Mystic, Conn. (January 17, 2023) – Mystic Seaport Museum is pleased to present Fish & Forrest: Through the Lens of a Commercial Fishermom, an exhibition of photography by third generation fisherwoman Corey Wheeler Forrest. Fish & Forrest will be on view inside the Museum’s historic Meeting House from February 4, 2023 and will be on display through the summer. The exhibition will be accompanied by associated talks, panel discussions, film screenings, and launch party events around southeastern New England.
Hailing from a long line of commercial fisherpersons in Sakonnet Point, Rhode Island, Corey’s family today runs the last trap fishing operation in southern New England. The family business spans generations, including everyone from Corey’s 75-year-old father to her own young daughter. The family is the subject of the mini documentary The Last Trap Family, which is available online and will be screened accompanying the exhibition. The opening of the documentary neatly emphasizes the family’s significance:
“In the 1800s there were 200 traps that lined the shore.
We are the last family that fishes this way.”
Fish & Forrest presents over 30 photographs selected from Corey’s Instagram account @fishandforrest. Here, she documents her life as a commercial fisherwoman preserving sustainable traditions in a male-dominated profession.
Corey’s lead boat runs on only ten gallons of gas a day, and because fish remain alive in the traps, any fish that will not be used are released. Rising expenses make this sustainable method of fishing increasingly difficult, yet Corey and her family remain ever hopeful for another year. Her photographs are evocative of this dedication and of what she refers to as quintessential fishing town. Corey’s images capture her 4 a.m. wake-up calls, her brother in his fishing gear, and the bow of her boat on foggy summer mornings to provide a window into the slice of life that she hopes to preserve. Fish & Forrest will be the artist’s first photography exhibition and will feature 30 works spanning the last 7 years.
Fish & Forrest is made possible in part by the generous support of Filson and Xtratuf.
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Media Contact
Sophia Matsas
Director of Marketing & Communications
Mystic Seaport Museum
860.572.5317 (o)
sophia.matsas@mysticseaport.org
About Mystic Seaport Museum
Mystic Seaport Museum is the nation’s leading maritime Museum. Founded in 1929 to gather and preserve the rapidly disappearing artifacts of America’s seafaring past, the Museum has grown to become a national center for research and education with the mission to “inspire an enduring connection to the American maritime experience.” The Museum’s grounds cover 19 acres on the Mystic River in Mystic, CT, and include a recreated New England coastal village, a working shipyard, formal exhibit halls, and state-of-the-art artifact storage facilities. The Museum is home to more than 500 historic watercraft, including four National Historic Landmark vessels, most notably the 1841 whaleship Charles W. Morgan. For more information, please visit mysticseaport.org and follow the Museum on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
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