Happenings for the Public at MAM Member Institutions

British Ballads in Maine

Workshop series sponsored by the Maine Folklife Center

Tuesdays, April 2, 9, and 16

Ballad singing and ballad collecting are part of Maine’s cultural heritage. The program fulfills the Maine Folklife Center’s mission to engage communities in the vernacular arts and culture of Maine and the Maritime Provinces. Each workshop consists of a panel discussion/performance and audience participation of several ballads collected in Maine. We will also invite the audience in advance to bring their favorite ballad and have an open discussion with the audience about ballads and ballad singing. Funded by grants from the Maine Arts Commission, the Maine Humanities Council and the University of Maine Humanities. The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served. FMI: 207-581-1848 / pauleena@maine.edu. 

Tuesday, April 9, 4:30-6:30 p.m. at University Club in Fogler Library (Ballads as Literature presented by Sarah Harlan-Haughey, Honors preceptor in English)

Tuesday, April 16, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at Rines auditorium at Portland Public Library (performance of ballads by musicians Julia Lane, folksinger and ballad collector, member of Castlebay with her husband, Fred Gosbee and Jeff McKeen folksinger and ballad collector, member of Old Grey Goose performing group)

Maine’s Earliest Settlers

Ongoing exhibition at the Old Berwick Historical Society

Old Berwick Historical Society exhibits at the Counting House Museum and at South Berwick Town Hall chronicle the story of one of Maine’s earliest settlements, from its first inhabitants through its independence from Kittery 300 years ago, in 1713. The displays highlight stories of Humphrey and Lucy Chadbourne, who operated a sawmill in present-day South Berwick from about 1640 to 1689; and Humphrey and Mary Spencer, who owned a tavern from 1696 to 1727. Their tales are told using an array of historic objects from archaeological projects led by Emerson Baker and Neill DePaoli. Grants from the Maine Humanities Council and Kennebunk Savings during Berwick’s 300th anniversary year also support the society’s year-long series of public lectures, tours and public programs. The Counting House is open June through October and is located at Main and Liberty Streets in South Berwick and admission is by donation. FMI: (207) 384-0000 / info@oldberwick.org / www.oldberwick.org. 

*Brunswick and the Civil War

Exhibition at the Pejepscot Historical Society, Brunswick

On view now 

In 2013, Pejepscot Historical Society marks both its 125^th anniversary as an organization and the 150^th anniversary of Joshua L. Chamberlain’s distinguished service at Gettysburg. All summer, visit the “Brunswick and the Civil War” exhibit, explore the Joshua L. Chamberlain Museum and the Skolfield-Whittier House, take a history walking tour, and participate in the 2013 speaker series. And stay tuned for details on an exciting Chamberlain Days event August 9-11! Pejepscot Historical Society is located at 159 Park Row in Brunswick. FMI: www.pejepscothistorical.org.

Dairy Days in the Boothbay Region

Exhibition at the Boothbay Region Historical Society

Now through July

On view now at the Boothbay Region Historical Society is an array of artifacts pertaining to the history of dairy farming in the Boothbay Region. Many items are on loan from private collections including items from the Chesebro family, Joan Barter Rittall and Norman Rau. Visitors with memories of dairying in the region are encouraged to share their remembrances via email to brhs@gwi.net. These will be added to a memory book that will go into the permanent collection at the society. The museum is located at 72 Oak St. in Boothbay Harbor. FMI: (207) 633-0820 / www.boothbayhistorical.org. 

Per Kirkeby: Painting and Sculpture

Exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick

Now through July 14

The exhibition introduces to American audiences Danish artist Per Kirkeby (born 1938), one of Europe’s most celebrated contemporary artists. The artist’s roles as geologist, filmmaker, architect, writer, and poet are reflected in this survey of approximately 45 works. Kirkeby’s paintings and sculptures are constantly in flux, maintaining a dialogue between art and science. Organized by the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., this is Per Kirkeby’s first American retrospective. After the Phillips Collection, Bowdoin is the only other venue hosting this important show. FMI: (207) 725-3275 / bowdoin.edu/art-museum.

Per Kirkeby: Subjective Thinker, Anti-Artist, Historical Painter

Lecture hosted by the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, Brunswick

Thursday, April 4, 4:30 p.m.

Klaus Ottmann, co-curator of the exhibition Per Kirkeby: Paintings and Sculpture (on view through July 14), will introduce themes and processes that characterize the work of Scandinavia’s most highly acclaimed visual artist. Kirkeby’s early training as a geologist is evident in his richly layered, gorgeously colored canvases that seem constantly in flux. With his Scandinavian sensibility Kirkeby articulates responses to the Northern landscape that will resonate with audiences in the Northeast. The Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., organized this first survey of his work in the United States. The Bowdoin College Museum of Art is the only other venue of this important exhibition. The lecture will be followed by an Open House at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art from 5:30 to 7:30. Kresge Auditorium, Visual Arts Center, Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine; free. FMI: 207-725-3275 / www.bowdoin.edu/art-museum

Waponahki Student Art Show

An exhibition at the Abbe Museum, Bar Harbor, presented in collaboration with Maine Indian Education

Opening April 2013

The Waponahki Student Art Show, now in its second decade and a favorite with museum guests, brings together a wonderful variety of art created by Passamaquoddy and Penobscot students from early childhood education through high school. Using a wide array of media, these young artists incorporate traditional beliefs and values with the modern, multi-cultural world around them. FMI: 207-288-3519 / www.abbemuseum.org.

Animal Allies: Inuit Views of the Natural World

Exhibition at The Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, Bowdoin College, Brunswick

Through January 6, 2014

This exhibition explores the Inuit worldview in which humans and animals are interdependent and connected in profound ways. Contemporary Canadian and Alaskan Inuit carvings and prints, ethnographic objects, film clips, and natural history specimens–including an Alaskan polar bear and a Labrador caribou–are on display. Sponsored by The Russell and Janet Doubleday Endowment. FMI: 207-725-3416.