Description

Presented by Daud Alzayer

Also offered at 1:00 p.m.

John Singleton Copley, the preeminent portrait painter of 18th century America, is famed for the hints of personality his meticulous portraits capture. What do we learn about the brilliant young Judith Sargent from Copley's likeness of her and what conversations may have taken place over the artist's easel? In this first-person presentation, the audience will have a chance to meet the artist and hear a speculative description of the encounter. This interactive presentation will include time for questions with the character of Copley and the living history interpreter who brings him to life.

Free for CAM/SHM members or $15 nonmembers. Space is limited, reservations required. Reserve online at Eventbrite or call (978)283-0455 x10.

This program is offered in conjunction with the special exhibition Our Souls Are by Nature Equal to Yours: The Legacy of Judith Sargent Murray, on display at the Cape Ann Museum through March 2020. To advance scholarship and contribute to the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Sargent House Museum, the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Cape Ann Museum and the Sargent House Museum have partnered to organize a special exhibition and educational programming focused on the life and legacy of Judith Sargent Murray (1751–1820). The central component of this special exhibition will be John Singleton Copley’s three-quarter length oil on canvas portrait of Murray, generously on loan to the Cape Ann Museum from the Terra Foundation for American Art.

Daud Alzayer is a performing artist and game designer with a decade of experience in public history. In his position as the Senior Educator at the Old State House Museum in Boston, he launched and supervised Revolutionary Characters, a program of daily, unscripted living history presentations that brought 18th century Bostonians to life. It was during his tenure at the Old State House that he was first drawn to portray the character of John Singleton Copley, a character he portrayed for several years. Since then Alzayer has gone on to portray several other historical characters and act as a consultant and speaker in the practice of first-person interpretation.