Good Morning Gloucester

Reopening plans for museums are underway. Cape Ann Museum reopening plans feature a special extra bonus: the museum’s expansion, “Cape Ann Museum Green”, will be revealed!

Read all about it in the press release from Cape Ann Museum www.capeannmuseum.org

Image: Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865), The Western Shore with Norman’s Woe, 1862. Oil on canvas.
Collection of the Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester, MA. Gift of Isabel Babson Lane, 1946 [1147.c]

The Cape Ann Museum is preparing to re-open its main campus at 27 Pleasant Street to the public on Oct. 1 with new safety precautions for social distancing, reduced capacity, touch-less doors, increased cleaning, and other measures that adhere to Gov. Baker’s Phase 3 re-opening plan and to protect the public while enjoying the Museum’s renowned art and maritime collections.

Museum members will be invited to return to the Pleasant Street campus on Sept. 24, and the Museum’s new Cape Ann Museum Green off Grant Circle will open to the public on Sept. 17 including the contemporary archival collections storage and public exhibition space, the Janet & William Ellery James Center.

At the new Cape Ann Museum Green, visitors will see a selection of images from The Porch-Rait Project, photographs of Gloucester families taken early in the COVID 19 pandemic as a benefit to The Open Door. Tickets for both sites may be reserved at www.camuseum.eventbrite.com.

“We are overjoyed to announce that we can re-open with the necessary precautions required by the state,” said Museum Director Oliver Barker. “As the global pandemic hit in March, we closed our doors to protect the staff and public. Since then, I think we have all been feeling the need to return to a place of inspiration, to see art that reminds us of the beautiful places in which we live, and to feel a sense of normalcy again by visiting the Museum and our new Cape Ann Museum Green campus.”

When visitors return to Pleasant Street on Oct. 1, they will see a newly re-installed and updated Lane Gallery, showcasing the work of marine artist Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865). They will also be able to view three special exhibitions: Tom and T.M. Nicholas: A Father and Son’s Journey in Paint, which has been extended through November 1; Odds Were Against Me, featuring works by 20th century sculptors, Anna Vaughn Hyatt Huntington and Katharine Lane Weems, on view through January 3, 2021; and Our Souls are by Nature Equal to Yours, an exhibit exploring the life of early feminist writer Judith Sargent Murray, on view through November 8.

Here are some of the precautionary measures that the Museum will be taking when it re-opens:

• The Museum will have limited opening hours from Thursday to Sunday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow for ample cleaning. The time slot of 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. will be reserved for high risk populations to visit.
• All visitors will need to make a reservation at www.camuseum.eventbrite.com to ensure limited capacity.
• The Museum will only allow 7 percent occupancy in the galleries. There will be no public access to the Auditorium, Activity Center, or Davis House until further notice.
• The Library & Archives will be closed due to ventilation issues, but access to the entire collection can be found online at capeannmuseum.org/research or by emailing library@capeannmuseum.org.
• Visitors will be required to wear masks throughout their time in the Museum. Anyone without a mask will be offered one upon entry.
• Social distancing in the galleries and throughout the Museum will be enforced by staff and security guards.
• Limited docent tours will be offered.
• Increased cleaning will happen during the Museum’s off-hours.
• Main entrance and bathroom doors have been redesigned to open automatically for touch free access.