“It’s safe for kids to do a lot. This is not a pandemic of children. It’s not a dangerous illness for kids this age.” -Dr. Brian Orr
To hear more encouraging news from Dr. Orr and panelists, Lisa LaBella of West Parish and Ben Lummis, Superintendent of Gloucester Public Schools, watch Gloucester Education Foundation’s “Parenting Elementary School Children During a Pandemic” discussion below.
Virtual Dedication Ceremony: March 10 at 6 p.m.
Rendition of COVID-19 Memorial at Cape Ann Museum (CAM) Green by artist Pamela Hersch.
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (March 2021) – Nearly one year ago, the coronavirus pandemic forced the state to shut down and declare a state of emergency. To commemorate the community’s profound loss, the Cape Ann Museum is creating a temporary art installation to pay tribute to those who died from the deadly virus including at least 41 people in Gloucester, 61 people from Cape Ann, and more than 2,000 people from Essex County. The COVID-19 Memorial will be dedicated at CAM Green during a virtual online ceremony on March 10 and will be open to the public through March 14.
In partnership with the City of Gloucester and LuminArtz, the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial is comprised of three parts: a video art installation from LuminArtz, the Cape Ann Cairns Memorial, and the Gloucester Memorial Quilt. These interconnected projects seek to humanize the unfathomably large number of deaths in the past year, place the deeply felt local losses in the broader national conversation, and provide a space for visitors to take steps toward the long process of grief and healing. Understanding that the pandemic is ongoing, this memorial takes place outside at CAM Green and is a temporary installation.
“Observing social distance practices to keep each other safe has left many of us wondering how we can process and acknowledge the tragic losses experienced locally, regionally, and internationally this past year,” says Oliver Barker, the Museum’s Director. “Art and cultural institutions, so devastated by this tragedy, have a central role to play as we reopen in telling these stories and providing ways for all of us to grieve, remember, and heal. It’s our sincere hope that this memorial will help start that long process.”
On Wednesday, March 10, the state’s emergency shutdown anniversary, the Museum will present a live-streamed virtual memorial ceremony at 6 p.m. that can be seen live on Facebook and YouTube. This ceremony will serve as an opening for the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial and a vigil for those lost. Due to current gathering restrictions, visitors will not be allowed onsite during the ceremony. Instead, they are encouraged to watch from home and visit the memorial in person afterwards. Visitors can reserve free, timed entrance to see the memorial at CAM Green from Thursday, March 11 through Sunday, March 14 between 12:30 – 8:00 pm.
Among those scheduled to speak at the ceremony are: local political representatives, community members, and artists including Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, State Senator Bruce Tarr, poet Caroline Harvey, musicians Brian King and Nathan Cohen, the Associated Clergy of Cape Ann, and representatives from the Museum.
About the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial
The three simultaneous projects that make up the Museum’s COVID-19 Memorial recognize the local, regional, and national realities of the pandemic in unique yet interconnected ways.
The Gloucester Memorial Quilt was coordinated by the Cape Ann Museum and Roseanne Cody, Board Member on the Gloucester Council of Aging, at the request of Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken. This quilt memorializes 35 Gloucester citizens who died as part of the COVID-19 Pandemic, some remain anonymous and others are personally identified by request of the families. The names were embroidered by Monograms by Diane of Gloucester, and the squares were quilted together by Ingrid Schillebeeckx-Rice, a member of the Burlington Quilters Guild. There is a long-standing tradition of quilts used to memorialize and comfort, most significantly the AIDs Memorial Quilt which was displayed for the first time in 1987 and continues to this day.
To commemorate the more than 55 Cape Ann residents who died during to the pandemic, Miranda Aisling, the Museum’s Education Manager, will work with volunteers from Cape Ann Tree Company to build 55 cairns out of Cape Ann Granite in front of the White Ellery house. By request, the Museum will put small markers in front of a cairn to designate it for a specific individual who died of COVID-19. Unless personally requested, the cairns will remain anonymous, holding space for all those who have been lost from the region. The Museum encourages visitors to bring tokens of respect, traditionally small stones or flowers, which can be left on the cairns.
The Cape Ann Cairns and the Janet & William Ellery James Center will be illuminated by LuminArtz, a nonprofit that brings art to light collaborating with local artists, businesses, and the community to transform streetscapes into vibrant installations. Pamela Hersch, a Boston-based, multidisciplinary artist originally from Mexico, will create a video art installation that places the local COVID-19 deaths within the regional, state, and national context.
The Cape Ann Museum encourages anyone who would like their loved one to be memorialized in these projects to reach out to Miranda Aisling at by email at education@capeannmuseum.org or by phone at 978-283-0455 x125. Family members and friends are asked to provide the name of the deceased as well as their town so that the Museum can make sure they are included in the memorial. For more information about the Cape Ann Museum Covid-19 Memorial, visit www.capeannmuseum.org/covidmemorial
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 Fall 2021, the Museum will officially open the 12,000 square foot Janet & William Ellery James Center at the Cape Ann Museum Green. The campus also includes three historic buildings – the White Ellery House (1710), an adjacent Barn (c. 1740), and the recently acquired Babson-Alling House (c.1740), all located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.
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. 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.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Diana Brown McCloy
Teak Media
(978) 697-9414
Diana@teakmedia.com
Meredith Anderson
meredithanderson@capeannmuseum.org
(978) 283-0455 x115
New England parents in the 19th century nervously allowed their daughters to leave the countryside for work in the textile mills of the new era. For young women it was a unique opportunity to participate in the growing cash economy, help support their families, and experience life outside the home. Did work in the textile factories represent a step forward in women’s independence? The mills and mill-towns were full of disease, dangerous machinery and duplicitous men! The conjunction of innocent young females and the rough life of the mills generated reams of sensational fiction in the 19th century—lurid tales warning young women to stay home if they wished to avoid ruin. In her illustrated talk, Elizabeth DeWolfe, professor of history at the University of New England, explores the promise and the perils of 19th century factory work for women through the essays, poetry and prose of the era. DeWolfe is the author of ‘The Murder of Mary Bean,’ an award-winning book and true story of a ‘factory girl’ who lost her life in the upheavals of an industrializing nation.
Where: Zoom
When: Thursday, March 11, 6 pm
Tickets: Admission to this webinar is free but reservations are required. Click here to register.
Monthly lecture series allows attendees to celebrate cultural history of Cape Ann
Friday, March 19 at 4:00 p.m.
Erica Hirshler (left) and Jane Kamensky (right)
GLOUCESTER, MASS. (March 2021) – To honor and celebrate Women’s History Month, the Cape Ann Museum welcomes historian Jane Kamensky from Harvard University and curator Erica Hirshler from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston on Friday, March 19 at 4 p.m., to discuss how—and why—the instrumental American portrait artist John Singleton Copley painted women.
Jane Kamensky, Trumbull Professor of American History at Harvard University, and Erica Hirshler, Croll Senior Curator of American Paintings, Art of the Americas, at the Museum of Fine Arts, will discuss a series of paintings that Copley made of women—young and old–in Boston and in London in the mid to late 18th century.
“We are excited for the opportunity to host a conversation about the ways in which women have historically been portrayed in the fine arts,” said Museum Director Oliver Barker. “The lecture is being offered in conjunction with a special installation at the Museum titled Our Souls Are by Nature Equal to Yours: The Legacy of Judith Sargent Murray, which features a famous portrait of Judith Sargent Murray by John Singleton Copley. Murray was an early advocate for women’s rights and an important figure in the history of women in Colonial America. We are grateful to have the portrait on loan from the Terra Foundation for American Art.”
WHEN and WHERE: Friday, March 19, 2021 at 4:00 p.m. EST. Register online at https://www.capeannmuseum.org/events/how-copley-painted-women/ or call 978-283-0455 x10 or email to info@capeannmuseum.org. Free for CAM members; $10 for non-members.
Next scheduled lecture in the series will be on Wednesday, March 31 at 5:30 pm: Proving Her Metal: The Life and Sculpture of Katharine Lane Weems with Rebecca Reynolds, Manship Artists Executive Director, Jonathan Fairbanks, Katharine Lane Weems Curator Emeritus, MFA Boston, and Robert Shure, sculptor and proprietor of Skylight Studios.
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 also includes three historic buildings – the White Ellery House (1710), an adjacent Barn (c. 1740), and the recently acquired Babson-Alling House (c.1740), all located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.
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. 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.
MEDIA CONTACTS: Ashley Elias
Teak Media
(213) 400-3402
Ashley@teakmedia.com
Meredith Anderson
meredithanderson@capeannmuseum.org
(978) 283-0455 x115
Please join us via Zoom this Thursday, March 4th to hear from Dr. Shirley Pomponi, research professor, ocean explorer, and part-time aquanaut, as she describes her experience living in the underwater laboratory Aquarius for nine days in 2019. Dr. Pomponi was selected to participate in one of NASA’s Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO), testing out techniques and protocols for future space missions.
You can read about Dr. Pomponi and what you can expect from her fascinating talk on our website, and can register for the talk here.
Please reach out to Ashley Destino at ashley.destino@gmgi.org with any questions.
Talk 1 of 4 on March 11th.
Join Katherine Dench, Mass Cultural Council’s granted apprentice to master shipwright Harold Burnham, as she chronicles her experience in taking part in the restoration process of the historic Sylvina W. Beal and wooden boat building – from sketch to launch.
ZOOM Links will be sent 1hr prior to virtually scheduled talks on the dates listed below:
7pm-8p | Thursday, March 11th | Thursday, April 8th | Thursday, May 13th | Thursday, June 10th
Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.essexshipbuilding.org/tickets/frame-up-to-fit-out-sylvina-w-beal They are free for members and $10 for all others.
When & where: March 25 at 6 pm on Zoom
Tickets: $50. Click here to purchase tickets and learn more. All ticket fees and additional donations are tax deductible. Proceeds support Backyard Growers’ programs connecting low- to moderate-income households to fresh produce through school, backyard, and community gardens.
Join us for a LIVE virtual cook-along and fundraiser for Backyard Growers with Ken Duckworth. Ken is a renowned local chef and restaurateur. Since landing in Gloucester from Boston 16 years ago to open Duckworth’s Bistrot, Ken and his wife Nicole have created community at their restaurant through their relationships with their customers and partnerships with local farmers, fishers, and makers.
In this interactive cooking class, Ken will demonstrate how to prepare fish cakes with remoulade sauce inspired by Gloucester’s seafood traditions and the freshest ingredients.
Cook alongside Ken at home and enjoy a question and answer session with this seasoned chef. You will not need any fancy, specialized equipment or prior experience to take part in this interactive class. Attendees will receive a link to join the class as well as recipes and an ingredient list. Please consider shopping for your ingredients at Common Crow (200 Eastern Ave., Gloucester), a generous Backyard Growers partner.
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (February 17, 2021) – March 10, 2021 marks a year since the Commonwealth of Massachusetts declared a State of Emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Cape Ann Museum, in partnership with the City of Gloucester and LuminArtz, is presenting a temporary public art memorial from March 10 – 14 to acknowledge this important anniversary and commemorate the 35 individuals from Gloucester, 55 individuals from Cape Ann, and over 2,000 individuals from across Essex County who have died from the pandemic.
The Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial is comprised of three parts: a video art installation from LuminArtz, the Cape Ann Cairns Memorial, and the Gloucester Memorial Quilt. These interconnected projects seek to simultaneously humanize the unfathomably large number of deaths in the past year, place the deeply felt local losses in the broader national conversation, and provide a space for visitors to take steps on the long process of grief and healing. In recognition that the pandemic still continues, this memorial takes place outside at the Cape Ann Museum Green and is a temporary installation.
On Wednesday, March 10 at 6:00 pm, the Museum is presenting a Live-Streamed Virtual Memorial Ceremony that can be seen live on Facebook and YouTube. This virtual ceremony will serve as an opening for the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial and a vigil for those lost. Due to current gathering restrictions, visitors will not be allowed onsite during the ceremony. Instead, they are encouraged to watch from home and visit the memorial in person afterwards.
The virtual ceremony will be comprised of local political representatives, community members, and artists including Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken, Senator Bruce Tarr, poet Caroline Harvey, musicians Brian King and Nathan Cohen, the Associated Clergy of Cape Ann, and representatives from the Cape Ann Museum.
About the Cape Ann Museum COVID-19 Memorial
The three simultaneous projects that make up the Cape Ann Museum’s COVID-19 Memorial recognize the local, regional, and national realities of the pandemic in unique yet interconnected ways. Visitors can reserve free, timed entrance to see the memorial at the CAM Green from Wednesday March 11 – Sunday, March 14 between 12:30 – 8:00 pm.
The Gloucester Memorial Quilt was coordinated by the Cape Ann Museum and Roseanne Cody, Board Member on the Gloucester Council of Aging, at the request of Mayor Sefatia Romeo Theken. This quilt memorializes the 35 Gloucester citizens who died as part of the COVID-19 Pandemic, some remain anonymous and others are personally identified by request of the families. The names were embroidered by Monograms by Diane out of Gloucester and the squares were quilted together by Ingrid Schillebeeckx-Rice, a member of the Burlington Quilters Guild. There is a long-standing tradition of quilts used to memorialize and comfort, most significantly the AIDs Memorial Quilt which was displayed for the first time in 1987 and continues to this day.
To commemorate the 55 individuals lost from across Cape Ann, Miranda Aisling, CAM’s Education Manager, will work with volunteers to build 55 cairns out of Cape Ann Granite in front of the White Ellery house. By request, the Museum will put small markers in front of a cairn to designate it for a specific individual who died of COVID-19. Unless personally requested, the cairns will remain anonymous, holding space for all those who have been lost from the region. The Museum encourages visitors to bring tokens of respect, traditionally small stones or flowers, which can be left on the cairns.
The Cape Ann Cairns and the Janet & William Ellery James Center will be illuminated by LuminArtz, a nonprofit that brings art to light collaborating with local artists, businesses, and the community to transform streetscapes into vibrant installations. Pamela Hersch, a Boston-based, multidisciplinary artist originally from Mexico, will create a video art installation that places the local COVID-19 deaths within the regional, state, and national context.
“Observing social distance practices to keep each other safe has left many of us wondering how we can process and acknowledge the tragic losses experienced locally, regionally, and internationally this past year,” says Oliver Barker, Director of the Cape Ann Museum. “Art and cultural institutions, so devastated by this tragedy, have a central role to play as we reopen in telling these stories and providing ways for all of us to grieve, remember, and heal. It’s our sincere hope that this memorial will help start that long process.”
The Cape Ann Museum encourages anyone who would like their loved one to be memorialized in these projects, or who would like to take part in constructing the Cape Ann Cairns on March 5 and 6, to reach out to Miranda Aisling at by email at education@capeannmuseum.org or by phone at 978-283-0455 x125. Family members and friends are asked to provide the name of the deceased as well as their town so that the Museum can make sure they are included in the applicable levels of the memorial.
For more information about the Cape Ann Museum Covid-19 Memorial, visit www.capeannmuseum.org/covidmemorial
Cape Ann Community 