SALEM — A little over a month after the longest shutdown in its 221-year history, Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is rebounding with major exhibits planned for the fall.
PEM will dig deep into its archives to display for public viewing its comprehensive collection chronicling the Salem witch trials.
“It’s the first time in 30 years it will be on view,” said PEM Communications Director Whitney Van Dyke.
Located on Essex Street in Salem’s heart, the museum closed March 12 in response to coronavirus and reopened on July 18 with extensive safety protocols in place. Masks are required to be worn upon entering PEM, and hand sanitizers and directional signs are located throughout the sprawling museum.
“Everything is closely choreographed,” said Van Dyke.
She said PEM’s expansive galleries provide a social-distancing advantage. PEM staff took nothing for granted with the July reopening and museum goers are guided through the building along a route maximizing social distancing.
Van Dyke said visitors have praised the precautions and the chance to enjoy art and PEM’s historical exhibits.
“The public has been responding. People are very hungry for this kind of experience,” she said.
But PEM’s coronavirus comeback has not been without challenges. Daily museum attendance stands at roughly 25 percent of the 1,000 daily pre-pandemic museum visits, and PEM endured layoffs, with 38 of the museum’s 260 employees losing their jobs.
The museum is restructuring its curatorial department to better serve its mission. Following the departure of PEM’s Deputy Director and Chief Curator Lynda Roscoe Hartigan, who recently assumed a new role at the Royal Ontario Museum, PEM expanded the roles of five staff members with the following appointments: Petra Slinkard, the Nancy B. Putnam Curator of Fashion and Textiles, is now Director of Curatorial Affairs; Karina Corrigan, the H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art, is Associate Director – Collections; Daniel Finamore, the Russell W. Knight Curator of Maritime Art and History, is Associate Director – Exhibitions; Trevor Smith, Curator of the Present Tense, is Associate Director – Multisensory Experience; and Siddhartha Shah, Curator of Indian and South Asian Art, has been appointed Director of Education and Civic Engagement.
“As the nation’s oldest continuously operating museum, PEM has remained vital for more than 220 years by continually adapting and evolving its practices to meet contemporary needs,” said Brian Kennedy, PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Director and CEO. “By sustaining curatorial excellence and embracing a broader practice of civic engagement and innovation, PEM is reaffirming its commitment to creative public engagement and to finding new ways to connect with our regional communities and the wider world.”
