: - Coming just ten short years after the merger of the Peabody
Museum and the Essex Institute, the Peabody Essex Museum has
recently culminated one of the most significant renovation and
expansion endeavors undertaken by a museum in many years.
Founded in 1799 as the East India Marine Society and later
changing its name to the Peabody Museum, it is the oldest
continuously operated museum in America. Located just several
blocks away was the Essex Institute that was founded in 1815. The
two merged their operations in 1993, ultimately providing the
impetus for the museum's recent amazing growth and redefinition.
The expansion of the Peabody Essex Museum, a $125 million
project, has allowed the institution to properly and prominently
display its vast collections in both a newly renovated and new
state-of-the-art facility. This is a major accomplishment for an
American museum, something that neither of the museums was able
to accomplish on its own prior to the merger and expansion. The
opening of the new wing provides an additional 111,000 square
feet, and brings the museum's total space to more than 250,000
square feet.
Museum Director Daniel Monroe believes the newly expanded museum
will be a trailblazer, stating, "With the new museum, the Peabody
Essex has the opportunity to set a national precedent for the way
art is exhibited and interpreted."
