July 10 - August 15, 2008 ~~~ Damariscotta and Waldoboro
Under the leadership of scholar Don Lord, a group of citizens will study the numerous “yardsticks” that have been developed by historians such as Arthur Schlesinger, Sr., and Thomas A. Bailey to evaluate past presidents. The group will discuss whether the criteria for greatness has changed over time, or just the perspectives of the historians. In evaluating greatness, how important are the unique obstructions or opportunities afforded by the historical moment? Can a really average person make a great president? What qualities does a bad president lack? By studying past lists, the group will develop criteria for its own list of presidential greatness. Two different groups will meet over six weeks in July and August, one in Waldoboro and the other in Damariscotta. For details, please contact the Waldoboro Public Library at (207 832-4484 or the Skidompha Library at (207) 563-5513.
Back to the TopJuly 14 - 27, 2008 ~~~ Deer Isle and Stonington
This summer, the annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival (a collaboration between Opera House Arts at the Stonington Opera House and Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, now in its ninth year) will examine the impact of the improvisational creative tradition on community development in “New Orleans: Culture & Crisis.” Mardi Gras Indian art and music have been central to the post-Katrina reconstruction in New Orleans. What can we learn from how these traditions have been used in a time of crisis and adapt them so that the unique cultural heritage of Downeast Maine might be used for community empowerment? In addition to concerts, festival events include a school-based residency program with The Hot 8 (completed in May), a lecture by visiting artist and Mardi Gras Indian scholar Donald Harrison (July 14 at Haystack), a town hall discussion and craft demonstration (July 20 at Haystack), a film screening and discussion of “All on a Mardi Gras Day” (June 24 at the Opera House), a multimedia presentation by Katrina Media Fellow Larry Blumenfeld (July 25 at the Opera House), and a traditional New Orleans Second Line community parade (July 27 in Stonington). For times and locations, please call (207) 367-2788, or visit www.operahousearts.org.
Back to the TopJuly 20 - August 3, 2008 ~~~ Machias
For two weeks each summer, young people gather at the University of Maine in Machias to experience creativity, community, and art through Shakespearean acting with the Maine Youth Theatre Institute (MYSTI). First envisioned and sponsored by a professor at the university, this program is now run under the auspices of Stage East, a nonprofit arts organization based in Eastport. Funds from this grant will help provide scholarship support for up to half of the young actors who participate (two-thirds of whom are from Washington County). MYSTI students produce a full-length Shakespearean play at the end of their two-week session. For more information, please call (207) 853-7154, or visit www.stageeast.org/mysti.
Back to the TopJuly 22 - 25, 2008 ~~~ Lewiston
During this year’s Bates Dance Festival, filmmaker/dance scholar Joan Frosch will conduct a one-week residency including a lecture on choreographers Gregory Maqoma and Nora Chipaumire (July 25) and a screening of her award-winning film “Movement (R)evolution” (July 24). Frosch will also contribute contextual program notes about Maqoma, who is from South Africa, and Chipaumire, who is from Zimbabwe. Finally, Frosch will moderate the Festival’s Global Exchange Panel Discussion (July 22), which brings together participating artists from Africa, Asia, and Latin America. For more information on the Bates Dance Festival, please visit www.batesdancefestival.org.
Back to the TopAugust 2, 2008 ~~~ Kittery
The Kittery Art Association will host a day-long symposium on the early 20th century artists of southern Maine to complement exhibitions of Kittery artist Russell Cheney’s paintings at the Portsmouth Athenaeum and Portsmouth Historical Society. Speakers will explore Yankee Modernism in Maine through the artistic careers of Russell Cheney and his contemporaries: Marsden Hartley, F.O. Mattiessen, and the Ogunquit School painters. Special components of the symposium include a tour of the Cheney studio in Kittery and a new website devoted to the artist, www.russellcheney.com. To register for the symposium, please call the Portsmouth Athenaeum at (603) 431-2538.
Back to the TopAugust 2 - 15, 2008 ~~~ Deer Isle
Award-winning writer David Jauss will be an artist-in-residence at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle from August 2-15, 2008. Jauss is the author of Black Maps, You Are Not Here, and other books of poetry and short stories. He teaches at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and in the MFA in Writing Program at the Vermont College of Fine Arts. At Haystack, Jauss will interact with workshop participants, present a public program on August 4, and write a monograph interpreting the contemporary craft world. To learn more, visit www.davidjauss.com or www.haystack-mtn.org.
Back to the TopAugust 4, 2008 ~~~ Lisbon Falls
The theme for the 2008 Summer Reading Program in Lisbon Falls (and many other communities in Maine) is “Wings, Stings, and Leggy Things.” The program begins on June 25 and culminates on August 4 with a performance by Greg McAdams called “Stop Bugging Me, I’m Reading!” The storytelling, puppetry, and audience participation from this program will motivate children to keep reading until school begins several weeks later. For more information, please contact the library at (207) 353-6564.
Back to the TopAugust 4, 2008 ~~~ Rangeley
As part of the public lecture series “Experiencing Maine,” presented by the Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust, author John Christie will give a presentation on his recent book, The Story of Sugarloaf. Christie is the president of the Ski Museum of Maine and former general manager of both Sugarloaf/USA and Mt. Snow in Vermont. The lecture will take place at the Wilhelm Reich Museum in Rangeley. For further details, please call (207) 864-3443.
Back to the TopAugust 8 -9, 2008 ~~~ Greenville
Jackman, September 2006
The Northern Forest Center has spent the better part of a decade developing and implementing its Ways of the Woods: People and the Land in the Northern Forest exhibit. This mobile museum display is housed in an 18-wheel tractor trailer, allowing it to travel to under-served rural communities in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. This summer, look for the exhibit at these events in Maine: Forest Heritage Days in Greenville (August 8-9) and the Fryeburg Fair (September 28-October 5). For the rest of the schedule and a journal documenting the truck's travels, please visit www.northernforest.org.
Back to the TopAugust 8, 2008 ~~~ Bethel
The Bethel Historical Society's 2008 Lecture Series, “Maine History: Varied and Vivid,” began May 8 with a lecture on Benedict Arnold by Thomas Desjardin of the Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands. On June 12, Neil Rolde spoke on the subject of his most recent biography, James G. Blaine. Donna Cassidy will profile the subject of her biography, Marsden Hartley, on August 8. Three more lectures are planned for the fall. For details, please call (207) 824-2910 or visit www.bethelhistorical.org.
Back to the TopThrough October, 2008 ~~~ Hinckley
“Some Homes,” a new exhibit at the L.C. Bates Museum in Hinckley, Maine, will stimulate thinking about the meaning of Home through contemporary art and historical context. The project goal is to promote discussion, knowledge, and interpretation that focuses on the experience of Home, specifically Maine homes and the related philosophy of home at Good Will-Hinckley. The exhibit runs from May through October. Accompanying events include a lecture by Earle Shettleworth on domestic architecture in Maine, a panel with artists and representatives from Waterville Main Street and the Margaret Chase Smith Library, and a film screening at Railroad Square Cinema. For details on these events, please call the museum at (207) 238-4250.
Back to the TopJune - October, 2008 ~~~ Peaks Island
The artifacts on display in Found Treasures, the 2008 exhibit at the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum (located at 45 Seashore Avenue), were “rescued” from the island transfer station or unearthed from basements and attics. They include diaries, documents from island businesses, and an 1879 bible full of mementoes from the life of its owner. Each grouping of artifacts will be connected by provenance or theme, and accompanied by interpretive text. The exhibit is on view from June through October, 2008. To learn more, contact the museum at (207) 766-5514 or fifthmaine@juno.com, or visit www.fifthmainemuseum.org.
Back to the Topthru October, 2008 ~~~ Vinalhaven
The Bodwell Granite Company Store operated on the island of Vinalhaven from 1858 until 1919. The Vinalhaven Historical Society maintains an extensive collection of receipts, correspondence, payroll tickets, and other documents from the store, as well as glass plate negatives of images of quarry operations, workers, and managers. Based on census, payroll, and union records, the historical society has built a database of quarry workers employed by Bodwell. Public access to this database will soon be available at www.vhhis.org. In addition, the historical society is planning an exhibit that examines the influence of the Bodwell Granite Company and their company store on the history and economy of Vinalhaven through the lives of ten representative workers. The exhibit will be on view during the museum’s 2008 summer season, from June through October. A public lecture will also take place during the summer at the Smith-Hokanson Memorial Hall. For more information, please call (207) 863-4410 or visit the aforementioned website.
Back to the TopJuly - August, 2008 ~~~ Thomaston
This summer, the General Henry Knox Museum in Thomaston will mount an exhibit of armaments and weapons, centered on a cannon on loan from Fort Ticonderoga, NY. During the exhibit, two lectures will highlight Henry Knox’s career as Chief of Artillery and the nation’s first Secretary of War. On July 1, John D. Bottero will speak at the museum, while Mark Puls will speak on July 22 at the Hutchinson Center in Belfast. For more information, please call (207) 354-0858.
Back to the TopNovember 13, 2008 - January 11, 2009 ~~~ Portland
In conjunction with the exhibition “Textiles/Translations,” featuring the work of Alice Spencer, the University of New England’s Gallery of Art will hold a series of five educational programs. Each program will approach textiles from a different perspective: their cultures of origin, their common themes and symbols, the role of women in their creation, and their ability to inspire artists like Spencer. In addition to the general public, students from the Maine College of Art and local high schools will be encouraged to attend the exhibition and related programming. For more information, please call (207) 221-4499 or visit www.une.edu/artgallery.
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Notes from an Open Book welcomes feedback from its readers. Please contact Diane Magras by email at diane@mainehumanities.org or by phone at (207)773-5051 ext. 208 (toll-free 1-866-637-3233, ext. 208) to respond.