April - October, 2005 ~~~ Saco, Lille, Bethel

"Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon is an exhibition organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service and the National Building Museum, with assistance from the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Barn Again!" will be on display at the Saco Museum from April 9 through June 8, at the Musée culturel du Mont-Carmel in Lille from June 15 through August 12, and in the Mason House Exhibit Hall at the Bethel Historical Society from August 19 through October 22, 2005. To strengthen the local impact of the exhibit, each site will sponsor public programs. Families are invited "Downtown on the Farm" at the Saco Museum on May 21 to experience demonstrations, activities, and crafts. On April 28 and September 9, architectural historian Christi Mitchell, of the Maine Historic Preservation Commission, will give presentations on the history of Maine barns. On October 8, a lecture by William Bunting will precede a festive barn dance. Bunting is the author of A Day's Work, a two-volume collection of historic Maine photographs (Tilbury House). Exhibit and event details are online at www.mainehumanities.org/programs/barnagain.html.

Back to the Top

May - October 2005 ~~~ Lubec

The Association to Promote and Protect the Lubec Environment (APPLE) was formed to help visitors to Washington County interpret the historical, cultural, and ecological highlights of the area. Starting this summer, APPLE will offer guided historical tours of Lubec and Campobello, employing local people as guides. Area historical societies have contributed their resources to the development of these tours, which will run from Memorial Day through Columbus Day. Contact Ruta Jordans, (207) 733-2385 or rutaj@ptc-me.net, to learn how to join a tour.

Back to the Top

May 2 - 6, 2005 ~~~ York

Grade four students and their families from Lyman Elementary School are in the midst of a yearlong training program that will culminate in a fifty-mile hike along the Eastern Trail from Portsmouth, NH, north into Maine. The group will travel roads written about by Sarah Orne Jewett, learn about historic architecture, and discover local folk tales from communities visited along the route. On the second day of the hike, they will walk with a guide through historic York Village. The students will document their trip in journals and through photography.

Back to the Top

May 3, 2005 ~~~ Portland

The Portland Symphony Orchestra's "Concert Conversations" are informative lectures that help concertgoers understand music and the environment in which it was created. The centerpiece of this season is the PSO's Beethoven Festival, thus a number of the 2005 "Concert Conversations" focus on Beethoven's world and music. Speakers include some of the most highly acclaimed composers, musicians, historians, and professors from central and southern Maine. The final lecture of this season, on May 3, will feature PSO Musical Director Toshiyuki Shimada discussing "Melodic Inspirations: Tchaikovsky's blend of melody and symphonic form." The lectures, held in the rehearsal hall of the Merrill Auditorium, are free of charge, and refreshments are provided. For more information, call (207) 773-6128.

Back to the Top

May 5, 2005 and on ~~~ Waterville

Starting at Framemakers on Main Street in Waterville, photo collages created by ten girls' coalition groups will travel to area business for extended display as part of a project by Hardy Girls Healthy Women. The exhibit, Turning Beauty Inside Out: A Girls' Eye View, is a project of the girls' coalition groups to redefine beauty in today's culture and in their own lives. For more information, contact Hardy Girls Healthy Women at (207) 861-8131.

Back to the Top

May 14, 2005 ~~~ Portland

The Portland High School Civil Rights Team will hold its second annual Diversity, Understanding, Conversation, and Community Conference on May 14. The conference involves student groups from 15 area high schools, along with a working group that includes representatives from the Center for Cultural Exchange, the Maine Civil Liberties Union, Add Verb Productions, Boys to Men, and the Portland branch of the NAACP. This year's conference features Michael Keck, an internationally acclaimed artist and educator based in New York who specializes in working with students on performance pieces related to diversity, race, and human rights. Keck will spend a week in Portland, working with students on acting, writing, and facilitation skills that they can use to promote dialogue concerning social justice. His residency will culminate with the keynote address for the conference on May 14 at the Center for Cultural Exchange, One Longfellow Square, Portland. For details, contact Sarah Shmitt, advisor to the Civil Rights Team, at (207) 874-8250 or shmits@portlandschools.org.

Back to the Top

May 15, 2005 ~~~ Hinckley

On May 15, a retrospective exhibit of the life and works of renowned author, illustrator, and field biologist Bernd Heinrich will open at the L.C. Bates Museum. Heinrich has an enduring connection to Maine: he is an alumnus of the Good Will-Hinckley Homes for Boys and Girls, and he currently does much of his research and writing at a farm in the mountains of western Maine. The exhibit includes eight cases of historic documents, photographs, objects, watercolors, text panels, and drawings. In addition, a catalog prepared by the exhibit curator, William Lipke, features an essay written by Heinrich for this project. A children's program on four Wednesdays in July and school visits throughout the year will make the exhibit accessible to all ages. Bernd Heinrich and William Lipke will each make public appearances before the exhibit closes on October 15, 2005. The L.C. Bates Museum is located on Route 201 in Hinckley. For details, please call (207) 238-4250.

Back to the Top

June 2 - 4, 2005 ~~~ Livermore

Does Northern New England have a unique identity? Historians, environmentalists, folklorists, and philosophers will explore this question at the thirteenth annual Washburn Humanities Seminar at the Washburn-Norlands Living History Center in Livermore. As a collaboration between Norlands and the University of Maine at Farmington, the seminar brings established scholars, younger scholars, and independent researchers together with the general public. Call Norlands at (207) 897-4366 for details about the program.

Back to the Top

June 8 - 10, 2005 ~~~ Stonington

In 2002, the Stonington Opera House commissioned an original chamber opera to capture the voices, stories, and sounds of life in Down East Maine. A grant in 2003 allowed them to engage award-winning poet and noted librettist Beatrix Gates in this project. Gates collected oral histories from residents of Stonington and Hancock and based her libretto on their stories. The musical score by Anna Dembska was recognized by one of 17 prestigious Commissioning Music/USA awards from Meet the Composer. The opera, "The Singing Bridge," is now complete and will premiere at the Opera House this summer. Opening night, July 8, is also the Opera House's Sixth Annual Benefit Gala. The opera will continue on July 9 and 10. For tickets or information, call 367-2788 or visit www.operahousearts.org.

Back to the Top

June 11, 2005 ~~~ South Paris

Oxford County 2005 will hold a series of lectures and events to celebrate the county's bicentennial. Lectures will be presented by Martha McNamara of University of Maine on "The Courthouses of Oxford County;" Earle Shettleworth, Jr., of the Maine State Historic Preservation Commission on "Paris Hill, Past and Present;" and by Herbert Adams on "Oxford County's Remarkable Naturalists: Charles O. Whitman, Addison E. Verrill, and Edward Sylvester Morse." For more information, contact Larry Glatz, chairman of Oxford County 2005, at oxco2005@prexar.com

Back to the Top

June 17, 2005 ~~~ Portland

Journalist and essayist Joyce Maynard is perhaps best known for her controversial memoir, At Home in the World, which raises questions about who "owns" a story and who is entitled to tell it. Maynard, who is coming to Portland to conduct a writing workshop for the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance, will address these issues of accuracy and ownership at a public reading on June 17. This event is open to the public, and will be held at the Center for Cultural Exchange, One Longfellow Square in Portland, starting at 7 p.m. Contact the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance for more information: (207) 386-1400 or www.mainewriters.org.

Back to the Top

The Central Kennebec Heritage Council, a coalition of museums and historical societies, has been working for over a year on a Maine Historic Landscape Legacy project, intended to introduce the public to heritage landscaping. Their efforts will yield public educational opportunities, new period plantings, and children's programs such as garden parties. Each participating institution-the Fairfield Historical Society, the Margaret Chase Smith Library in Skowhegan, the Norridgewock Historic Society, the Skowhegan History House, the L.C. Bates Museum in Hinckley, the Oakland Museum, and the Macartney House in Oakland-has planned tours, talks, and/or exhibits. On July 8, landscape architect Theresa Mattor will launch the project's public component with a lecture on Maine's historic designed landscapes at the L.C. Bates Museum. On July 9, each of the Central Kennebec Heritage Council museums will hold an open house to display the range of landscape designs represented by their buildings and grounds. Project co-director Deborah Staber, (207) 238-4250, can provide contact information for any of the participating museums.

Back to the Top

"Memories of World War II: Photographs from the Associated Press Archives," an exhibition of 1e1 black and white photographs will be on view at the Ogunquit Museum of American Art from August 9 through October 15, 2005. Among the photographs are the well-known picture of a sailor and a nurse kissing in Times Square on VJ Day and the Pulitzer Prize-winning picture of the Marines raising the flag at Iwo Jima's Mount Suribachi. In addition to the photographs, the museum will present special even s including education programs, photography workshops, and public lectures. The museum is located at 543 Shore Road in Ogunquit. For details, call 646-4909 or visit www.ogunquitmuseum.org.

Back to the Top