The collections move from the Cape Ann Museum’s headquarters at 27 Pleasant Street to the new Janet & William Ellery James Center at the Cape Ann Museum Green is in full swing.

Completed in the fall of 2020, the James Center with its 10,000 square foot collections storage and workroom space is proving to be a wonderful asset for the Cape Ann Museum, providing staff ample space, proper lighting and the recommended temperature and humidity controls in which to safely care for the organization’s collections.

Karla Kaneb, who joined the Museum’s curatorial staff in 2020, is spearheading the collections move operation. Assisting in this process of in-house packing and the moving of objects are members of the Museum’s curatorial and archival team (as seen in the photos below), several volunteers from the Museum’s crew of docents, and professional movers. We extend our appreciation to Docents Leslie Beatty, Monica Lawton, Beth Morris, Paul Romary, and Anne-Seymour St. John who have been instrumental in ensuring that move days run smoothly.

In planning for the move, CAM’s staff worked closely with Valarie Kincade of Museum & Collector Resources and her staff. With vast experience in the field of collections management, Valarie provided CAM’s staff with a detailed written plan for relocation of the collections, a plan that ensures that every item moved is appropriately packed, carefully documented and tracked. Valarie also worked with the Museum during the planning stages to select the proper shelving units needed for the various branches of the collections; and her staff oversaw installation of these units in 2020.

It is anticipated that the collections move will be completed by the fall of 2021. The Museum looks forward to sharing the new space with members and the public through a series of regularly scheduled curatorial open houses. More detail to follow on this soon. ■

The James Center and development of CAM Green is a key component of the Museum’s 2018-2023 Strategic Plan and has been designed to accommodate more than 400 years of Cape Ann’s rich heritage: artifacts, documents, photographs, furniture and artworks in a state-of-the-art climate-controlled, and secure setting. CAM’s collections are vast and contain everything from the community’s earliest church records going back more than 300 years to an extensive and growing collection of artworks, more than 1 million photographic images, the single largest collection of works by the Folly Cove Designers, a remarkable assemblage of early and rare tools used in the fishing and granite industries and innumerable other items from Cape Ann’s past. Through the generosity and foresight of many generations during the nearly 150 years of the institution’s life, these collections have been donated by many diverse community organizations, civic and religious groups, businesses, families and collectors.

This is only the beginning of CAM’s exciting commitment to safeguarding the art, history and culture so paramount to Cape Ann and please do join us in visiting both Museum campuses soon! CAM Green opens on June 18, and bookings to visit the galleries on Pleasant Street can be made here. ■