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Dustin Luca
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SALEM, MASS. – A cross-disciplinary art exhibit built around one of the region’s most photographed and walked landmarks is bringing Revere Beach to Salem State University’s Winfisky Gallery.
Open through March 14, Revere Beach Stories captures the complicated nature of Revere Beach, with the combination of a newcomer’s photographic eye and the personal reflection of two poets with history there. While the exhibit is open beginning Feb. 18, an opening reception has also been scheduled for Friday, Feb. 21 from 6-8 pm.
The exhibit pairs the poetry of Revere natives Kevin Carey and Jennifer Martelli with the photography of Stephenie Young. The three were connected through Salem State University, where Carey is an associate professor and Young is a professor, both in the English department.
“It’s such an interesting confluence,” Martelli said, expanding upon early conversations connecting the three together. “Kevin and I both grew up in Revere and spent huge swaths of our childhoods on the beach, so of course it made its way into our poetry and prose. As Stephenie would share her photos, we matched poems to them – so it was almost a reverse ekphrastic experience.”
Also known for being the nation’s first public beach, Revere Beach has seen gradual changes in its surroundings since its establishment in 1896. For that, how people connect with the beach varies person to person, according to Carey.
“The physical beach, I’m sure, means different things to different people,” Carey said. “Their relationship with the space changes with time, with experience. Stephenie probably doesn’t see the geography the same way Jennifer and I might. Her eye sees a different place, new and fresh, less affected by personal history or memory.
“I can remember the beach ‘back then’ firsthand, decades ago, so the current photos Stephenie has taken are always reflected in that for me,” Carey continued. “The story of this place in 2025 is still changing, even as it struggles to stay the same.”
Working behind the lens, Young started shooting the life of the beach during the COVID-19 pandemic as a partial product of the travel restrictions of the time.
“In my non-COVID life, I usually travel outside of the country quite a bit, so I had to look for the ‘foreign’ in my own region. I say ‘foreign’ because I’m originally from southern California, so I’ll never feel like a native here and don’t have an insider perspective,” Young said. “I found it to be a great place to take photographs – beautiful light, welcoming people who were friendly and open to me, and an opportunity to get a closer look at the people who visit this beach in all seasons.”
For Karen Gahagan, director of Salem State’s Center for Creative and Performing Arts, the exhibit represents a proud interdisciplinary moment for the arts at Salem State.
“It’s always special when different creative genres come together to create an event,” Gahagan said. “It models wonderful things for our students about collaboration across disciplines and the many ways we tell our stories through the arts.”
The Winfisky Gallery, located in the Ellison Campus Center on Salem State University’s North Campus, is open Monday through Friday from 10 am to 4 pm. For more information and to plan your visit, call 978.542.7890.