Founded in 1873, the museum collection focuses on art and artists from the Cape Ann area. Exhibits cover the history of Gloucester from its early days as a fishing and shipping port to its mid-19th century role in the granite industry, to its singular charms of light and sea that attracted countless artists from the 19th century to the present.
The museum's twelve galleries host a rotating selection from the permanent collection of paintings, sculpture, and historical artifacts, as well as special traveling exhibitions.
Two sculpture gardens and two historic homes are also open to visitors.