What’s a Motif #1? Legend has it that a local art teacher coined the name when his students kept painting the fisherman’s shack. Located in Rockport MA and built in the 1840’s, it housed fisherman’s supplies for years. In the late 1800 and early 1900’s the US Navy would conduct maneuvers in the area and use the shack as it headquarters.
In 1945 the town of Rockport bought Motif #1 from a painter, John Buckley who used it as of all things an art studio and made it a monument to locals who served in the military. Since then, the town has maintained the shack keeping it clear of any debris, signage, or wires. And the town paints the shack with a special paint to keep its weathered look.
Along comes the Blizzard of 78, that’s 1978 and dumping 42” of snow and coastal flooding. The shack gets demolished. Understanding its value to the town, Rockport rebuilds Motif #1 the same year. The story continues with the shack becoming a celebrity making a cameo in the movie “Finding Nemo”. And in 2002 Moti#1 was on a US Postage stamp.
Funny thing is there is nothing to it. To Rockport and the Art Community the shack is an ikon, but the shack is just a shack. No architectural lineage, no real history, its just a simple fisherman’s shack. People love to take photos, selfies and of course to paint it.
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