Ipswich Museum

Saturday, August 31 Celebration & Reenactment of Lafayette’s 1824 visit to Ipswich!

Come meet on the Ipswich Museum lawn at 6 PM. Bring picnic items and enjoy a walkthrough of the Heard House before a 7 PM reenactment of Lafayette’s speech.

Join us for our Trails and Sails event "The Port of Ipswich: A Walking Tour" with Scott Jewell on September 15 from 2-3pm. It's free and no registration required.

The Port of Ipswich: A Walking Tour - Trails and Sails Join local history buff, Scott Jewell, on a walking tour around Ipswich. Scott will discuss the fascinating history of the town’s former bustling port. Once a hub of maritime trade and commerce, the fate of the port was intricately tied to the rise and fall of the town’s 18th century economy and...

That’s a wrap on Summer Camp 2024! Thanks to all the families who joined and created with us 🎨 See you next year 😎

Check out the amazing painting of the Ipswich River our campers made today! It will be in view all weekend during the Ipswich Museum Yard Sale and Heritage days festival 🖼️ 🎨

There are still spaces available for our art camps during the weeks of July 16-18 and July 23-25. We have a lot of fun projects, mini-excursions, and games lined up. Ages 6-10, $85 per child for 3 half days, registration is linked in the comments.

We will be closed tomorrow (7/4) for the holiday, and will re-open for tours on Friday 7/5

We are accepting donations of gently used items for our annual summer yard sale (to be held July 26-27). Items can be dropped off during office hours on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 9-4 until July 18th. No books, clothing or electronics. Thank you!

Today is the day!! The dolls are out and the AC is on! See you between 10-12 😎

Next Tuesday! Our dolls are out of storage and ready to give you the creepiest day of summer: June 18 from 10am-12pm. Free for kids of all ages with their caregivers.

Next Tuesday! Our dolls are out of storage and ready to give you the creepiest day of summer: June 18 from 10am-12pm. Free for kids of all ages with their caregivers.

Hey Kids! Kick off Summer Vacation with us and our large collection of creepy dolls! The dolls will be lurking throughout the Heard House on Tuesday 6/18 from 10am-12. It's free and there will be prizes and snacks. Bring your adult with you.

Our Summer Art Camps for kids ages 6-10 are now open for registration! We have 4 weeks of 3-half-day camps full of exploration, creativity and fun in store. Space is limited and we expect to sell out again, sign up today! (Link in comments)

These adorable young art detectives immediately made the connection between the bed in Jan Van Eyck's painting and the bed in the Whipple House parlor.

Join us May 31st from 6-8pm for the opening reception of UnderWater, our summer exhibition of new pieces by Ipswich-based sculptor, George Sherwood.

The pieces will be on display Thursday-Sunday through October. We hope to see you soon!

This weekend only! Join us for a pop-up exhibition of cyanotypes from the Dow collection. Also, don't miss "Out of the Blue: A celebration of Cyanotype" at Ebsco Hall Saturday and Sunday, a show by The Ipswich Art Association

We had a fabulous, sunny day for our cyanotype workshop on Saturday. The work produced was truly stunning and showcased the versatility of the medium. Thank you to all who came out and to our artist-teacher extraordinaire, Brianna Stewart 💙

We were thrilled to welcome new and returning volunteers for the 2024 tour season training today! Ipswich Museum tours cover the Heard, Whipple, and Alexander Knight houses and there is always something new to learn.

Tours open Memorial Day weekend and run through October. Come visit us this year and say hello to one of these friendly faces!

The call for art is now live! (link in comments)
Whether you are a professional artist or not, there are many ways to take part in this event:
Take part in the the communal art-making event "Blue Skies" (more info to come), take your kids to a cyanotype workshop at the Ipswich Museum (Birth to Three is hosting one with us on 4/17 from 1-2, and we have one for ages 6-10 on 4/18), attend the adult workshop with Brianna Farina on 4/27, or submit your work to the call for art.

We're so excited to be a part of this amazing collaboration with IAA. Stay tuned for more information about workshops and exhibitions in the coming weeks

Tonight!!

Join us Monday, April 1 for our bag lunch series. The talk will feature a panel of Wednesday Walkers, lead by Kay Evans, who have spent many years together and separately of exploring the rich trail resources in the Ipswich landscape.

The group will share some of their experiences on the trails and also welcome stories and questions from the audience. Kay is an 18 year Ipswich resident and “A Historical Townie”, through her mother’s Gilbert line.

🌷🌸🌼🌷😊

Springtime Gallery Gumshoes identified spring showers in the city and made spring flowers during processed art. 👁️🌂🌸🌼🌨️🎨

Our April Vacation Art Workshops for ages 6-10 are now open for registration. Sign up now- they are likely to sell out fast! Link in comments

Four weekends remaining to come view original WWI and WWII memorabilia! The collection includes posters by Norman Rockwell, Montgomery Flagg, and others, along with the first American flag to be displayed on the WWI battlefield in Europe, carried by Ipswich native, Private Clancy.

The exhibit runs Saturdays and Sundays from 1-4 through the end of March. Veterans and museum members are admitted for free, non-members $5. We hope to see you soon!

Stop by this weekend to see our new exhibition of WWI & WWII posters and memorabilia, featuring works by Norman Rockwell and James Montgomery Flagg. We are open Saturday and Sunday 1-4

An important message from our community member, Katie, at The Monarch Gardener

A Response to the Monarch Population News, and What You Can do About it:
I am an eternal optimist, it's really the only choice I have when you do what I do. The collective human environmental impact keeps throwing punches at us and you have two options:
1) Give up and watch the world collapse around you or
2) Do something about it
I have chosen the option behind door #2.
Way back in 2013 when the monarch population hit rock bottom with only .67 hectares, lower than this year's 0.9, I told my pre-school aged kids "Mom's gonna grow and sell milkweed" to which they replied "cool, can we help?"
It's the 'can we help' part that stuck with me, because the Earth and all its creatures need all the help we can give them. We caused this mess, we can fix it.
I'm not asking you all to drop your careers and become me (although that would be great too!) I am suggesting 4 things you can do on your patch of Earth to help:
1) Plant milkweed - it's a buffer to help the population in years like this when dry weather caused a drop. No milkweed = no monarchs.
2) Plant fall nectar - another buffer, it's the lack of fall nectar with the droughts that hit most of the country this year that seem to be the cause of the drop.
3) Stop using pesticides. Period.
4) EDUCATE. EDUCATE. EDUCATE. You are all Monarch Missionaries spreading the word of hope everywhere you go. I'm not ready to give up yet, who's with me?
To add to the feeling of hope here is a photo from August of 2014 at one of my first educational events at our local library. Back then these elementary school kids were all looking at monarchs in their 4 stages. Now one is a freshman at MIT, one is a senior in high school and the other's are all high school freshman. All are involved in science and engineering programs and hope to fix the planet they inherited. Thank you kids ❤️
To read more about the population news and the science behind the population calculation check out the links in the comments.

Join us Monday, February 5, for our monthly brown bag series!

Edit: All three workshops are sold out. Please email [email protected] if you would like to be added to the waitlist

Attention Parents! We are hosting 3 days of arts and crafts during February Vacation! Register your 6-10 year old artists on our website (link in comments)

A reminder that our annual holiday upscale thrift sale is this Saturday from 9-3!

Our offices will be closed tomorrow 11/22 until 11/28. Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

We will be closed to the public today (6/2) from 1-4pm for a private event.

We apologize for any inconvenience.