Cape Ann has long been a haven for artists. The defining character that sets Cape Ann apart and which appeals to artists – and everyone for that matter – is the raw authenticity and the straightforward nature of its working community and lively waterfront. Gloucester is the oldest Anglo fishing port in the country, and the home of the longest continuously operating artists community. Artists are attracted to this coastal region for its special light, for the topography, and for its distinctive New England architecture.
Cape Ann: An Artist Community
Starting in the early twentieth century, many artists came here because their colleagues and friends invited them to visit – they wanted to share what they loved about Cape Ann, to work together, and frankly, to have fun! Paul Manship first came here in 1915 on a summer road trip with painter Maxfield Parrish to visit their artist friends in Gloucester.
Manship followed an impressive list of American artists who spent time creating on Cape Ann: painters Cecilia Beaux, Robert Henri, Stuart Davis, and Marsden Hartley; sculptors Anna Hyatt Huntington, Katharine Lane Weems, George Demetrios, and Walker Hancock; Folly Cove Designer founder, dancer, and children’s book illustrator and writer Virginia Lee Burton Demetrios; and writers TS Eliot, Rudyard Kipling, and Charles Olson.
Twenty-five years after Manship’s initial visit, painter Leon Kroll invited Paul back, beginning the family’s annual tradition of spending the summer on Cape Ann. Within four years, these vacations turned into a permanent summer residence in Lanesville with the purchase of Starfield, where the Manship Artists Residency is located.
Many of Manship’s neighbors were fellow artists and colleagues from New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. And, like Manship, most of them embedded themselves in the community by working with their neighbors, hosting social events, and marrying into local families. In fact, sculptors Paul Manship and Walker Hancock became related when Paul’s daughter Pauline married Imari “Jimo” Natti, a man from the local Finn family who was also the brother of Walker’s wife, Saima. Four generations of Manships have lived and played at Starfield, which is the sole residence and studio that has continued to be used as initially intended – as a place for artists to create.
Cape Ann remains a haven for artists today. Visiting artists typically come here to participate as members and associates of local art associations, attend workshops and enter competitions, and often decide that they want to become a permanent member of the local community. In fact, a few former residents of the Manship Artists Residency have made Cape Ann their home after attending the program. Cape Ann offers many resources that support working artists; it is a community that welcomes their creative talents, and a natural setting that provides endless inspiration and restorative energy.
The Manship property has been revived intact as a residency that brings artists and other creative thinkers together to imagine the world anew and to bring fresh, innovative ideas and ways of looking at life to the forefront. The Manship Artists Residency serves the community by continuing the Manship artistic legacy and by nurturing the creative community on Cape Ann.
Join us in continuing the artistic and creative legacy of Cape Ann.
Your gift today will support the preservation of Starfield, a local treasure with international significance.
