SALEM, MA — The Peabody Essex Museum (PEM) is pleased to announce the next phase of reopening and the easing of pandemic restrictions. Beginning on July 9, PEM will offer extended hours and start offering free COVID-19 vaccinations on Friday evenings. Additionally, PEM has lifted its mask mandate for staff and visitors in accordance with public health recommendations and will soon resume historic house and gallery tours. PEM will continue to maintain strict sanitation and disinfection efforts across its campus and encourage the public to be mindful in protecting their health and the health of others.
The museum closed its doors in mid-March of 2020 as the country went into lockdown and reopened with limited hours last summer. “I am so proud of the way PEM’s staff has worked together to keep our guests and our staff safe during the pandemic,” said Robert Monk, PEM’s Interim Chief Operating Officer. “We have much in store this summer with hybrid virtual and live programs, new exhibitions, and a renewed sense of gratitude for being able to celebrate creativity and connection.”
COVID-19 Vaccinations
PEM has partnered with Curative to offer COVID-19 vaccinations (Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson) at no cost to patients on Friday evenings from July 9 through August 13 from 4–7 pm. PEM will encourage participation by providing free admission and those who are vaccinated at the museum will be entered into the Massachusetts VaxMillions Giveaway and have a chance to win one of five $1 million prizes and one of five $300,000 scholarship grants. Pre-register for your vaccination at PEM with Curative or take advantage of walk-up registration day-of.
Extended Hours
- Thursdays 10 am–5 pm
- Fridays 10 am–8 pm (NEW!)
- Saturdays & Sundays 10 am–5 pm
- Holiday Mondays 10 am–5 pm
Expanded Access
- PEM’s Ropes Mansion (318 Essex Street) reopens to the public on Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 pm beginning Saturday, July 24. The Ropes Mansion and Garden are open free to the public. The garden is open every day from dawn to dusk.
- Additional historic house tours will resume this summer. To learn more about PEM’s historic houses, listen to PEM Walks, audio postcards from our architecture collection.
- Guided tours of the museum will also resume this summer, details to follow on pem.org.
- PEM’s interactive exhibition, Where the Questions Live, will resume regular hours beginning July 22.
- PEM’s Atrium Caféwill continue to expand its hours and offerings in the weeks ahead.
Summer Exhibitions & Programming
Discover paintings by a diverse range of artists including Georgia O’Keeffe, Amy Sherald, Arthur Dove, Kay WalkingStick, Jacob Lawrence, Stuart Davis and more in PEM’s headlining summer exhibition, In American Waters, on view now through October 3. In PEM’s East India Marine Hall, experience a sound installation inspired by the sea with Susan Philipsz: If I With You Would Go and spark your imagination in an immersive exhibition, Where the Questions Live. Advanced tickets may be purchased at pem.org/tickets.
PEM’s Being Well Initiative offers both virtual and live programming with Yoga in the Galleries. As part of PEM’s Climate + Environment Initiative, take a walk with one of PEM’s Art & Nature Center program specialists and learn all about the trees on the museum’s campus. Sign up for an evening of creative expression with PEM Presents, concerts from PEM’s historic houses, and start making your own art with exhibition-inspired plein air painting and virtual Create Nights.
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 community and virtual 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, with superlative works from around the globe and across time — including American art and architecture, fashion and design, photography, and African, Asian, contemporary, maritime, Native American, and Oceanic art, as well as one of the nation’s most important museum-based collections of rare books and manuscripts. PEM’s campus offers 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 Thursdays–Sundays and holiday Mondays, 10 am–5 pm. Closed 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 | 617-259-6722
