Celebrating Over 100 Years of Art!
The North Shore Arts Association is currently made up of over 800 Artist and Associate Members who are recognized through our exceptional exhibitions, demonstrations, workshops and lectures. We have been serving the local community and beyond for over 100 years with the mission to make the arts accessible and relevant.
History
The North Shore Arts Association is a part of Gloucester’s longstanding history as a destination for a variety of well-known early American painters including Winslow Homer, Edward Hopper, Fitz Henry Lane, and Frederick Mulhaupt. Many of North Shore Arts founders were integral members in the Gloucester arts community in the late 19th and early 20th century, promoting Cape Ann as a haven for artists from all over the globe.
On September 21st 1922, The North Shore Arts Association was officially incorporated as a non-profit institution under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. They held a meeting to consider a proposition made by Thomas E. Reed to sell his property and building off East Main Street to the Association, an offer that was so generous that the members unanimously voted to accept it at once. The property overlooked Gloucester’s inner harbor and the art colony of Rocky Neck
The artists immediately planned a large exhibition to be held in the summer of 1923, the year of Gloucester’s tercentenary celebration. The artists on Cape Ann readily welcomed the new and larger Association in East Gloucester, particularly since the purpose and aim of the Association was to bring together each year a comprehensive and representative exhibition of painting and sculpture, and to persuade other artists to come to the North Shore and help in the effort to further American art.
– History from Ted Tysver, Former NSAA Historian
