In Part 2 of this episode about William Bentley, join curators and experts as we continue looking at the remarkable and storied life this popular polymath, collector, and diarist. Bentley was a consultant on the founding of the Peabody Essex Museum and an influencer, shaping Salem to be the city it is today.
This episode of the PEMcast looks at the life and legacy of Reverend William Bentley who chronicled his busy days as a clergyman from 1784 to 1819 with an unmatched dedication and flourish. We know so much about Salem, Massachusetts and its quirky history in part because of this meticulous diary keeping. We explore Bentley's living quarters and his vast collection of objects, as well as the more grand home next door and a piece of its dark history. Come with us on this romp through time, place and the mind of a total polymath.
Bats have an interesting association with Salem, a place that celebrates Halloween pretty much year round. We’re used to seeing multiple versions of Dracula around town. But a small colony of live Egyptian fruit bats living in a specially designed enclosure at the Peabody Essex Museum...that's something new. In this episode, we give much respect and appreciation to bats as vital living beings on the planet. Join host DInah Cardin, curator Jane Winchell and local artist Maia Mattson. The episode takes us foraging for plants in Salem, looking for bats in California and under a night sky in Maine.
In this epsisode of the PEMcast we go behind the scenes of PEM's latest Salem Witch Trials exhibition. We examine objects that belonged to the Salem Puritans and attempts to restore justice from the 17th century to today.
As we anticipate the return of Pride to Salem, artists Bill Crisafi and Hogan McLaughlin are the featured guests on the PEMcast. They share with us their day-to-day creative collaborations and their compelling story of love.
In Episode 29 of the PEMcast, we delve into the hearts and minds of two artists, separated by geography and time, but inextricably linked in their curiosity, their exploration of Tibetan Buddhist spirituality and a traditional art form. We discover what each learned about themselves and their own cultures by traveling to the opposite side of the world. Spirits: Tsherin Sherpa with Robert Beer is on view at PEM through May 29, 2023.
The second part of PEMcast Episode 27 looks at the brief creative life of Patrick Kelly. This queer, Black fashion designer pushed for racial equality and forever changed fashion before his untimely death at the age of 35. Along with curators and Kelly's former partner, come celebrate the 1980's, as well as Kelly's designs and his meteoric rise from the Jim Crow South to the runways of Paris. Organized by the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Patrick Kelly: Runway of Love is on view at PEM through November 6, 2022.
The pandemic, war, mass shootings, changing laws about our bodies. In Episode 27 of the PEMcast, we explore themes of love and loss while also celebrating PRIDE. Listeners meet Canadian artist Zachari Logan, whose provocative drawings of flowers in various states of transformation speak to the power of loss and a flicker of hope. Remembrance is on view through May 7, 2023. Part 2 of the episode will look at the brief creative life of Patrick Kelly, who fought for racial equality and changed fashion forever. These groundbreaking designs are on view at PEM through November 6, 2022.
Episode 26 of the PEMcast features artists and activists who are inspiring climate action this spring at PEM. Every day is Earth Day around here with Jane Goodall, Wes Bruce, Konstantin Dimopoulos, Stephen Gorman, Edward Koren, Silvia Lopez Chavez and more. Learn why museums play an important role in sparking action to do something about the climate crisis.
In this PEMcast episode, we look at the exhibition The Salem Witch Trials: Reckoning and Reclaiming, which pairs historic trial documents and personal objects with the response of two contemporary artists who have ancestral ties to the Salem witch trials. Fashion designer Alexander McQueen and photographer Frances F. Denny are still inspired by the events of 1692.
Join host Dinah Cardin as she heads home for a visit to the Ozarks and to Crystal Bridges of American Art, PEM's co-organizer for the exhibition In American Waters. This episode features a tour of the grounds, including Crystal Spring that the museum is named after, as well as an exploration of some of the key paintings from Crystal Bridges that are in this exhibition. Crystal Bridges Chief Curator Austen Barron Bailly, former Curator of American Art at PEM, compares these two big museums in small cities.
Host Dinah Cardin explores the PEM’s new climate + environment initiative and its two related maritime exhibitions.
Part one of this two part series looks at the recent sea shanty craze across social media channels. Host Dinah Cardin visits PEM's collection of sea shanty books and sheet music and talks with maritime music experts. You'll be singing along.
Explore the transformative power of breath with featured artist Zarah Hussain. From our new mediation gallery, we delve into PEM's Being Well initiative and what it could mean for a community seeking health and healing during the pandemic.
Our series on creative constraints continues with maritime curator Dan Finamore's story of life at sea for a 19th century mariner. Learn how close quarters in a vast open seascape led to the popular marine art form known as scrimshaw.
When the museum closed on Friday, March 13, 2020, PEM staff needed to find new ways to come together as a community. It was in that moment that Siddhartha Shah, our Curator of Indian and South Asian Art, began to make a series of videos in order to guide his colleagues in daily meditation. In this episode of the PEMcast, we hear from Siddhartha and Dinah reports from the streets of Salem, MA to show how COVID-19 has altered our city.
Music - "Trampled" by PC III [CC BY 4.0]
Shortly after Jacob Lawrence: The American Struggle opened at PEM, comments in the guest book for the exhibition sparked a conversation about how we do things here at the museum.
Music by Blue Dot Sessions (CC BY-NC 4.0)