Sculptures, photographs on display at CAM Green, June 18 to July 30

Brad Story Anhinga, 2011. Wood, Epoxy, Fiberglass and Found Objects. Collection of Mollie and John Byrnes.

GLOUCESTER, MASS. (June 2021) – Drawing inspiration from the vast Great Marsh, Essex sculptor Brad Story and Ipswich photographer Dorothy Kerper Monnelly are showcasing works in a special exhibition at the Janet & William Ellery James Center at Cape Ann Museum Green from June 18 to July 30. Each artist has been inspired by the natural beauty of the surroundings on the North Shore and in particular The Great Marsh which extends from Cape Ann up to the New Hampshire border.

“The sculptures and photographs by each artist are particularly striking as they reflect the genuine beauty of our local landscape,” said Cape Ann Museum Director Oliver Barker. “As we celebrate the opening of our new CAM Green campus, they are well suited as our featured artists in this setting, melding historic buildings, contemporary art, and bucolic pastures. Both elevate the region’s natural beauty to an artform.”

Barker said this is the first of three exhibitions and related programming that will safely engage the community during the lingering pandemic and make use of the open space at CAM Green. As of June 18, the campus will be open Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 p.m. Admission is free. 

Brad Story is a native of Essex and lives and works on the edge of The Great Marsh. After graduating from college in 1969, he returned home to work with his father, Dana Story, in the family shipyard. The Storys have been building boats in Essex since the 1660s. After 27 years of working in the boat yard, Story turned to designing and building three-dimensional works of art that combine his fascination with airplanes, birds, and boat building. Using nature as his point of departure and materials such as wood and fiberglass, he creates sculptures that capture imaginations and lift spirits. As one critic observed, his works “conjure scenes from the Daedalus’ feather-and-wax myth to Leonardo’s drawings for an ornithopter, to the one-man gliders constructed by Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s.”

Dorothy Kerper Monnelly. Salt Marsh Island, Clouds Ipswich, MA – May, 2001. Archival Silver Gelatin Print from a 4×5 Negative.

Dorothy Kerper Monnelly has been photographing in black and white for decades. Both fascinated and inspired by the 20,000-acre Great Marsh, it was the subject of her 2006 book, “Between Lane and Sea: The Great Marsh,” which was republished in 2020. Over the course of her career, Monnelly’s photographs have been celebrated by conservation groups, and her large-scale silver gelatin prints are in the collections of several museums including the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington, D.C.

In mid-September, the Museum will host another Great Marsh-related exhibition at the Pleasant Street campus. Two paintings of the marsh  by Martin Johnson Heade (1819 – 1904) will be juxtaposed alongside works by photographer, Martha Hale Harvey (1863 – 1949), whose glass plate negatives belong to the Museum.

The Dorothy Kerper Monnelly, Brad Story, and the Great Marsh exhibition will include two virtual lectures. In response to the continued limits on large indoor gatherings, the Museum continues to offer gallery talks online with the CAM Virtual Lecture Series. These regular online events—lectures, discussions, presentations, gallery tours, artists talks and more—offer visitors near and far the chance to engage deeply with the Museum’s extensive collection from the safety home. In person tickets are free for CAM members or $10 for the general public. The lectures will be live streamed for free on Facebook and Vimeo.

Thursday, June 24 at 1:00 pm

Photographing The Great Marsh

With Dorothy Kerper Monnelly and Doug Stewart

Author, Ipswich resident and Museum docent Doug Stewart will sit down with photographer Dorothy Kerper Monnelly to discuss her photographs of The Great Marsh. Their conversation will cover the inspiration and process behind her black and white photographs and what they reveal about the everchanging landscape of the marsh. This virtual event will be streamed online via Facebook and Vimeo.

Thursday, July 8 at 2:00 pm

From Boats to Birds, A Sculptors Journey

With Brad Story and Harold Burnham

Join CAM for a conversation between sculptor Brad Story and Harold Burnham, a master boat designer, shipwright and sailmaker. In this conversation, Story and Burnham will explore the relationship between ships and sculptures and how they’re tied to Cape Ann.

LINK TO HIGH RES IMAGES: https://www.dropbox.com/t/eCTD4VXVETjNJeHB

For more information about the Museum, its programs, exhibits, and collections, visit www.capeannmuseum.org.

The Cape Ann Museum, founded in 1875, exists to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. Spanning 44,000 square feet, the Museum is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore welcoming more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. In addition to fine art, the Museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, three historic homes, a Library & Archives and a sculpture park in the heart of downtown Gloucester.

In Summer 2021, the Museum will officially open the 12,000 square foot Janet & William Ellery James Center at the Cape Ann Museum Green. The campus includes three historic buildings – the White-Ellery House (1710), the recently acquired Babson-Alling House (c.1740), and an adjacent barn (c.1740), all located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.   Starting on June 18, the CAM Green will be open Thursday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 1:00 – 4:00 pm. Admission is free.  

The Cape Ann Museum is located at 27 Pleasant Street in Gloucester. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 situation, operating hours have been reduced to better protect the safety and well-being of visitors, staff, and volunteers. The Museum is currently open Thursday through Sunday, 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. As of June 1, 2021 the Museum at Pleasant Street will be resuming pre-COVID operating hours, Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday  1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. Timed tickets are required for all visitors at this time and can be reserved online at www.camuseum.eventbrite.com. Admission is $12.00 adults, $10.00 Cape Ann residents, seniors and students. Youth (under 18) and Museum members are free. Cape Ann residents can visit for free on the second Saturday of each month. For more information please call (978)283-0455 x110 or visit www.capeannmuseum.org.   For a detailed media fact sheet please visit www.capeannmuseum.org/press