Cape Ann Museum

09/05/2026

Join the Jonathan Bayliss Society at the Cape Ann Museum on Saturday, September 13, at 2 pm for the closing program of this year’s Bayliss Society annual conference, “Gloucester’s Acropolis: Defining the City Then and Now.”
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This final session, “Cape Ann Museum – Then, Now, and Tomorrow,” features a series of short talks exploring the role and influence of Cape Ann Museum in the community life of Gloucester with a glimpse toward an exciting future as well.
Speakers are CAM’s Director Oliver Barker, Chief Curator Martha Oaks, and former Museum volunteer Deanie Hancock French. Deanie’s father, the major American sculptor Walker Hancock, was involved for many years in the development of what was then called the Cape Ann Historical Association.
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About the Conference:
Novelist Jonathan Bayliss (1926–2009) coined the term Acropolis to describe the cluster of civic institutions rising above Gloucester Harbor—City Hall, Sawyer Free Library, the Museum, and neighboring landmarks. This year’s conference brings that idea to life through talks, walks, and readings from September 11–13, exploring how this hillside cultural district has shaped Gloucester from the 19th century to today.
The conference is organized by the Jonathan Bayliss Society in collaboration with Cape Ann Museum, Gloucester Writers Center, and Sawyer Free Library, with support from the Gloucester Cultural Council, Mass Cultural Council, and the Brace Cove Foundation.
More information is available at www.jonathanbayliss.org/acropolis.
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Registration required. Learn more and register for the program at the Cape Ann Museum at https://www.capeannmuseum.org/event/cape-ann-museum-then-now-and-tomorrow/.
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Image courtesy of the Bayliss Society.

09/04/2026

📣 Good news! The previously sold-out keynote lecture on Thursday, September 17, at 5:30 pm as part of the “Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” Symposium has been moved to Gloucester City Hall to open up more tickets and accommodate more attendees!
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Due to popular demand, the lecture “Crosscurrents, Riptides, and Eddies: Thinking about Influence at the Seashore” by Harry Cooper will take place at Gloucester City Hall. The rest of the full-day Symposium on Friday, September 18, will stay at the Cape Ann Museum and it remains sold out.
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Over the course of several summers spent together in Gloucester and environs, Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb emerged from the shadow of their great friend and mentor, Milton Avery, to come into their own. This lecture by Harry Cooper explores the exhibition through the lens of influence, considering exchanges not only between our three protagonists but also with other figures haunting the beach, from Sophocles and T. S. Eliot to Matisse and more.

🗓️ Thursday, September 17, at 5:30 pm.
📍Kyrouz Auditorium, Gloucester City Hall, 9 Dale Avenue, Gloucester, MA 01930.
🎟️ Registration required. Learn more and register at https://www.capeannmuseum.org/event/avery-gottlieb-rothko-by-the-sea-symposium-keynote-lecture/.
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Mark Rothko (1903–1970), “Untitled (wharf),” 1934. Watercolor and graphite on watercolor paper. Collection of Christopher Rothko. © 2026 Kate Rothko Prizel & Christopher Rothko/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

09/03/2026

“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” wouldn’t be possible without the support and artwork loans from 26 prominent national and private institutional collections, including the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts!
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“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” explores the artistic bond between three pivotal 20th century American artists—Milton Avery (1885–1965), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974), and Mark Rothko (1903–1970)—whose shared summers in Gloucester, Massachusetts, from the 1920s to the mid-1940s had a lasting impact on their work. The exhibit is being presented through a collaboration between the Cape Ann Museum and The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.).
On view at the Cape Ann Museum from June 30–September 27, 2026, the exhibition will then be displayed at The Phillips Collection from October 24, 2026–January 24, 2027.
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Learn more and reserve tickets for the Cape Ann Museum at
https://www.capeannmuseum.org/exhibition/avery-gottlieb-rothko-by-the-sea/.
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Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974), “Blue at Night,” 1957. Oil on canvas, 42 x 60 in. Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond. John Barton Payne Fund, 1958, 58.13.4. Photograph: Troy Wilkinson. © 2026 Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation / Licensed by VAGA at Artists Rights Society (ARS), NY.

09/03/2026

09/02/2026

📣 Last call to share your family photos at Stage Fort Park!
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In connection with an upcoming special exhibition of images of Stage Fort Park taken over the past 20 years by Guggenheim Fellowship winning photographer and long-time Gloucester resident Anne Rearick, the Cape Ann Museum is seeking photos of families enjoying the park, past and present.
Images will be incorporated into a digital display and will be shared with the public as part of the exhibit. The Museum will use as many images as it can in the presentation, and all images received will be digitally preserved in the Museum’s archives. We would also love to hear a few words from you about what makes Stage Fort Park special to you.

‼️🗓️ Submissions must be received by Labor Day – Monday, September, 7, 2026.
ℹ️ Image files should be sent as jpgs with a minimum of 300 dpi and maximum of 800 dpi, and should be named with the following file name: LastName_FirstName_Year.
📩 If you have photos you’d like to submit for this project, please find more information and share your memories by emailing [email protected] or at https://www.capeannmuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/CAM-Stage-Fort-Park-Photo-Submissions-2026.pdf.
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Rock Concert, "Whetstone Circle," Stage Fort Park, Stage Fort Park, 1974. Photograph by Charles A. Lowe for the Gloucester Daily Times. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives. Gift of the Gloucester Daily Times/ Eagle-Tribune Publishing Company, 2004 [2004.12].

09/01/2026

See Gloucester through the lens of Fitz Henry Lane’s artwork on the Walking Tour: Harbor Views – The Paintings of Fitz Henry Lane on Saturday, September 5, at 10:30 am!
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Delve into the 19th century on this tour through the neighborhoods and waterfront areas that inspired the artwork of native son Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865). Learn how Lane rose from modest beginnings in the pre-Civil War era to worldwide recognition as a marine painter and why, even today, numerous artists journey to Cape Ann to find inspiration in its light and beauty.
📍CAM Downtown Campus, 27 Pleasant Street, Gloucester, MA 01930
🎟️ Registration required. Learn more and register at
https://www.capeannmuseum.org/event/walking-tour-harbor-views-the-paintings-of-fitz-henry-lane-2/.
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(1) Photo by Cory O’Leary.
(2) Fitz Henry Lane (1804–1865), ”Three Master on the Gloucester Railways” (detail), 1857. Oil on canvas. Collection of the Cape Ann Museum. Deposited by the City of Gloucester, 1952 [DEP. 202].

08/31/2026

“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” wouldn’t be possible without the support and artwork loans from 26 prominent national and private institutional collections, including The Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center!
🖼️
“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” explores the artistic bond between three pivotal 20th century American artists—Milton Avery (1885–1965), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974), and Mark Rothko (1903–1970)—whose shared summers in Gloucester, Massachusetts, from the 1920s to the mid-1940s had a lasting impact on their work. The exhibit is being presented through a collaboration between the Cape Ann Museum and The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.).
On view at the Cape Ann Museum from June 30–September 27, 2026, the exhibition will then be displayed at The Phillips Collection from October 24, 2026–January 24, 2027.
🎟️
Learn more and reserve tickets for the Cape Ann Museum at
https://www.capeannmuseum.org/exhibition/avery-gottlieb-rothko-by-the-sea/.
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Milton Avery (1885–1965), “Gloucester Dawn,” c. 1921. Oil on artist board. Collection of Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center, Vassar College.

08/30/2026

to artist Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios (1909–1968)!
“Jinnee,” as she was affectionately known, was born in Newton Center, MA the daughter of Alfred and Jeanne Burton. Her father was the first dean of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her mother, a poet, was from England.
She worked as an illustrator for the “Boston Transcript,” then in the fall of 1930 she enrolled in sculptor George Demetrios's drawing class at the Boston Museum School. The following spring she and George Demetrios were married. They settled in Folly Cove on Cape Ann in 1932 and had two sons, Aristides and Michael.
Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios’s work with the Folly Cove Designers came out of a design class she first taught to a few neighbors in Gloucester in 1938. The endeavor grew to a guild-like group of “artist-craftsmen,” mostly women and a few men, who made linoleum block prints they printed on fabric. The Designers worked together for about thirty years, disbanding in 1969, the year after Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios died.
In addition to leading the Folly Cove Designers, Demetrios wrote and illustrated children's books under the name Virginia Lee Burton including “Choo Choo” (1935), “Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel” (1939), “The Little House” (1942) and more.
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The Cape Ann Museum is the foremost repository of archival items for both Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios and the Folly Cove Designers. Explore digitized samples of the artist’s sketchbooks, manuscripts, and more online at https://tinyurl.com/vlbdsketchbooks.
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Collection of the Cape Ann Museum:
(1) Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios (1909–1968), “Folly Cove Designers Diploma,” n.d. Ink on cotton.
(2) Folly Cove Designer works on display in the Cape Ann Museum.
(3) Design instructions by Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios. From the Virginia Lee Burton and George Demetrios Collection of the Cape Ann Museum Library & Archives.
(4) Excerpt from “Design and How!, Vol. 1,” an unpublished manuscript by Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios. Donated by Aristides Demetrios and Ilene H. Nagel Demetrios, 2019 [2019.005].

08/29/2026

“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” wouldn’t be possible without the support and artwork loans from 26 prominent national and private institutional collections, including the Ackland Art Museum, UNC-Chapel Hill!
🖼️
“Avery, Gottlieb & Rothko: By the Sea” explores the artistic bond between three pivotal 20th century American artists—Milton Avery (1885–1965), Adolph Gottlieb (1903–1974), and Mark Rothko (1903–1970)—whose shared summers in Gloucester, Massachusetts, from the 1920s to the mid-1940s had a lasting impact on their work. The exhibit is being presented through a collaboration between the Cape Ann Museum and The Phillips Collection (Washington, D.C.).
On view at the Cape Ann Museum from June 30–September 27, 2026, the exhibition will then be displayed at The Phillips Collection from October 24, 2026–January 24, 2027.
🎟️
Learn more and reserve tickets for the Cape Ann Museum at
https://www.capeannmuseum.org/exhibition/avery-gottlieb-rothko-by-the-sea/. __________________________
Milton Avery (1885–1965), “George Constant Fishing,” 1945. Watercolor on paper, 22 13/16 x 31 3/16 in. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Ackland Art Museum. Bequest of Charles and Isabel Eaton, 2009.31.6. © 2026 The Milton Avery Trust / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

08/28/2026

Four more chances to travel back to the 1700s on a White-Ellery House Tour on Sundays, through September 20, from 2-3 pm!
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The White-Ellery House, built in 1710 for the Reverend John White—Gloucester’s first settled minister in First Parish—was situated in Gloucester’s Town Green, the center of the community at that time. The house has been owned by the Museum since 1947 and is one of just a handful of early eighteenth-century structures in the region exhibiting much of its original interior detailing.
The tour will share who lived in the house over time, its exterior structure and interior features, and the adventure of being moved to make way for the Route 128 rotary.

📍The White-Ellery House at CAM Green is located at 13 Poplar St, Gloucester, MA 01930.
🎟️ Free and open to the public. This is a drop in program and space is limited, so it is first come first serve.
Learn more about the White-Ellery House at https://www.capeannmuseum.org/properties/the-white-ellery-house/.