The Cape Ann Museum (CAM) announced this week that is has added four staff members: Rebecca Robison as executive assistant, Karla Kaneb as collections move coordinator, Stacey Csaplar as visitor services representative, and Anastasia Dennehy, also in visitor services.
Robison brings 15 years of museum administrative experience to her role as executive assistant. Prior to joining the museum, she skillfully managed administrative duties and board relations as the executive assistant and board liaison to both the Chief Philanthropy Officer and the director and CEO at the Peabody Essex Museum (PEM). Before working at PEM, she was the project manager for more than a decade at White Oak Associates, museum planners and analysts.
“The Cape Ann Museum is truly a love letter to the beauty, history and cultural heritage of Cape Ann,” says Robison, a native of upstate New York who holds a bachelor’s degree from Hofstra University. “I appreciate how they encourage the visitor to slow down and engage in these works of art that celebrate the region.”
Kaneb is overseeing the transfer of the museum collections to the new state-of-the-art Janet & William Ellery James Center. Kaneb holds a master’s degree in Museum Studies with a concentration in Collections Management from the Harvard University Extension School.
Kaneb shared that “professionally, the Cape Ann Museum offers the unique opportunity to work with a significant and diverse collection of art and historical objects within the context of a region that continues to attract and support a noteworthy arts culture to this day. On a more personal level, being part of a museum that is so dedicated to reflecting the spirit of the community that it serves is very fulfilling.”
Csaplar will be welcoming visitors at the front desk in her new position at the museum. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Sweet Briar College and a master’s in education from Wheelock College. Csaplar is currently a certificate candidate in Museum Studies at Harvard Extension School.
“The antique homes that are part of the Cape Ann Museum collection are close to my heart,” says Csaplar. “They each hold the stories of the people who they sheltered and have only whispered of all the secrets they keep.”
Dennehy recently graduated from SUNY Geneseo and will also join the museum as a visitor services representative. Prior to joining the CAM, Dennehy worked as a tour guide in Virginia.
“Although I enjoy many pieces in the Museum, my favorite piece in the collection is the sampler stitched by Mary Davis in the Captain Elias Davis House,” says Dennehy. “It is a great example of how the CAM is not only interested in the overall history of Cape Ann, but also the individual lives of the people who have called Cape Ann home.”
CAM was founded in 1875 and exists to preserve and celebrate the history and culture of the area and to keep it relevant to today’s audiences. It has 44,000 square feet of space, and is one of the major cultural institutions on Boston’s North Shore, with more than 25,000 local, national and international visitors each year to its exhibitions and programs. Besides art, the museum’s collections include decorative art, textiles, artifacts from the maritime and granite industries, three historic homes, a library and archives and a sculpture park in downtown Gloucester.
