Women artists thrive today in Salem thanks to a robust arts community and a creative economy initiative that promotes entrepreneurs and creative thinkers of all kinds. Women artists display their work in Salem galleries, cooperatives, shops, and even local restaurants, coffee shops, and hotels. Art is alive and well in Salem. Just visit Artists’ Row in downtown Salem to find out!

Salem is also home to a world-class museum of art and culture — the Peabody Essex Museum — which is an inspiration to artists of every genre today and showcases women’s art from the past and present.

Historically, long before women were professional artists, they created artistic items for their homes and family including samplers, embroidered household items, clothing, and other practical objects that women found time to make beautiful. For centuries before colonists settled in Salem, Native American women wove baskets, made jewelry and pottery.

Some of the women artists we remember on this website include Sophia Peabody Hawthorne, who sold her paintings and decorative wares during the generation before women were taken seriously as professional painters.

Louisa Lander, a sculptor and one-time of the Hawthornes, studied in Rome and created magnificent works of art.

Sarah Gooll Putnam’s embroidery masterpieces helped raise funds to aid Civil War soldiers.

Lucy Cleveland, a textile artist, used her works to raise funds for the abolitionist cause.

Sarah W. Symonds established successful studios in Salem where she sold figurines and plaques of Salem’s historic sites in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Just as Salem has long been home to women writers – and still is – Salem’s women artists also continue to create and inspire.