Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1175260
94 he North Shore was just kick- ing off its July Fourth celebra- tions last summer, and Brian Kennedy, settling into his new directorship of the Peabody Es- sex Museum in Salem, couldn't have been happier. "I love being back in New England," Kennedy says in his lilting Irish accent. "I'm really an historian at heart." He and his family drove through rain the previous day from Toledo, Ohio, where Kennedy served as president, director, and CEO of the Toledo Museum of Art. They arrived at their Salem home on a gorgeous afternoon, with the Atlantic Ocean lapping the shore nearby. "It's going to be all about fireworks and family," he says of the next day 's holiday. He also mentions plans to drop in, a bit on the sly, for Salem Mayor Kim Driscoll's July 4th speech. Exuding optimism, Kennedy is feeling fortunate—and pleasantly surprised—about being chosen to succeed Dan Monroe, who guided PEM for 26 years. "I never thought I could succeed Dan," he says. "But when I was approached by the search committee, I quite quickly realized that this institution has a combination of internationalism, my very strong interest in global travel, and inter- national art." Additional draws include the deep history of Salem and the North Shore and the challenge of "positioning Salem in that history." As PEM's new leader—technically the Rose-Marie and Eijk van Otterloo director and CEO, named after the museum's distinguished benefactors—Kennedy is arriving as the 220-year-old museum is hitting several high points: the exploration of multisensory exhibits, the potential impact of visual literacy, and a $650 million campaign, begun in 2011, that has funded a new 40,000-square-foot wing and a 120,000-square-foot collection center in Rowley and will also boost the museum's endowment. PEM has 275,000 visitors a year, in a city of 40,000 residents. Another million people a year see PEM's exhibits in other cities, including Washington, D.C., New York, and several locales in Europe. The museum's collection encompasses more than one million objects, including a significant American collection as well as a strong focus on the rest of the world. "PEM's history is very powerful," says Kennedy. Art has always been significant in Ken- nedy's life. Born in Dublin, he was encour- aged to look at a career in art by his parents, as well as an aunt in Paris, where he lived on a boat for one magical year at age 21. "All of this encouraged me in different ways to get involved in art." Kennedy began his career at the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin, and then spent time at the European Commission in Brussels, where he worked in finance. At 27, he found himself at the National Gallery of Ireland as deputy director, and from there he moved on to the National Gallery of Australia. He also directed Dartmouth College's Hood Museum of Art at one point. Kennedy is a respected art historian, curator, and author. For the position at PEM, Kennedy moved to Salem with his wife, Mary Kennedy, a former intensive care nurse who recently stepped down as the chair of the Women's Initiative of the United Way of Toledo. Their son, Eamon, 25, moved with them; daughter Anne lives in New Hampshire with her hus- band and their one-year-old. Kennedy is fascinated by Salem's history and the wealth of knowledge brought in by Brian Kennedy takes over as director of the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem. BY MARY GRAUERHOLZ