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A new exhibition
at the Cape Ann
Museum celebrates
the natural and raw
grit of the area, as
seen by some of
its hardest working
artists—the women.
BY Dinah Cardin
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AnthonyTieuli
WomenArts
IN
THE
this watery part of the world, women have his-
torically sewn sails, canned sh, and—sometimes from
tucked-away studios—made art. A small exhibition
from the collection of the Cape Ann Museum, Champi-
oning Women: Selections from the Permanent Collection,
celebrates the natural beauty and raw grit of Cape Ann
as seen by some of its hardest-working artists.
For decades, these women have kept themselves
busy creating from Manchester-by-the Sea, Rocky
Neck, and Annisquam. eir enduring inspiration pre-
dates the hashtags and memes of the #MeToo move-
ment, making the exhibition's timing with any recent
women's movement merely a coincidence, says curator
Martha Oaks.
"Fifteen or 20 years ago, there was very little here
by women artists," says Oaks, who's been with the
In