June - December, 2005 ~~~ Freeport
The Freeport Historical Society is celebrating 30 years as stewards of Pettengill Farm, a nineteenth-century salt-water farm located on the estuary of the Harraseeket River. The celebration, A Window Through Time: Pettengill Farm & The Soul of New England, includes an exhibit with a catalog, two workshops, and an open house. The exhibit combines contemporary black and white photographs of the farm, taken by fine art photographer John G. Kelley, with historic images and artifacts selected from the Society's collections. It opened on June 15 with a reception and book-signing, and will remain on display through December. Exhibit hours are Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 10-2:30 p.m. and Wednesday 10-7 p.m.
August - December, 2005 ~~~ Farmington
The Remnant Trust is an educational foundation with a growing collection of original and first edition works dealing with the topics of liberty and dignity. True to their guiding mission that "great ideas belong to everyone," the Trust loans the collection on the condition that all materials be available for the public to read and touch. This fall, the University of Maine at Farmington's Mantor Library brings 48 documents from the Remnant Trust to New England for the first time. The exhibition, entitled "Reading Revolutions: Great Minds, Great Thoughts," includes a copy of the Magna Carta, a first edition of Emerson's 1841 Essays (including "Self-Reliance"), and a first English edition of Plato's Republic (1763). A lecture series consisting of 14 presentations by University faculty and administrators will begin at 7 p.m. on August 31 and continue on Wednesday nights throughout the semester. All events are free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Mantor Library at (207) 778-7210 or visit hua.umf.maine.edu/Reading_Revolutions.
November 13 - 20, 2005 ~~~ Temple, Peaks Island, Augusta
George Bartenieff will perform "I Will Bear Witness," an adaptation of Victor Klemperer's diaries dramatizing the responsibility of the individual to bear witness to injustice, at the Brackett Memorial Methodist Church on Peaks Island, the Temple Stream Theater in Temple, and UMA's Jewett Audiotorium in Augusta, between November 13 and 20, 2005. Each performance will be followed by a facilitated discussion with Bartenieff, who has portrayed Klemperer some 250 times in Europe and North America, including at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. The performances are sponsored by the Temple Stream Theater Association, a rural nonprofit community arts group founded in 1999 to bring high-quality theater to Franklin County. For more information, please contact the director of Temple Stream Theater, Michael Romanyshyn, at (207) 778-2513 or denro@localnet.com.
November, 2005 ~~~ Thomaston
Beginning in November 2005, the Thomaston Public Library will host a series of ten special events to promote its new Teen Reading Center and graphic novel collection. The local school districts are already engaged in studies of the graphic novel, a genre that is becoming more refined as its popularity grows. Guest speakers at the teen reading nights will include graphic novel authors and artists, as well as local celebrities such as the owner of Portland's graphic novel store, Rick Lowell. For dates and other details, please contact the Thomaston children's librarian, Debby Atwell, debby@thomaston.lib.me.us.
January - May, 2006 ~~~ Hinckley
Between January and May 2006, the Central Kennebec Heritage Council sponsor three hands-on workshops for its member museums along the Kennebec-Chaudière Heritage Corridor. The three programs have been designed to address diverse aspects of exhibit preparation, from label writing to acid-free materials to affordable mounts and displays. Although the workshops are intended mainly for an audience of museum staff and volunteers, they will be open to the public. If you are interested in attending, please contact Deborah Staber at the L.C. Bates Museum in Hinckley, (207) 238-4250 or lcbates@gwh.org.