A View From My Window

April 8, 2023 — June 4, 2023

This year, the Cape Ann Museum asked eighth graders on Cape Ann to draw a view from their window or their community as a response to Edward Hopper’s paintings of the area. Edward Hopper and Jo Nivison Hopper visited Gloucester in the 1920s to paint the local scenery. Unlike many artists who have visited, the Hoppers often turned their backs to the ocean and painted the local streets and architecture.

Hopper’s Houses, now a recognizable part of the Gloucester landscape, were painted from the outside looking in. This year, in preparation for Edward Hopper & Cape Ann: Illuminating an American Landscape, CAM Head of Education and Engagement Miranda Aisling visited every public eighth-grade classroom on Cape Ann and worked with students to create original work returning Hopper’s gaze through their own windows.

Nearly 300 panes of plexiglass created in classrooms across Gloucester, Rockport, Manchester, and Essex create a visual array of sites around Cape Ann as seen by the students who live here. The students chose subjects ranging from recognizable icons like the Man at the Wheel, Tuck’s Point, and Motif No. 1 to images of their own backyards, local woods, and their schools. Presented during the Gloucester 400+ Anniversary, this work captures the spirit of Cape Ann in 2023 as depicted by the newest wave of teenagers who call it home.

This exhibition is generously funded by the 2022 CAM Luncheon Fund-A-Need, the Rockport Cultural Council, and the Manchester Cultural Council.