Georgetown artist Carolyn Schulte honors late mother in “Remembrance - The Pink Chair Project’’

During a break, she was sitting in a pink plastic Adirondack chair enjoying the view from the backyard of the cottage where she was staying.

She thought of her mother, Carolyn, who had died of heart failure at age 91 and whose favorite color was “bright, knock-your-socks-off pink.’’

Schulte added a rendering of the chair into a small piece she was painting.

“Remembrance - The Pink Chair Project’’ was born.

Schulte began placing the chair in various locations that were important to her or her mother, and painting the scene. The result is a series of more than 20 pieces featuring the signature pink chair.

Schulte said the project “morphed from a few pieces done as grief work into a glorious celebration of my mother’s life.’’

An exhibition of her paintings is at the Scala Art Center in Georgetown through Jan. 24. A reception is 5 to 7 p.m. Friday.

As part of the show, Schulte encourages visitors to share the names and stories of their loved ones through notes and postings.

Next month, the exhibition moves to the Illuminations gallery at the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center in Boston, where it will run through June.

“As you know, the mission of Illuminations is to create a visually healing environment, offering enlightenment, inspiration, and encouragement to patients, family members, friends and staff through the visual arts,’’ the gallery review committee wrote to Schulte. “We believe your work reflects that ideal and will bring joy to many men, women, and children whose lives have been touched by cancer.’’

Additionally, a portion of the sale of each painting is being donated to organizations that support families of children with cancer.

Schulte is also writing a blog about the project as it continues, telling the story of each painting as it is posted. Visit www.lynneschulte.com.

MUSICAL MEMORIES: Soprano Mary Shaw and pianist Bill Sano visit the Salem Athenaeum on Saturday for an afternoon of musical memories from the 1940s and early 1950s.

Shaw sings classical and popular music and performs frequently in First Church of Christ, Scientist in Andover. She also has been a featured soloist with the Paul Madore Chorale in Salem.

Sano is a Salem Athenaeum member, conductor, teacher, and music historian. He has conducted the Concert Singers of Lynn for the past 20 years, and teaches at Marian Court College in Swampscott and Salem State University.

Shaw and Sano perform songs made famous by Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, and others.

The concert begins at 3 p.m. Tickets are $15; $10 for Salem Athenaeum members; free for students with identification.

Call 978-744-2540 or visit www.salemathenaeum.net.

AUTHOR’S CORNER: The Cape Ann Museum presents “The Empire and the Seaport: Salem and Gloucester Trading Overseas in the Early Republic’’ at 3 p.m. Saturday.

The program features Marblehead author Robert Booth, who will discuss Federal-period Gloucester in the context of his new book, “Death of an Empire: The Rise and Murderous Fall of Salem, America’s Richest City.’’

A Harvard graduate, Booth specializes in historic architecture and maritime culture.

IN LOCAL GALLERIES: The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem presents “Shapeshifting,’’ one of the largest Native American art exhibitions to open in North America in more than 30 years. Nearly 80 works from public and private collections worldwide offer a far-reaching exploration, juxtaposing historic and contemporary works. The exhibition opens Saturday and runs through April 29. . . . “94 Pleasant Street: Photographs by Rick Ashley,’’ featuring images of interior spaces in the abandoned YMCA building in Marblehead, is on display at the Abbot Public Library in Marblehead through Jan. 31. A reception is 2 to 4 p.m. today. Ashley spent 13 months photographing the facility, where he had “spent some part of nearly every day for the past 31 years,’’ he said. The building was razed in January 2011.

Wendy Killeen can be reached at wdkilleen@gmail.com.