Docents

Tour guide talks about a piece of art in a gallery.

CAM Docents are volunteers from the community who are equipped with knowledge of general Cape Ann history and of the Museum’s collections. All CAM Docents participate in an in-depth training covering the Museum’s collections. Throughout the year, CAM Docents lead highlight tours and a variety of other specialty tours. Check the calendar for upcoming tours!

Learn more about our incredible volunteers and the wide variety of experience and backgrounds they bring to the Museum by reading the Docent Bios below.

Interested in becoming a docent? The Museum offers docent training at key intervals. Email [email protected] to get updates about our next offering.

Docent Bios

Anne-Seymour St. John

Anne-Seymour St. John first fell in love with Gloucester as a 10-year-old, reading James Connolly’s 1903 entrancing book of short stories, Gloucestermen. The book was part of a small library aboard her godfather’s sloop as it sailed from Maine to Canada. She served as an instructor in the sea program of the Hurricane Island Outward Bound School in Maine before she settled down with a roof over her head, cotton sheets, and a cat, in none other than Gloucester. With an undergraduate degree in history, a master’s in education, a passion for Gloucester, a joy in learning, a love of the sea, and pleasure in people’s company, Anne- Seymour found the docent training program immensely rewarding. She has enjoyed engaging visitors on her tours, helping them feel connected to Cape Ann and to be interested in what they learn at the Museum. She has the honor of being a Docent-Trustee on the Museum’s Board of Directors since 2018. In that role, she draws on her experience volunteering for Essex County Greenbelt and as the founding Middle East Program Director at the nonprofit Quebec-Labrador Foundation in Ipswich.

Ann Pulver

Ann Pulver has studied and taught art for several decades. She instructed students through the Philadelphia Art Museum program. Then, while living in Atlanta, she volunteered as a docent at the High Museum for seven years. Upon moving to Manchester in 1980, Ann joined the Rockport Art Association, where she took art lessons. Ann has taught and coached at Brookwood School and coached and worked in development at the Pingree School. Ann enjoys using acrylics or pastels to create landscapes and won first place in her first and only show. She then discovered the Cape Ann Museum where she has been a docent since 2011. Ann has thoroughly enjoyed the education she has received as a CAM docent, participating in the community and the camaraderie. She particularly values working with children. When not in a museum, Ann is outside playing pickle ball, strolling on the beach, and walking her faithful golden retriever all over Cape Ann.

Barbara Mattson

Prior to moving to Gloucester, Barbara Mattson enjoyed her art history classes in college and her time as a docent and historical society director in New York’s Catskill Mountains. After she moved to Cape Ann in 2021, she continued to follow her interests by volunteering as a docent at the Cape Ann Museum. She appreciates the rich history of the city and the repurposing of its older buildings. She now lives on the third floor of a converted 1899 schoolhouse. Four of Frederick Mulhaupt’s WPA murals were installed in this school prior to being relocated to the O’Maley Middle School, a few blocks away. Oak Grove Cemetery is just steps away from her door, and daily walks there have enhanced her knowledge of the many artists and personalities who have inhabited Gloucester through the years. She also enjoys walking around downtown Gloucester and volunteering with Generous Gardeners and Backyard Growers to help beautify Gloucester and keep it green.

Beth Morris

Beth and her family came to Gloucester in 1994 intending to stay a couple of years, yet here they remain. “There is just something about this place,” she explains. A regular museum-goer, she first came to the Cape Ann Museum for the art. The collection and its presentation surpassed expectations. CAM became a favorite place to show off to visiting family and friends. “It never disappoints.” Later Beth had the opportunity to experience CAM through other lenses. While working for the local Chamber of Commerce she interacted with the Museum as a valued part of the tourism economy. Her involvement with the Gloucester Education Foundation brought her to the Museum for the Annual Arts Festival and its related children and education programs. She loves that the Museum captures the special “something” of Cape Ann, contextualizes it, and reflects it back in ways that resonate with one-time visitors and lifelong residents alike. Beth is proud to contribute as a volunteer.

Bruce Jones

Bruce Jones’ early interest in art led to painting as a lifelong hobby and earning an undergraduate degree in art history. A 35-year Federal career in Civilian Personnel at Hanscom AFB and the National Park Service culminated with his performing Supervisory Park Ranger duties at Salem Maritime National Historic Site, where he gave hundreds of guided tours to visitors from around the world about the early settlement, maritime era, and industrial revolution of Salem and Essex County. Having lived in three other seaside communities in Essex County, Bruce and spouse Tina along with their family of small poodles, chose Rockport for their retirement location. The rugged coastline, ocean and scenic/historic places are never very far away on Cape Ann and invite constant exploration and inspiration. The CAM docent program allows Bruce to enhance his education about the many artists who created their work here and use that knowledge to share with visitors, similar to the guided tours he enjoyed giving as a Park Ranger. The Captain Elias Davis house and the Native American history on Cape Ann are his favorite tour topics.

Bruce Shaw

When Bruce Shaw saw the notice for docent training at the Cape Ann Museum, he was instantly drawn to the program. His wife and their son are professional artists, their daughter is an extraordinary photographer, and he paints in watercolor. They belong to several museums and never travel without seeing art in the cities they visit. Bruce had recently retired after a career in K-12 education. As a member of CAM for a long time, he finds the collection spellbinding with its focus on connecting the art, history, and extraordinary beauty of Cape Ann. He has never been able to walk up the stairs to the upper floor without being mesmerized by Walker Hancock’s moving sculpture of the fallen WWII soldier, and he has choked up when talking about the life of Howard Blackburn. He finds docent work like teaching—a chance to turn the past and present into stories that captivate and engage CAM visitors who arrive from around the world.

Charlene DeLena Callahan

Since 2007, Charlene and her husband James have divided their weeks between Gloucester and Chelsea. The spirits of their former neighbors (including Leon Kroll, Aino Clarke, and the studio of George Demetrios) in Lanesville sparked Charlene’s interest in the art and artists of Cape Ann. She joined the Cape Ann Museum’s docent class of 2016. Soon her favorite exhibits became the Folly Cove Designers, the Cape Ann Gallery, and especially the Elias Davis House. Her background in Romance languages enables her to give special tours in French and Spanish. Today she happily participates as a volunteer and caboose for walking tours. She continues to peruse her interest in photography since retiring as an ophthalmic photographer at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary; she also volunteers at Malden’s Immigrant Learning Center’s literacy program, working with new English speakers.

Charles Browne

Charles Browne studied art history in college and went on to practice architecture in New England and Texas. He painted in oils during high school and later in watercolors. Recently he has been working in both mediums. Charles has lived on Cape Ann—both year-round and summers—on multiple occasions throughout his life and learned to sail as a teenager on Sandy Bay. Recently retired, he and his wife have returned to Cape Ann for good. He was inspired to become at docent at the Cape Ann Museum for the chance to learn in depth about the area that has meant so much to him—including its art, industry, and Gloucester’s colorful history as America’s oldest seaport. He enjoys giving Highlights Tours at the Museum which touch on all these subjects.

Chris Doyle

Christina (Chris) Doyle has ties to Cape Ann that go back generations. She spent much of her childhood in Rockport and Pigeon Cove. This, plus the beautiful setting of Cape Ann, brought her back to her childhood home when she retired from a career in education. Her connections to Cape Ann began in the mid-1600s with the arrival of the first Peter Lurvey and include others over the ensuing generations. Through marriages, Chris has a wide network of relationships on the North Shore. Chris’s career in education began with teaching history, civics and French in a junior high school, then training to become a librarian, an administrator, and a final phase as a professor of education, for many years living in California. With an interest in history and eager to learn more about Cape Ann, she became a CAM docent in 2016. This opportunity to continue to learn and deepen a “sense of place” has proven to be a wonderful opportunity and richly rewarding personally. Chris leads Highlights Tours and a walking tour, facilitates discussions of the two CAM book groups, and assists at Museum functions.

Dan Duffy

Dan Duffy and his wife Helene, have been Innkeepers at the Beech Tree B&B in Rockport for 14 years. In this capacity, he takes pride in serving as an ambassador of goodwill for travelers from around the world. He is passionate about showcasing our region’s rich history, geographical uniqueness, and artistic treasures. An active member of the Rockport Innkeeper Association, he leads engaging hikes to Dogtown and the Babson Boulder Trail for Inns of Rockport guests. As a Cape Ann Museum docent, Dan uses his experience connecting with visitors while deepening his own knowledge of the Museum and of the region’s vibrant social and cultural history.

Doug Stewart

Doug Stewart has lived in nearby Ipswich for more than 30 years and has been visiting the Cape Ann Museum for almost that long. An avid museum-goer, he was formerly an arts writer for Smithsonian magazine. He often traveled around the country to interview curators about art exhibitions they were planning. To him, giving tours at the Cape Ann Museum, feels a little like writing about art but without having to worry about spelling and grammar. Doug spent time in sailboats as a young man and once crossed the Atlantic in a 40-foot boat (not alone!). That’s another reason he’s drawn to Cape Ann: its legendary maritime history. Before becoming a docent here, he made sure to take friends to CAM’s Maritime Gallery to learn about Howard Blackburn and see his actual boat. An additional feature of Cape Ann that has lured him from Ipswich in recent years is its dining scene. Before the pandemic, he and his wife, Coco McCabe, wrote restaurant reviews for The Boston Sunday Globe. When a column was due, Gloucester’s Main Street was a favorite destination.

Ed Becker

Ed Becker has long been inspired by the beautiful and dramatic landscape of Cape Ann. In the course of a career focused on natural history and land conservation, he was fortunate to play a role in the protection of key parts of our local environment. On retiring, Ed was interested in learning more about the art, culture, and industry of Cape Ann, especially as influenced by our natural environment. He felt there is no institution that better presents and celebrates the interaction of human history and our local natural wonders than the Cape Ann Museum. Ed is a volunteer docent, leading Highlight Tours through the galleries. He has presented special tours that showcase the connection of the area’s geologic history to art and quarrying and has written about the Native American communities of Cape Ann at the time of European settlement. Ed also leads walking tours, focused recently on Fitz Henry Lane and on the houses painted by Edward Hopper.

Elaine Ohlson

Elaine Ohlson’s curiosity was nurtured growing up in Ohio through access to local attractions, family travel adventures, and hundreds of books. Now it continues to thrive in the docent program at the Cape Ann Museum with its humanities trifecta of art, history, and culture. After student teaching in Brazil, she traded in Cleveland and Lake Erie for Boston and the Atlantic seacoast, where she would first teach English and then foster student reading and research in public school media centers. Elaine went on to develop practice references and professional development programs for Massachusetts attorneys. Elaine’s work in the legal sector often involved travel to major cities in the US and Canada where she always made time to visit museums and noted landmarks from Preservation Hall to Alcatraz. Now it’s her turn to share Cape Ann’s rich heritage during Highlights and Walking Tours, school visits, and the CAM Connections program for seniors. Elaine also values the ongoing exchange among the Museum’s docents, staff, and visitors that yields unique insights into all things Cape Ann as well as context for the Museum’s role in the broader museum universe.

Frances Fitch

Frances Fitch is a professional musician with a passion for Cape Ann and its diverse communities. She is also passionate about learning and teaching. As a performing harpsichordist whose specialty is 17^th– and 18^th-century music, Frances has many years of experience teaching historical performance at the Masters level. This experience helps her to share what she has learned about the Cape Ann Museum with visitors on Highlights Tours. She is also on the CAM Historic Garden Committee and helps out where needed during large CAM events. Frances has performed on harpsichord at CAM, and she made a video with singer and CAM docent Sarah Wetzel of a song for which Fitz Henry Lane created a lithographed cover. Frances has served on a number of Boards of Directors, including the Cape Ann Symphony. The organizing principle of place at the Cape Ann Museum is fascinating to her as it allows for an unusual and appealing combination of artistic and historical objects. As a lifelong sailor, Frances is drawn to the exceptional work of F.H. Lane, and she enjoyed collaborating as a copyeditor on the Fitz Henry Lane Online Catalogue Raisonné. Frances lives in Magnolia.

Gail Anderson

A lifelong North Shore resident, Gail Anderson started visiting the Cape Ann Museum in the 1990s where she and her partner Bill became enthralled with Fitz Henry Lane paintings. Gail enthusiastically joined the 2012-2013 docent training group and has been active ever since. As an editor/photographer for SAIL Magazine for 20 years, Gail traveled to assignments at ports on the East Coast, in the Caribbean, Europe, and the Mediterranean. She has welcomed the chance to interpret the Museum’s marine collections, including presentations on the Fresnel lighthouse lens, navigation at sea, fishing schooners, and lone voyagers Centennial Johnson and Howard Blackburn. During a midlife switch, Gail trained in the horticultural field and worked for The Trustees of Reservations at their garden property Long Hill. She also honed her public speaking skills by presenting numerous garden lectures. For CAM, Gail used her horticultural knowledge as a presenter on old gardens during Old House Doctor Day at the White Ellery House and as a member of the Cape Ann Blossoms committee. Gail has continued to pursue her photography and has occasionally exhibited her work. At the Museum, she researches and presents general Highlights Tours, themed tours and works on special projects.

Gail Seavey

Gail graduated from the Rhode Island School of Design majoring in art education. She taught art in the Gloucester Public Schools, then was a educator at the Hammond Castle Museum. Active in the feminist art movement, she was a founding member of the Center and Main Gallery. She later earned an M.Div. at Harvard Divinity School and served as a justice-oriented parish minister for 30 years. She returned home to Gloucester upon retirement. Volunteering as a Docent at the Cape Ann Museum allows her to draw upon her experiences as an artist, educator, and community organizer as the Museum presents marginalized stories from our local history.

Heidi McGrath

Heidi McGrath retired in 2016 after 30 years teaching in the Gloucester public schools and promptly joined the Cape Ann Museum docent training class. During her various teaching positions, she focused on incorporating Gloucester history, industry, geology, and art into the various Middle School subjects she taught. Through the docent training, Heidi expanded her knowledge, especially of Cape Ann artists. Her CAM tours aim to make connections between all the facets of Cape Ann life. She leads the CAM Book Group, volunteers in the CAM Library and Archives, and is a member of the CAM Educators Committee. A resident of Annisquam, she enjoys volunteering for Backyard Growers, walking in Annisquam and Dogtown, and making art with friends and grandchildren.

Ingrid Swanson

Ingrid Swanson studied the history of art in college and graduate school. For 38 years she owned ARA gallery in South Hamilton dealing in 19^th and 20^th century American art. Many of the artists she represented worked on Cape Ann, so Ingrid became well acquainted with the local art scene. To keep connected with the art world after she closed the gallery and retired, Ingrid joined the first docent class at the Cape Ann Museum. Ingrid has led Highlights Tours and walking tours. She is a member of the Museum’s Acquisition Committee and the Fitz Henry Lane Society.

Jenny Pearson

Jenny Pearson has a love of history, architecture, and art, and a desire to engage people in these subjects. For Jenny, it’s the overlap between these fields that is so interesting. She studied history in college, architecture in graduate school, and has traveled widely—crossing the country on the route of the Oregon Trail and visiting China in 1996, when there were still more bicycles than cars. Working as a Boston based architect, she was most proud of her work designing schools because of their important role in fostering a sense of civic pride. Now retired, she tutors GED students in social studies for Beverly Bootstraps, and volunteers in its Food Pantry. Architecture and history also inform her favorite hobby—cycling the old back roads of the North Shore. On the bike, she feels the lay of the land, imagines the “why” of settlement, and experiences beauty as if she were riding through a painting! All these things led her to the Cape Ann Museum because it celebrates cultural overlap and connections. As a Highlights Tour guide, Jenny brings these connections to life, helping the public to imagine and better understand this place of artists, sailors, granite, and the sea.

Jim Seavey

Jim Seavey grew up in Rockport, delivering papers and mowing lawns of artists now in the Cape Ann Museum collections. He attended Saturday painting classes at the Rockport Art Association, and worked in clay for several years as a child and teen. The sculptor Walker Hancock steered him toward the Rhode Island School of Design, from which he graduated in 1971 with a degree in silversmithing. He supported his family as a designer working in silver and pewter until 1984. For five years he maintained a pewter workshop/studio in Gloucester, Halibut Point Pewter, which gained an international reputation. Jim exhibited widely, curated several contemporary pewter exhibits, and was published in magazines. Later Jim became an industrial metal worker and eventually a machine, boat, and house builder. He left Lanesville in 1990 and lived in Minnesota, Salem, Massachusetts, and Nashville, Tennessee. He retired while in Nashville and returned to art—metalworking, watercolors and photography. Jim was a docent at Cheekwood Museum in Nashville before returning to Gloucester in 2020. He put his art background and museum experience to good use by becoming a docent at CAM at the first opportunity.

John Cunningham

John Cunningham’s first introduction to the Cape Ann Museum was as part of a junior high school visit with classmates some six decades ago. Then, there was only one employee as opposed to the robust Museum of today. Growing up in Gloucester and having ancestors who lived here, John has a lifelong fascination with Cape Ann. In college and graduate school he majored in geology, and this strengthened his connections to the area’s granite, beaches, and various landscapes.

Now retired, John practiced law in Gloucester with his brother for more than 45 years. The opportunity to work with so many valued clients over the years and involvement in a wide range of development projects, added to a fund of knowledge about Cape Ann, its people, and its history. John has volunteered with CAM for more than 30 years. He serves on the Board of Trustees and was its Chairman for more than a decade, particularly working on the plans and development of CAM Green. Retirement offered an opportunity to join the docent program to learn even more about Cape Ann and the Museum’s collections while sharing his passion with others.

John Day

John Day first came to Gloucester in 1968 with college friends. While driving up Point Hill on East Main Street, he spied a familiar-looking young woman. Wasn’t that Sharon, with whom he had spent two days hiking from Mt. Wachusett to Cathedral in the Pines and whose grandmother had a house in Gloucester? Two years later they were married, and ever since Gloucester has felt like home. John’s career as a college English professor and academic administrator took John and Sharon to Minnesota, Virginia, and Ohio. Now retired, John volunteers at several Cape Ann cultural institutions. Being a docent provides a welcome outlet for his professional interests in research, writing, and teaching. He has co-led the CAM Book Club, has given numerous Highlight Tours and several Winter Shorts. John has especially liked leading walking tours—on Fitz Henry Lane, Gloucester’s Spiritual Communities, and Winslow Homer. During the pandemic, John helped develop a new walking tour through Dogtown, featuring the development and decline of the “Commons Settlement”, its early inhabitants (including his ancestor Anthony Day), and the continuing attraction of Dogtown to artists, authors, and nature lovers. (As a side note: his wife Sharon is also a CAM docent.)

Karen Bergenthal

Karen moved to Gloucester from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her husband in 2015, drawn by the special mystique Cape Ann long held for her as a haven for art and culture (and the lobster!). She joined the Cape Ann Museum immediately and was delighted to discover the wealth of Fitz Henry Lane paintings, an artist whose work she had admired since the 1960s and 70s when she worked in a gallery in her native New York City that dealt in 19th and early 20th century art. Karen has been operating Tours d’Art since 1994 which organizes art and architecture tours for small groups all over the country and abroad. When she is in Gloucester, she volunteers at CAM, assisting with events and serving as a caboose on walking tours. Currently she and docent Monica Lawton have undertaken a program to offer the docents an opportunity to travel together locally on docent outings to other art venues, studios, and related sites.

Leslie Beatty

Having returned to Massachusetts after 36 hot years in Dallas, Texas, Leslie resolved to get to know her new home from a historical as well as a people-oriented place. She had grown up, it’s true, in Boxford, but that location doesn’t have the unique and interesting aspects of Cape Ann. While in Dallas, Leslie worked as a columnist, researcher, and Middle School librarian while raising her family with her husband. Now in Manchester-by-the-Sea, she keeps all those interests fresh by volunteering at the Manchester Public Library and at the Open Door in Gloucester with her husband. She enjoys an alumnae book club, putting in lots of miles with the family dog, and pickleball. Being a docent at the Cape Ann Museum brings many rewards—becoming friends, and doing projects with, the Museum staff and volunteers along with constantly honing, and sharing, her knowledge of Cape Ann with visitors. Her focus is the talents of the Folly Cove Designers and the amazing local sculptors and artists who have been inspired by the beauty of this area.

Linda Mahajan

Linda Mahajan has deep Cape Ann roots; she counts among her ancestors Azorean fishermen, a violinist for the Cape Ann Symphony, and a granite quarry engineer. She grew up in Manchester by-the-Sea and holds a degree in history. A long time member of the Cape Ann Museum, she has always felt connected to and interested in the people, art, and history of Cape Ann. After a career that included working in the travel industry, she transitioned to Website design, development, and communications, eventually working for 17 years for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Following her recent retirement, Linda joined CAM’s docent training program. She now uses her experience in communications and tourism to engage visitors as she leads Highlights Tours at the Museum.

Maggie Rosa

Born and raised in England, Maggie came to the Chicago in 1968 to work as a research technician at the University of Chicago. During her eight years in Chicago, she married Joe and obtained her PhD. The two of them did post-doctoral research at Yale and then moved to Cambridge to join the nascent biotech world. They eventually built a weekend home in Gloucester. In 2001 they “saw the light” and moved here permanently to participate in this great community. Maggie is an active volunteer in local organizations, most recently the City Hall Restoration Commission, Gloucester Education Foundation, Cape Ann Museum, and Generous Gardeners. As a Cape Ann Museum docent, she serves as an ambassador for Gloucester by introducing visitors, especially cruise ship visitors, to Cape Ann’s history and culture. One of Maggie’s passions is gardening, and she is excited to participate in the new CAM Green garden project. CAM’s Fresnel lighthouse lens is her favorite piece in the Museum because it exemplifies how science, technology and art were combined to address an urgent need in maritime safety.

Margot Walthall

Margot grew up in North Andover and has vivid childhood memories of frequent trips to Wingaersheek and Singing Beaches with her family that would often culminate in clam dinners in nearby Essex or on Bearskin Neck, Rockport. As a lifelong lover of art and history museums, she joined the docent team in 2023 after a career in healthcare strategy, market research, and communications. Margot served as a gallery attendant for the Cape Ann Museum’s highly touted Edward Hopper & Cape Ann exhibit and took delight in assisting both new and veteran CAM visitors in engaging with the exhibit and related programming. She is a member of the CAM book group and gives Highlights Tours. Margot recently earned a certificate in Museum Studies from the Harvard Extension School where she researched the Folly Cove Designers for a course on place-based museums. Margot is particularly interested in the opportunity to tell more stories about the contributions of the many women artists on Cape Ann. CAM’s upcoming Women Artists on Cape Ann 1870-1970 exhibition will celebrate this. She now lives in Swampscott, makes her way to Cape Ann often, and enjoys dabbling in watercolor painting on our beautiful North Shore.

Mary Flaherty

Frequent visits to family at Good Harbor Beach were a highlight of Mary Flaherty’s childhood, and Gloucester has always held a special place in her heart. After living in Boston and Manhattan, Mary spent 35 years in San Francisco, raising her children and enjoying a career as a major gift fundraiser for nonprofits.

The day after retiring, Mary fulfilled a long-held dream and moved to Gloucester. Another dream came true when she became a Cape Ann Museum docent. Continuous learning and sharing her enthusiasm for Cape Ann’s unique story are a joy. Mary polished her public speaking skills as a presenter on the fundamentals of fundraising at local and national professional conferences. Her interactive presentations were laced with humor. Among the most popular were Origami, Roach Motels, and the Martini-on-a-Stick—A Tale of Success in an Impossible Campaign. A lover of Broadway musicals and being onstage, Mary has appeared in local dramatic productions and spent many happy hours performing with the Annisquam Village Players in their annual summer musicals. Just as it was in her career, Mary’s passion is discovering the back stories and the history of the people who created, or are represented, in CAM’s art and objects.

Miriam Weinstein

Although Miriam Weinstein has lived on Cape Ann for more than three decades, she loves finding new places and new stories and sharing them with visitors. She was a painting major in college and thought of herself as a visual person until she became, first, a documentary filmmaker and then a journalist. Having spent the bulk of her professional life as a writer, she now thinks she might be a word person after all. She was a staff member at North Shore Weeklies newspapers for many years. Her book, Yiddish: A Nation of Words, won the National Jewish Book award. Her book, The Surprising Power of Family Meals gave her a platform to lecture and consult on the topic internationally. Miriam likes changing gears, which fits well with CAM’s varied collection. She gives tours to adults, family groups, and kids. She enjoys moving quickly and making sure that everyone stays engaged. She loves the fact that tours can be very personalized. Each tour is different, depending on the interests of the docent and the guests, as well as the changing exhibits. Much like Cape Ann, Museum visits are creative, personable, idiosyncratic, and rich in beauty and history.

Monica Lawton

Monica Lawton grew up reading books on American history and went on to earn degrees in history and education – only to begin her career at a science museum, working in education and exhibits. This led to a 35-year career in non-profit management, providing leadership to membership organizations large and small, primarily in the legal field and construction industry. The work involved many of the same activities that are central to CAM as well – membership, communications, education and events. Today, Monica enjoys applying the skills from her career in service to the community. She serves on several Rockport town committees, including Town Art, and is active in a number of local nonprofits. Monica also manages the business of a local maritime artist. On Sunday mornings, she leads groups of outdoor enthusiasts on hikes through Dogtown and the woods of Cape Ann, continuing a tradition begun by others over 40 years ago. As a docent at CAM, she has come full circle – back to history and to a museum. Whether leading tours or helping in the archives, Monica loves being able to contribute to CAM’s mission and share the richness of Cape Ann history, while learning so much in the process.

Nicole Bannerman

Nicole Bannerman has studied fine art since she was a child, starting with instruction at the Cleveland Institute of Art. She has a degree in Art History from McGill University and had a career in marketing and advertising. After moving to Rockport 25 years ago, she raised her children and continued studying at Montserrat College of Art and Endicott College. As her family moved around, Nicole volunteered at the deCordova Museum in Lincoln, Massachusetts, and the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto. After returning to Cape Ann permanently, she joined the 2023 docent class at the Cape Ann Museum. Nicole is an abstract painter and mixed media artist. During the summer she is a docent at Thacher Island. She has been an active greeter at special exhibits as well as a caboose on the Hopper walking tour and expects to be certified to give highlights tours soon. Her favorite exhibit is the Fresnel lens in the Thacher Island gallery and she loves learning something new every day that she is at the museum.

Paul Romary

Paul Romary volunteers in the CAM Archives and Library to support special projects, such as the Gloucester Daily Times exhibit Above the Fold and the Gloucester 400⁺ timeline digitization project in collaboration with the Sawyer Free Library. He assists visitors with navigating the Archives unique documentary materials. He volunteers as crew and as a maintenance hand on the Schooner Adventure and serves on the board of Backyard Growers. Prior careers have included journalism, financial management, and running a state hospital. In retirement, he learned piano tuning and repair services to maintain the “underserved” pianos of nonprofits and churches. Paul lives blocks from the Museum in downtown Gloucester with his husband, Rev. Douglas Vooys.

Pippy Giuliano

Pippy is connected to Cape Ann through her Irish ancestors who left County Waterford, Ireland, in the 1870s to settle and work the land at Beaver Dam Farm in Rockport. Pippy’s mother Josephine R. Flynn, M.D., was born on a kitchen table on Maplewood Avenue here in Gloucester. As a repository of art, artifacts, and stories, the Cape Ann Museum was a refuge for Pippy growing up. She loved to explore the dark and mysterious China Trade room filled with Chinese vases and scenes of Gloucester vessels in Hong Kong harbor. One can only surmise if the impetus to travel to Asia was sparked by these experiences in those very rooms. It is that continued sense of mystery that draws Pippy to volunteer at the Museum. A story or a work of art can have a lasting impression on a visitor. Through CAM Connections, a program for seniors, Pippy enjoys facilitating conversations and sharing impressions and reminiscences centered on objects in the Museum’s collection.

Rosalie Day Hughes

Rosalie Day Hughes has spent summers on Cape Ann since she was nine years old. She studied art history in high school and college and has visited many art museums around the world. In 2017, after retiring from a career teaching in Manhattan, Rosalie moved to Cape Ann full time. Museum visits along “Museum Mile” in New York City with her students and with her own children were significant parts of her New York life. Becoming involved at the Cape Ann Museum has been a perfect antidote to no longer having students or colleagues or compliant children. Rosalie has moved on to sharing her love of the arts with adult visitors at CAM as well as children. Living on Cape Ann and learning more about its rich artistic heritage has turned into an obsession for making connections. Daily she notices a view or a name or an object that is part of the jigsaw puzzle that constitutes Cape Ann’s past. During COVID, Rosalie helped to create the Dogtown Walking Tour, and now leads, the Arts and Letters segments. At CAM, she loves working as a docent educator with students of all ages and presenting Highlight Tours and Winter Shorts.

Sarah Mowitt

Sarah Mowitt follows in the footsteps of previous generations in her family who have retired on Cape Ann. She remembers fondly her childhood summer trips to visit her grandparents and long days playing on the beaches. In retirement, Sarah has reveled in discovering all the wonders of Cape Ann that go far beyond the beaches: the quarries, the woods, the concerts and theater, the beauty that is all around, and the wonderful friendly people. She was especially happy to find that the Cape Ann Museum provided her with a way to learn more about her new home. Sarah has loved becoming a docent because it has offered an opportunity to dig deeper into the history and art of Cape Ann. Also, she welcomes the chance to interpret Museum exhibits in a way that will engage visitors, whether local or from far away. Sarah enjoys telling the stories of Cape Ann during Highlights and Walking Tours.

Sarah Wetzel

Sarah Wetzel adopted Gloucester as her permanent home after graduate study in Boston. She fell in love with the natural beauty of this landscape of ocean, rocky coast, woods full of glacial erratic boulders, tall pine trees, wildflowers, birds, and the years of history and art created here. Her educational background is in liberal arts, majoring in voice and French. She considers herself lucky to have lived and worked here in this community so supportive of the arts. Her work experience at various positions in retail, billing services for mental health providers, and as a manager of a volunteer program at SeniorCare, Inc. that have provided a sense of being a part of the Cape Ann community. She is especially grateful for the opportunities to perform as a soprano soloist in the area. As a Cape Ann Museum docent Sarah continues to learn and share the wealth of history and art unique to Cape Ann. She enjoys sharing her enthusiasm with others discovering CAM for the first time or, as many, rediscovering it again and again.

Sharon Day

Granddaughter of a fisherman, Sharon Day grew up among the rocks and along the shores of East Gloucester. With a degree in education and graduate work in counseling, she taught at Beeman School on the edge of Dogtown, until her husband John’s career took them across the Mississippi to Minnesota. There she shifted from teaching to social work, specifically program development. She especially enjoyed working with older adults, developing and providing services that enrich and support “aging in place.” Gloucester regularly pulled her back to visit and for vacations. In 2014 she and her husband came home for good. (Frequent visitors to the Cape Ann Museum, the couple both trained as docents to deepen their knowledge and community engagement. The Museum’s outreach to residents of area nursing homes appeals to Sharon, making the CAM Connections program her niche. Docents engage and interact with senior participants to elicit their perspectives, to encourage shared responses, and to provide support and assistance as visitors move about the collection. Sharon finds that CAM Connections participants provide her with fresh perspectives on the Museum’s holdings through their personal experiences of the art, history and culture of Cape Ann.

Stephanie (Stevie) Neal

After watching the last of her three children head off to college quite a number of years ago, and spending many years volunteering in the community, Stevie decided it was time to get a “real” job! While being a history major didn’t exactly prepare her for the work world, having some Board experience helped significantly in her securing that first job in the Development Office at Concord Academy.

Here Stevie was introduced to the world of fund-raising which proved to be a good fit. For the next 30 years she worked in a number of private schools and several museums including the Gardiner Museum in Boston. Interested in continuing to be involved in a museum environment after retiring, Stevie joined the Board of the Cape Ann Museum for six years and enrolled with 12 others in the Museum’s first docent training class in 2008. She inhaled every minute of it and led tours on a regular basis until Covid hit in 2020. Since then, Stevie’s interest has turned to assisting docents on Cam Connection tours for the elderly and working with different aged school groups. Stevie lives in Annisquam with her dog and is involved with a number of village activities including the annual Annisquam Arts & Crafts Show.

Suellen Wedmore

Suellen Wedmore, poet laureate emerita of Rockport, is excited to participate in the Cape Ann Museum docent program, where can share with others her enthusiasm for the beauty and the dramatic history of Cape Ann. She and her husband act as volunteer lighthouse keepers on Cape Ann’s Thacher Island, and it is her love for this 50-acre slice of history that inspired her book, A Fixed White Light, published by Down East Books, as well as her CAM Winter Short presentation, “From Tragedy to Beauty: Thacher Island and the Fresnel Lens.” She loves sharing the stories of Dogtown’s colorful historical characters on CAM’s Dogtown walking tour, and is looking forward to a warm summer nurturing the historical gardens on the Cape Ann Museum Green.

Tamsen Endicott

Tamsen Endicott’s roots on Cape Ann go back four generations. Raised in an antique home in Rockport, Tamsen returned to Cape Ann after attending college and law school. She and her husband Dominic purchased and renovated her parents’ home where they then raised their own family. Tamsen is an historic house enthusiast, serial home renovator, and avid native plant gardener. She is also an accomplished amateur genealogist. She is currently researching the immigration of her ancestors to Gloucester from the Canadian Maritimes, as well as the arrival of 17th century ancestors in Connecticut and New Jersey. Following in her mother’s footsteps, Tamsen decided to volunteer at the Cape Ann Museum after her youngest child started college. Tamsen is interested in what draws people and holds them to a particular geography and community. As a place-based institution, CAM speaks directly to this interest. Tamsen assists with the CAM Docent Educators to support CAM’s outreach to area schools both at the Museum and in the community. She also works part-time as a CAM Visitor Services Representative sharing her love for the art, culture, history, and people of Cape Ann.

Tobi Klein

After receiving an MFA, Tobi Klein taught painting and drawing at Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York. When she moved to Boston, she managed a gallery for contemporary crafts and started her own business Tobi Klein Designs. She transformed silks and brocades into artfully embellished evening bags and transferred collaged images onto silk pouches for storing keepsakes. Tobi also worked with elementary school teachers, implementing curriculum based art projects at her daughter’s school. She volunteered in classrooms on a regular basis, putting an emphasis on group dynamic skills. Life events and a move to Rockport motivated her to rediscover her artistic, creative self. She is revisiting her love of building layers through experimentation with varied materials and techniques. As she learned about the art, history, and culture of Cape Ann, she wanted to be part of this inspiring and unique region and its Museum. This led her to the Cape Ann Museum docent program. Being a docent has allowed her to meet and work with incredible professionals and volunteers, but also to engage with people who visit the Museum–who themselves are interesting and often knowledgeable! Tobi gives Highlights Tours and is part of the CAM Educators Group.

Trina Smith

Trina became a docent at the Cape Ann Museum after retiring from teaching science at Endicott College and Montserrat College of Art. Although biology and ecology have been her main focuses, she has always managed to include art and art history in her studies, believing that art and science have strong connections. Trina has led numerous tours through the CAM galleries and now indulges her love of the outdoors and all things Gloucester by designing and leading walking tours. Around every corner there is an interesting story to share. Trina has also served as a Gallery Instructor at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, a guide at the Polly Hill Arboretum on Martha’s Vineyard, and likes to occasionally paint. A former resident of Wenham, she has lived contentedly in Gloucester for almost a decade.

Trudi Olivetti

Trudi Olivetti has been a docent at the Cape Ann Museum since 2012. She had recently moved to the North Shore from the Washington, DC, area and was inspired to sign up for the docent program after a visit to the Museum. What intrigued her was CAM’s unique geographical focus, but also its ability to create variety and excitement within that focus. Trudi holds degrees in art history, musicology, and library science. Her career as a librarian included working in high school and university libraries, but the major part of her career was in the Library at the National Gallery of Art. She is passionate about cold ocean swimming, music (especially singing), the theater, and book arts. At the Museum, Trudi has enjoyed leading Walking Tours and Highlights Tours. There are so many interesting stories about the collection, and telling them allows Trudi some “performance” opportunities. To flex her former librarian’s muscles, she has also been working on various projects in the Museum’s Library/Archives.

Valerie Byrnes

Valerie acquired an avid interest in exploring museums when her college professor at Columbia University offered course related tours of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Throughout her working career as a securities analyst she indulged her interest in art and culture by continually visiting museums in New York and wherever her travels led. Later in life, Valerie joined the docent group at the Mount Holyoke College Museum of Art. With its extensive collection of antiquities, she gained a depth of knowledge in the Classics and began to wonder how she got along in life without familiarity with the art and sculpture of ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. As a recent resident of Gloucester, Valerie began learning the cultural, economic, and artistic history of Cape Ann by studying the Cape Ann Museum collections. She applies her museum and former docent experience to her tours at CAM. She crafts her tours to inspire familiarity with, and curiosity towards, the history of Cape Ann—particularly the cultural impacts of that history today. Valerie enjoys focusing on Fitz Henry Lane and 20th century painting and sculpture.