Month: August 2026

Mermaid Festival

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The Cahoon Museum of American Art will hold its Mermaid Festival on Saturday, August 15, from 1 to 3 PM.

The family-friendly event will include the chance to meet a mermaid, create mermaid-inspired crafts, explore the museum with a mermaid scavenger hunt, decorate cookies and take home a mermaid coloring book featuring illustrations by Cape Cod folk artists Ralph and Martha Cahoon.

Mermaid tails, crowns and sea-inspired costumes are encouraged.

Admission is $17 per adult, $5 per child, Free for Cahoon Museum members.

Reserve space via Cahoonmuseum.org.

The Cahoon Museum is located at 4676 & 4698 Falmouth Road (Route 28) in Cotuit, Massachusetts 02635 info@cahoonmuseum.org | 508-428-7581 Open Tuesday-Sunday 10-4

Nantucket Baskets

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 A Special Afternoon with Dr. Alan Granby The Cahoon Museum of American Art invites you special afternoon hosted by Cahoon Trustees Janice Richards and Grant Pattison on Thursday, August 27th, from 3:00-4:00 pm with Dr. Alan Granby, one of the nation’s foremost authorities on maritime antiques, for a fascinating exploration of the history, artistry, and enduring appeal of the Nantucket Basket as part of the Stave & Cane: Nantucket Baskets exhibition. 

Drawing on decades of scholarship, collecting, and firsthand experience, Dr. Granby will share the remarkable story of Nantucket baskets, from their origins aboard the island’s lightships to their evolution into some of America’s most celebrated examples of functional art. 
He will be available to answer questions after the talk, followed by a wine-and-cheese reception.

Register HERE
Dr. Alan Granby is co-founder of Hyland Granby Antiques in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, an internationally respected firm specializing in museum-quality eighteenth and nineteenth-century marine antiques, maritime folk art, scrimshaw, ship portraits, and historically significant Nantucket baskets. 
He earned his bachelor’s degree from Clark University and both his M.A. and Ph.D. from Boston University. Throughout his distinguished career, Dr. Granby has authored numerous publications on maritime art and antiques, lectured extensively, and has been widely recognized for his expertise in preserving and interpreting America’s maritime heritage, including co-curating the museum’s Scrimshaw: The Whaler’s Art exhibition in 2022. Together with his wife and business partner, Dr. Janice Hyland, he has spent nearly five decades researching, collecting, and sharing exceptional works that illuminate the rich history of New England’s seafaring traditions. 

Harry Hilbert Nantucket Basket Purse, 1994 Collection of Janice and Alan Granby
Pictured above
From left to right:Paul Johnston, Weaver/Mark Sutherland Scrimshaw Purse with carved half-hull model top, 1982 Collection of Janice and Alan Granby
William and Judy Sayle Nantucket Basket Purse, 1978 Collection of Janice and Alan Granby

Cahoon Museum of American Art | 4676 Falmouth Road (Rte. 28) P.O. Box 1853 | Cotuit, MA 02635 US