Forty-six years ago, a replica of an old Edgartown boat-building shop became the tallest building on the Menemsha waterfront—for just a few days, during the filming of Jaws. That was long enough to make an impression on generations of movie-goers, many of whom have searched for Quint’s Menemsha shack in vain since the film opened in 1975.

The shark-hunter’s three-story “shack,” the only land-based set the Jaws producers built, was torn down as soon as it had played its part. But the original Manuel Swartz Roberts boat shop remains a cherished Edgartown Harbor landmark and the longtime home of the Martha’s Vineyard Art Association’s Old Sculpin Gallery.

From July 4 through July 10, a new group show at the art gallery pays tribute to Jaws production designer Joe Alves on the 45th anniversary of the film’s release.

Jaws show opens at Old sculpin Gallery on July 4 and runs through July 10. — Melissa Knowles

“It was amazing what Joe Alves did,” art association co-president Meg Mercier told the Gazette. “He researched the whole East Coast (and) reconstructed the Old Sculpin up in Menemsha.”

Mr. Alves and the Menemsha set also had a lasting impact on the career of the late Island metal worker Travis Tuck, who was making abstract forms in 1974, Ms. Mercier said.

“He walked down to the set and asked for work, and they had him make a shark weathervane,” she said. “It was his first weathervane.”

Mr. Tuck’s surviving business partner, Anthony Holand, is loaning the exhibition the original sketch of the shark weathervane that Mr. Alves drew for the metal worker, as well as a receipt for $200 for the finished product.

These Jaws connections inspired the new Old Sculpin show, in which about 30 new paintings by more than two dozen association members are paired with stills and production shots from the film, Ms. Mercier said. There will also be a Jaws map available for those who wish to take a self-guided Island tour of locations used in the film.

And by unaided happenstance, Ms. Mercier said, the dates for the exhibition match those of the Amity Regatta that appear in the film: July 4-10.

“That was just the way the Saturdays fell,” she said.

Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the art association won’t launch its Jaws show—or any other, for the time being—with the customary opening reception. The Old Sculpin opens its doors Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday from noon to 5 p.m. and weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The gallery is located on Dock street across from the Chappy Ferry landing and Memorial Wharf.