Peabody Essex Museum

06/23/2026

This week, we’re featuring our Community Engagement Manager, Hannah Varden, to talk about this week’s exciting events, plus her favorite work in “On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.” See the full list of events below ⬇️

Friday, June 26
🗓️Drop-in Art Making
⏰3–4:30 pm
🎟️Included with admission

🗓️PEM Pride: Spaced Out!
⏰8 pm–12 am
🎟️Tickets at pem.org

Saturday, June 27
🗓️North Shore Pride Art Making
⏰11 am–4 pm
🎟️Free on Salem Common

🗓️Ropes Mansion Self-Guided Tours
⏰ 11:15 am-4 pm
🎟️ Timed tickets at pem.org

🗓️Forest Bathing & Dreamscapes in the Ropes Mansion Garden
⏰2–4 pm
🎟️Tickets at pem.org

Sunday, June 28
🗓️Ropes Mansion Self-Guided Tours
⏰ 11:15 am-4 pm
🎟️ Timed tickets at pem.org

🗓️Drop-in Art Making
⏰1–3 pm
🎟️Included with museum admission

06/21/2026

On the , we’re soaking up the sun and highlighting some ocean-inspired prints from our Phillips Library collection! 🌊🪸🦪🐟

These prints are from an Art Nouveau portfolio by the French artist and ceramist Emile Belet, published by the prominent editor Armand Guérinet and acquired by the museum’s Library Visiting Committee Fund in 2025. The portfolio features heliotypes, a printing process that uses a gelatin surface to produce highly detailed ink prints, depicting various specimens of marine plant life. Explore these summery prints and more through our digital Phillips Library collection at pem.org/phillips-library.

🎨: Belet, E. La Végétation Sous-marine: Algues Et Goëmons. Paris: A. Guérinet, 1900. Swann Auction Galleries, Lot 277 of sale 2706, Maps & Atlases, Natural History & Color Plate Books; Purchase, Library Visiting Committee Fund; 2025. QK570.2 .B45 1900 ++

06/19/2026

Today, we’re honoring with free admission for all visitors!

Throughout our day of free admission, enjoy artist-led workshops and music performances! At 11:30 am and 1 pm, we’re hosting two artist-led community circles with Charles M. Murrell III. These circles will create spaces for reflection, conversation and collective expression. Then, at 4:30 pm, don’t miss our outdoor drum and dance performance by B.E.A.T (Black Experimental Arts Theater) in Armory Park. ⁠

🎟️ Tickets for the artist-led community circles are available at pem.org/events or at our Information Desk. No extra fee required!

📸 Bob Packert/PEM

06/18/2026

Make sure to get your steps in while learning about Salem’s history! 🚶

Starting Thursday, July 2, we are offering our “Brick by Brick” tour of Salem’s architectural history and our “Sinister Streets” witch trials and mysteries tour. New to this year, we also have a museum admission combo ticket that includes a walking tour plus a visit to the “Salem Stories” exhibition, where you can see the actual weapon used in the Gardner-Pingree House to kill Captain Joseph White.

🎟️Tours take place at select times from Thursday through Monday! Grab your tickets today at pem.org/visit or click the Plan a Visit link in our Linktree!

06/17/2026

This week is celebrating ! Today, we’re highlighting a ceramic artwork by Diego Romero (Cochiti Pueblo, born 1964) from our installation “On This Ground: Being and Belonging in America.”

Romero transforms ceramic into narrative in his “Corn Maiden” (late 1990s). His playful yet reverent imagery honors the Corn Maiden, a time-honored Puebloan figure of sustenance and fertility. Inspired by his love of comic books, superheroes and a deep curiosity about the human condition, Romero blends comic-style art with Cochiti pottery techniques, including hand-coiling and the use of slips (liquid clay decoration).

🎧 Want to learn more? Explore our “Craft in America: Handwork 2026” self-guided audio tour to discover more about Romero and the other artists in our collection who are shaping craft traditions. This tour is part of Handwork 2026, a nationwide collaboration celebrating the importance of the handmade and the diversity of American craft. Listen today at pem.org/visit/tours

🎨: Diego Romero, Cochiti Pueblo, born 1964, Corn Maiden, late 1990s. Ceramic and paint. Gift of James and Margie Krebs, 2008. E303926. © Diego Romero. Image courtesy of the Peabody Essex Museum.

06/16/2026

📣 Don't forget to register for Creative Kids: Emerging Artists!

Give your 11–13-year-old the ultimate summer experience from July 13–17, filled with artful adventures, gallery explorations and a family art show. Financial aid is available for this week-long program! Catered lunch, snacks and art supplies are all included.

🎟️ Register today at pem.org/youtharts

📸 Kathy Tarantola/PEM

06/15/2026

Don’t miss a chance to relax in our Ropes Mansion garden!

On Saturday, June 27 from 2–4 pm, slow down, unplug and awaken your senses on a guided nature immersion in our historic garden with Tam Willey of Toadstool Walks. The program will begin with a facilitated journey through the senses, inviting rest and wandering. Then, explore the colors and shapes you observe in the garden through watercolor "dreamscapes.” Art supplies will be provided!

🎟️ Register today at pem.org/events/forest-bathing-dreamscapes-in-the-ropes-mansion-garden?date=2026-06-27&time=02:00

📸 Kathy Tarantola/PEM

06/14/2026

"Creativity is a nurturing force in our lives that offers hope and belief in what human beings can accomplish, individually and collectively." – Lynda Roscoe Hartigan

After more than 20 years of dedication, including her transformative 2021-2026 tenure as Executive Director and CEO, Lynda Roscoe Hartigan is embarking on a new chapter as the director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. Before her departure on June 30, we had a chance to sit down with Lynda to reflect on her proudest accomplishments, the most surprising moments of the last five years and her hopes for the museum’s future!

📖 Read the full interview here: pem.org/blog/looking-back-and-looking-forward-with-lynda-roscoe-hartigan

🎧 Want to take a tour with our director? Let Hartigan be your guide on our “PEM in an Hour” self-guided audio tour. She narrates this journey through a selection of objects from around the world, located throughout the museum. Learn more about this audio tour at our Information desk during your next visit!

Lynda Roscoe Hartigan reflects on a 20+-year career at PEM as she prepares to depart for the Smithsonian American Art Museum

06/13/2026

Celebrate with us!

We’re proud to offer free museum admission for a full day of community-centered programming, including art, music and movement. We’ll host artist-led gatherings that invite reflection and conversation, while live music will fill the Main Atrium with rhythms of joy and connection.

🗓️ We’re hosting two artist-led community circles at 11:30 am and 1 pm with Charles M. Murrell III. These circles will create spaces for reflection, conversation and collective expression. Click the PEM Events link in our bio to preregister for these sessions! Then, at 4:30 pm, don’t miss our outdoor drum and dance performance by B.E.A.T (Black Experimental Arts Theater) in Armory Park.

📸: Bob Packert/PEM