Benjamin Miller continues his odyssey through the PEM’s James B. and Mary Lou Hawkes Collection Center, which embraces a sizeable portion of the museum’s nearly 2 million objects sourced from around the globe. Christian Louboutins and a $2.1 million copy of the Declaration of Independence are on the menu, as Ben speaks with Angela Segalla, director of the Collection Center, curators Karina Corrigan and Paula Richter, and Dan Lipcan, director of PEM’s Phillips Library.

Curious Objects

Curious Object: A Journey Back In Time At the Peabody Essex Museum

A Journey Back In Time At the Peabody Essex Museum

Mary Jacobsen speaks with Jane Winchell, Curator of Natural History and Director of the Art and Nature Center at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, about  “Narwhal: Revealing an Arctic Legend,” an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution’s Traveling Exhibition Service.

Winchell talks about the distinctive characteristics of narwhals, sometimes known as “unicorns of the sea” because of the long spiral tusk protruding from their mouths, that make them such enchanting, mysterious, and fascinating animals.

She discusses narwhals’ use of echolocation, how they utilize their tusks, their social structure, and the role they play in Intuit history, culture, and legend. She also talks about the impact of climate change on Arctic ecosystems, including diminishing sea ice and warming waters, and how these developments have contributed to hybrid animals such as grolar bears, a mix of grizzly and polar bears, and narlugas, a mix of narwhals and beluga whales.

Winchell reports that she’s encountered many people who think that narwhals “are not real, that because people compare them to unicorns, they believe they are similarly imaginary.” For anyone who needs convincing, the exhibition continues at PEM through June 15th, 2025. For more information visit https://www.pem.org/exhibitions/narwhal-revealing-an-arctic-legend.

Link to video version: https://youtu.be/qbyWjYpL08o

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed by the Program Participants are solely their current opinions and do not reflect the opinions of NCM Hub, PortMedia, and WJOP 96.3 FM​

Training & Resources Provided by the Public Access Facilities of PortMedia, a division of the Newburyport Community Media Hub. © Jacobsen 2025

Morning Show with Mary Jacobsen 2025-01-02 Jane Winchell

Mary Jacobsen speaks with Karina H. Corrigan, Associate Director of Collections and the H.A. Crosby Forbes Curator of Asian Export Art at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem about the exhibition “Saints, Sinners, Lovers, and Fools: 300 Years of Flemish Masterworks.”

Corrigan talks about what made Flanders culturally and historically important from the 15th through the 17th centuries. She also discusses how Flemish painters such as Rubens, VanDyck, and Breughel, created new ways of seeing that were precursors to contemporary forms of artistic representation.

Corrigan also describes innovations in technique and materials that give Flemish paintings their characteristic and durable vibrant and luminous colors.

Other topics Corrigan discusses include the role of art in religious worship; innovations in landscape painting and portraiture; and the development of “cabinets of curiosities” to display artifacts gathered by explorers and traders from around the world.

The exhibition will be on display through May 4th. For more information visit www.PEM.org.

Link to video version: https://youtu.be/UhVlxuHR9Oc

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: All opinions expressed by the Program Participants are solely their current opinions and do not reflect the opinions of NCM Hub, PortMedia, and WJOP 96.3 FM​

Training & Resources Provided by the Public Access Facilities of PortMedia, a division of the Newburyport Community Media Hub. © Jacobsen 2025

Morning Show with Mary Jacobsen 2025-03-06 Karina Corrigan

Through interviews with leading figures in the world of fine and decorative arts, Curious Objects—a podcast from The Magazine Antiques—explores the hidden histories, the little-known facts, the intricacies, and the idiosyncrasies that breathe life and energy into historical works of craft and art.

New tracks tagged #peabody essex museum