History of the Museum

By the 1930s, it became necessary to build a gallery adjoining the Davis House to accommodate the growing collections. The new space also included an auditorium which enabled the Association to provide cultural programming for the community.

The history of the Association was affected profoundly when Alfred Mansfield Brooks, a Harvard-trained professor of art history, became its president in 1940. His roots were in Gloucester, so after retiring from academia he returned to spend nearly 30 years building the Association’s collections. He believed that Gloucester native Fitz Henry Lane (1804-1865) would eventually hold a preeminent place among 19th century American artists. Brooks began assembling what is now the largest and finest collection of Lane paintings in the country.

In the 1960s, the growth of the collections prompted yet another expansion, a two-story wing with more galleries and storage space. An entire gallery was devoted to the area’s fishing and maritime heritage.

The Association began its most extensive expansion program in the late 1980s when it bought an adjacent building. Graham Gund Architects developed a plan with atrium galleries on three levels to link the buildings and with new or renovated galleries in the two buildings. Throughout the 1990s, the Association continued to construct space, more than doubling the size of the Museum.

The most recent construction provided the Museum with a 1,600 square foot gallery, which features changing exhibitions. The space is dramatic, with a ceiling that rises to 24 feet at its center. A sculpture garden at the Museum’s entrance, displays the work of sculptors Albert Henry Atkins, Walker Hancock, George Demetrios, and Ken Hruby.

In 2007, the Museum’s Board voted to adopt the name Cape Ann Museum, with the accompanying tagline: Art | History | Culture. The new name was chosen to more accurately describe the focused, but expansive nature of the Museum’s mission and to strengthen the Museum’s commitment to the people of Cape Ann and to the preservation and presentation of its rich traditions of art, history and culture.

The Cape Ann Museum Green, the Museum’s new campus off Grant Circle and Route 128 in Gloucester, is designed to dramatically expand the Museum’s community, contemporary art, and educational offerings. The almost four-acre campus is home to three historic structures: the White Ellery House (1710), an adjacent Barn (c.1740), and the Babson-Alling House (c.1740), all located on the site at the intersection of Washington and Poplar Streets in Gloucester.

The new 12,000 square foot Janet & William Ellery James Center, completed in 2020, includes 2,000 square feet of flexible exhibition and community programming space designed to reach broader audiences with new exhibits and public programs. The James Center addresses the Museum’s critical need for expanded collections and archival storage. Built to LEED Platinum standards, the James Center was designed by Boston-based designLAB and integral to the building’s environmental footprint is the installation of a 173KW Solar 2 Array system on the building’s roof.

Ample green space has been reserved at the site and will include sitting walls, lawns, and a pathway linking all buildings. New indigenous plantings have been made and an outdoor sculpture park is also envisaged.

The completion of the James Center and creation of the Cape Ann Museum Green is designed to enhance the Museum’s facilities by providing room for future collections and archival growth in the lead up to the Museum’s 150th anniversary in 2025 and beyond.

Today, the Museum is a vibrant cultural center, spanning two campuses which includes galleries, an auditorium, a library & archives, a hands-on studio, two sculpture gardens and four historic structures.