The CAM Green, the Cape Ann Museum’s newest addition, at Grant Circle. “It’s the gateway to Cape Ann,” says the museum’s director Oliver Barker, “an incubator space for the arts.”
Who hasn’t had moments of self-examination during the past year.
“We had wonderful resources, and no way of sharing them,” says Cape Ann Museum’s director, Oliver Barker, recalling the time last spring when museums worldwide were forced to close. “Prior to the pandemic, we were analog,” he says. “We needed to find a way to use art, past and present, to engage people. We started by looking at what happened on Cape Ann in 1918.”
Illustrating Barker’s point, one of the most striking images in “CAM (Re)Connects,” an exhibition on view now at the Pleasant St. campus, is a simple photograph of the Addison Gilbert Hospital parking lot from the Spanish Flu era. Filled with tents to handle the patient overflow from that deadly pandemic, it’s a reminder of what we’ve been through, and that others endured similarly in the past.
The Cape Ann Museum is open again, on a limited basis. Visitors must register for entry in advance, and safety protocols are in place. Several visits during the past month have been worry-free, with only modest crowds. Re-opening partially is a small step toward a much more ambitious future for the museum.
“CAM (Re)Connects,” in the large upstairs gallery, shows works that the museum exhibited virtually when its doors were closed.
It’s a modest exhibition, highlighting Cape Ann’s legacy of resident artists. Works on display from the collection include major paintings by Fitz Henry Lane, Emile Gruppé and Barbara Swan. Three wood-block reductions by Don Gorvett, along with the original block itself, hold a special fascination. One section focuses on Fiesta, another on Women of Cape Ann. Ethel Voedisch Price’s portrait of T.S. Eliot touches on Cape Ann’s storied literary history.
In the entryway to “CAM (Re)Connects,” nearly a dozen large works by Gruppé greet visitors. The upstairs galleries also offer a small tribute exhibition to Virginia Lee Burton, and impressive selections from the collection of Robert French, former mayor of Gloucester and longtime museum advocate.
Downstairs, objects from CAM’s 2017 exhibition “Lithographs of Fitz Henry Lane” have been incorporated into Lane’s permanent gallery, the linchpin of CAM’s artistic holdings.
The works serve as touchstones for visitors, comforting reminders that while the pandemic has disrupted life on Cape Ann, a vibrant artistic legacy waits to be re-explored.
Anyone who has driven to Cape Ann in the past year has noticed the museum’s new campus, the CAM Green—including the impressive Janet & William Ellery James Center—near the rotary at Grant Circle. Surrounded by historic houses, and encircled by an grand stone wall inspired by several Lane paintings from the 1860s depicting the spot, the expansive new facility will not only act as secure storage for the museum’s holdings, but will become a second destination for art-loving visitors.
Cape Ann Museum’s director, Oliver Barker: “Prior to the pandemic, we were analog. We needed to find a way to use art to engage people. We started by looking at what happened on Cape Ann in 1918.” Jason Grow photography
“It’s the gateway to Cape Ann,” Barker says of the property. “It’s an incubator space for the arts—almost four acres. We want you to visit both campuses—our ultimate goal is to establish a sculpture garden here.”
The CAM Green campus will officially open in June with an exhibition spotlighting the North Shore’s Great Marsh, featuring the sculptures of Brad Story and the black-and-white photographs of Dorothy Kerper Monnelly. Three exhibitions are planned for this year.
With easy access to all the museum’s holdings, CAM Green will likely become the new face of the Cape Ann Museum.
“We call it a gallery of new possibilities,” Barker says. “We have used this time to innovate as an institution. We turned to our own collections, to give us a way forward.”
Keith Powers covers music and the arts for Gannett New England, Leonore Overture and Opera News. Follow @PowersKeith; email to keithmichaelpowers@gmail.com.