What Happened Inside a Million-Dollar Museum Gala?

We all know the story of the Salem witch trials—between 1692 and 1693, 20 people were put to death for the crime of witchcraft in colonial Massachusetts. This grim legacy draws big crowds to Salem (particularly this time of year), but there are other reasons to visit the New England town. The Peabody Essex Museum, a world class art institution that just underwent a massive renovation, is chief among them.

The history of the Peabody Essex Museum dates back to 1799 with the founding of the East India Marine Society, an organization of Salem captains who had sailed beyond either the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. The society established a “cabinet of natural and artificial curiosities," (essentially, a museum) and society members contributed objects from all over the world, including the northwest coast of America, Asia, Africa, Oceania, India and elsewhere. By 1825, the society moved into its own building, East India Marine Hall, which today contains the original display cases and some of the first objects collected (later on, the society merged with the Essex Institute and the Peabody Academy of Science.) The PEM, is now one of the largest museums in the country, in terms of both gallery space and endowment

The museum has begun a new chapter in its long history with the opening of its new, 40,000-square-foot wing. On September 21, the museum celebrated with a sold-out gala that raised over $1 million for education and public programming. The $125 million expansion, designed by Ennead Architects of New York, features three new major galleries, an atrium, and a 5,000-square-foot garden created by Nelson Byrd Woltz Landscape Architects. Look out, Boston: Salem might be one of New England's hottest art destinations.