Explore New Spaces and Fresh Installations, Enjoy Performances, Art-Making, and More All Weekend Long
Opening Ceremony on Saturday 9/28 @ 10am
SALEM, MA — On Saturday, September 28 and Sunday, September 29, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM)—one of the oldest and fastest-growing museums in the country—offers FREE admission to celebrate the opening of its new wing. Visitors are invited to experience the new 40,000-square-foot wing designed by Ennead Architects of New York, enjoy live music, performances, and art-making activities all weekend long. The $125M expansion features three new major galleries, a sun-lit atrium, an entry for school and group tours, linkages to existing galleries and a 5,000-square-foot garden designed by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. The new wing and adjacent renovated galleries feature fresh installations of the museum’s superlative collections and present exciting, newly commissioned work by contemporary artists. When the new wing opens, Salem, Massachusetts will become one of the nation’s largest art museum destinations, located outside of a major urban center. Plan your visit at pem.org/newpem and share your experience online using #newPEM.
PUBLIC OPENING CELEBRATION | Saturday, September 28 | 10 AM - 5 PM | FREE
Join PEM’s Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo Director and CEO, Brian Kennedy; State Senator, Joan B. Lovely; State Representative, Paul F. Tucker; and Salem Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, for an opening ceremony at 10 am to officially kick off the museum’s newest and most exciting chapter yet. Tour the new wing, enjoy live music, art-making, and performances throughout the day. General admission is free.
PUBLIC OPENING CELEBRATION | Sunday, September 29 | 10 AM - 5 PM | FREE
PEM’s public opening continues. Tour the new wing, enjoy live music, art-making, and performances throughout the day. General admission is free.
EXPERIENCE #newPEM
Committed to creating museum experiences that are deeply meaningful and have a lasting impact on people’s lives, PEM’s new wing and renovated galleries offer a distinctive experience that is designed to heighten feelings of surprise, wonder, delight, and reflection. Fresh installations of the museum Maritime art, Asian export art and Fashion and Design collections address eternal themes as well as the urgent questions of our time. Visitors will find never-before-seen, rarely-exhibited and recently-acquired artworks on view in addition to newly commissioned artworks by contemporary artists.
IMAGE CAPTIONS: © Peabody Essex Museum. Photography by Aislinn Weidele of Ennead Architects.
PUBLICITY IMAGES: High-resolution images and captions are available at bit.ly/newpem
SPONSORS: Programs made possible by the Lowell Institute, Salem Five, The Boston Globe and WGBH.
ABOUT THE PEABODY ESSEX MUSEUM
Over the last 20 years, the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) has distinguished itself as one of the fastest-growing art museums in North America. Founded in 1799, it is also the country’s oldest continuously operating museum. At its heart is a mission to enrich and transform people's lives by broadening their perspectives, attitudes and knowledge of themselves and the wider world. PEM celebrates outstanding artistic and cultural creativity through exhibitions, programming and special events that emphasize cross-cultural connections, integrate past and present and underscore the vital importance of creative expression. The museum's collection is among the finest of its kind boasting superlative works from around the globe and across time -- including American art and architecture, Asian export art, photography, maritime art and history, Native American, Oceanic, and African art, as well as one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM's campus affords a varied and unique visitor experience with hands-on creativity zones, interactive opportunities and performance spaces. Twenty-two noted historic structures grace PEM’s campus, including Yin Yu Tang, a 200-year-old Chinese house that is the only such example of Chinese domestic architecture on display in the United States. HOURS: Open Tuesday-Sunday, 10 am-5 pm. Closed Mondays, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. ADMISSION: Adults $20; seniors $18; students $12. Additional admission to Yin Yu Tang: $6 (plus museum admission). Members, youth 16 and under and residents of Salem enjoy free general admission and free admission to Yin Yu Tang. INFO: Call 866-745-1876 or visit pem.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Whitney Van Dyke | Director of Communications | whitney_vandyke@pem.org | 978-542-1828