedford: Arts and Culture

As New Bedford began to rely more and more on the fishing industry as its dominant economic force, other parts of life began to follow. As the saying goes “life imitates art.” While in this case, it may be that art imitates life, fishing, and art have always been intertwined. Between shifts on a fishing vessel, there is not much one can do. You could watch a DVD or VHS (there is no cable or streaming in the ocean), and you could play cards with other hands, but many fishermen lean towards art when out at sea. For many it is a hobby, for others, it’s a way to express themselves and show others what this solitary life means.  

Alan Curtis has been a ship captain in New Bedford, Massachusetts for over thirty years. One of his hobbies is making wooden model boats. Some of his work is on display at the Fishing Heritage Center in New Bedford. He explained how woodworking (specifically making model boats) helps him clear his head.

Many of the pieces displayed at the New Bedford Art Museum also pay homage to the fishing industry in New Bedford.

The museum is quite small, with only two galleries currently in use. One gallery was dedicated to younger local artists (all under 30) whose work had little to do with fishing but dealt more with the struggles of adolescence and understanding one’s self-worth. The other gallery was filled with blue Japanese Ukiyo-e woodblock prints.   

These prints are rich in color, and exquisite in detail. While on the surface these prints appear to have little to do with New Bedford, the struggles depicted are very similar to those of fishermen and other maritime laborers.   

Another integral part of the culture of New Bedford is its food. Famed for its seafood (for obvious reasons), New Bedford’s food scene is rich in historic culture and influence from other lands. The Azores, a Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic, as well as Cape Verde, an archipelago off the coast of Africa, are two of the more prominent culinary influences in the city. Both have ties to Portugal (the Azores are still owned by Portugal) and have significant influence from the Iberian nation. Many immigrants from Cape Verde and their Azores made their way to New Bedford in the 18^th and 19^th centuries and found work on the docks. New Bedford was a haven for freed slaves and immigrants and had equal-opportunity employment (link to historical overview). A mural near the Bristol County Probate court entitled Labor History Mural by Dan Devenny depicts and honors the abolitionists in New Bedford. 

Portuguese Influence 

Portuguese culture is abundant in New Bedford. Many people in the city have relatives in Portugal, and a fair few still have Portuguese last names. One of the most famous Portuguese to have traversed New Bedford is Carlos Rafael. Rafael, also known as The Codfather, was a fishing industry magnate in New Bedford who made millions of dollars running illegal fishing operations throughout New England’s coastal waters.  

“I am a pirate,” Rafael once told regulators. “It’s your job to catch me.” 

Born in the Azores, Rafael moved to New Bedford with his parents at the age of 15 and dropped out of school shortly after. A short stint making linguica (a Portuguese sausage) followed before Rafael ended up working on the waterfront. In the early 1980s, Rafael bought his first boat and started his own business, Carlos Seafood. 

Eventually, he amassed a fleet of fishing vessels and controlled about a fifth of the New England cod market. Rafael had many run-ins with the law during his time controlling the waterfront, but in 2016 he was eventually arrested for tax evasion, falsifying fish quotas, and conspiracy. He plead guilty and was sentenced to 46 months in prison. While Rafael is no longer an influence on the docks of New Bedford, many others with Portuguese roots still traverse the port.  

At many of the bars on the waterfront in New Bedford, Portuguese influence is abundant. Knuckleheads is a bar and grill on the waterfront that caters to fishermen. Elizabeth Cidade is a waitress there. 

“My parents came from the Azores, and they were there for 50 years. My fiancé’s a lobsterman. It’s tough, you don’t get to see him a lot.” 

Cidade has been working at Knuckleheads for 18 years.  

“You never know when they’re going to (fishermen) come in, and you meet a lot of different people.”