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This episode of the PEMcast looks at what makes some places magnetic. Libraries, museums, certain cultural experiences. Why are we drawn to them? We talk with Canadian artist Shelagh Keeley about her current exhibition at PEM, as well as PEM Curators Trevor Smith and Karina Corrigan. We also look at our Japanese collection, which partly inspired a massive wall drawing by Keeley, and the collector who started it, Edward Sylvestor Morse. PEM's Director Lynda Roscoe Hartigan shares her thoughts on Morse, who led PEM in the 19th century, and where the museum is headed today. Shelagh Keeley: Drawn to Place is on view through November 26, 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 feature Bernie Krause, the soundscape ecologist behind The Great American Orchestra, an exhibition which immerses us in the sound universe of animals. Matt Clark of United Visual Artists chats about working on this extraordinary audio-visual experience. We also share our plan to be more inclusive by mitigating sensory overload, work that is underway thanks to PEM's Neuroscience Researcher.

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.

Join host Dinah Cardin in this episode of the PEMcast as she dives into the history of George Peabody, the father of philanthropy in America, and how this relates to the museum and the new PEM Prize.

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)

The PEMcast returns with an episode all about change. The Peabody Essex Museum has just opened a new 40,000-square-foot wing. A new director has just taken the helm for the first time in 26 years. Many are asking, "what's next?". It's a scene-setting moment for one of the oldest and fastest-growing museums in the country. PEMcast hosts, Dinah Cardin and Chip Van Dyke, are asking questions and want to hear your thoughts, too. Follow along on social using #newPEM

Episode 3 of 3 on immersive art

Tune into the most recent installment of the PEMcast -- conversations and stories for the culturally curious -- as we explore the immersive experience.