March Events at the Abbe

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Tuesday, March 10, 2015
Mt. Desert Community Progressive Dinner
March on Mt. Desert Community Progressive Dinner
5:00 - 7:30 pm

Join Mount Desert Street neighbors as we celebrate our community with
this annual progressive dinner.

  • 5:15-5:30 pm at Abbe Museum: Conners-Emerson Play
  • 5:30-6:00 pm at YWCA: Hors d'oeuvres
  • 6:00-6:30 pm at St. Saviour's Church: Salad
  • 6:30-7:00 pm at Jesup Memorial Library: Soup & Bread
  • 7:00-7:30 pm at Congregational Church: Dessert. 

Free, open to the public

Wednesday, March 11, 2015
PKMDI
5:30 -7:00 pm

The PKMDI spring session will feature eight presentations, 6 minutes 20 seconds each (20 slides x 20 seconds), and will be emceed by Lyzz Bien. Midway through the presentations we'll break for an intermission.

Free and open to the public.
Location: Reel Pizza Cinerama, 33 Kennebec Place, Bar Harbor

Thursday, March 19, 2015
Coming Home Brown Bag Lunch Series with Donald Soctomah, Passamaquoddy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer
12:00 pm - 1:00 pm

Join us for the second program in our Brown Bag Lunch series with Passamaquoddy Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Donald Soctomah. The Coming Home exhibit features several etched birchbark pieces made by Tomah Joseph—a famous birchbark worker from the Passamaquoddy community at Indian Township. Often featuring depictions of Passamaquoddy oral histories, Joseph’s work was sought after by museums and private collectors all over the world-even Franklin D. Roosevelt owned some of Joseph’s pieces. Soctomah is an expert on Tomah Joseph’s history and work, and has even written a children’s book about the birchbark worker’s friendship with FDR, called Remember Me.

Free and open to the public.
Location: Abbe Museum Downtown

Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Wabanaki Women’s Dialogue and Panel Discussion
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

In the first half of this program, join Museum Educator and Kikehtahsuwiw: It Heals Curator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy, and other museum visitors in a dialogue focused on the roles of women in Wabanaki and other cultures. Then, join a panel of Wabanaki women for a discussion of the Kikehtahsuwiw: It Heals exhibit, and how the traditional role of women in Wabanaki cultures informs their contemporary work within the Passamaquoddy community.

Free and open to the public.
Location: Abbe Museum Downtown




 Saturday, March 28, 2015
Winter in the Dawnland Storytelling and Craft Activity with Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy
10:00 am - 12:00 pm

For the final program in the Winter in the Dawnland series, join Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy, to hear Wabanaki stories about Koluskap and the creation of the Wabanaki people. When Koluskap came to this land, there were no people here, so he took an arrow and shot a brown ash tree. From that tree, the Wabanaki people were born. To this day, Wabanaki people use strips of brown ash to weave their baskets. In the second part of the program, you will also have the opportunity to weave with ash and make your own woven bookmark to use while you wait for next year’s series!

Registration required, space limited. Recommended for families.

For more information, or to register, contact Museum Educator George Neptune, (207) 288-3519 or george@abbemuseum.org.
Location: Abbe Museum Downtown

Thank you for Coming Home

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The grand opening of our 2015 feature exhibit, Coming Home, was a huge success. This exhibit was five years in the making, and it was incredible having so many of you under one roof celebrating with us. A special thank you to our friends, generous donors, impressive Board of Trustees, tenacious staff, and supportive volunteers. We are able to do what we do because of all of you.

Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy, opened the reception with a blessing.







Julia Clark, director of collections & interpretation, talked about how we were able to make Coming Home happen.
 

Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Abbe president and CEO, praised all those responsible for making the exhibit such a success.










A delicious spread of food was provided by the Culinary Arts Committee.

Don't Miss Out on Our Winter Break Programs

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February 17th from 10 am - 3 pm
Coming Home Children's Workshop with Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy


In this workshop, learn to make your own miniature beaded bag out of cloth, glass beads, and silk ribbon. This workshop will require the use of sharp needles, so is recommended for older children and teens. Registration required, space limited. To register, contact Museum Educator George Neptune, (207) 288-3519 or george@abbemuseum.org.

February 18th from 10 am - 12 pm
Winter in the Dawnland Storytelling and Craft Activity with Museum Educator George Neptune, Passamaquoddy


For the third program in the Winter in the Dawnland series, hear stories about the first treaties to be made in the Dawnland. Registration required, space limited. Recommended for families. To register, contact George at (207) 288-3519 or george@abbemuseum.org.

February 19th from 12 - 1 pm
Coming Home Brown Bag Lunch Series with Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot


In our first Brown Bag Lunch of the 2015 series, join us as Penobscot beadworker Jennifer Neptune discusses and demonstrates her work replicating an historic Penobscot Chief's collar. Free and open to the public.

Learn more about our February Programs.

Coming Home

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Our 2015 feature exhibit is an invitation to Wabanaki people to re-connect with familiar and unfamiliar material culture. It is an invitation to our museum visitor to consider what objects make memory for all of us. It is an invitation to consider what it means to return memories and meaning to people, to home lands. More details will be revealed soon!

Abbe Museum’s 2015 Feature Exhibit Brings Wabanaki Artifacts Home

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Coming Home consists of collections from museums in the northeastern United States



The Abbe Museum, the first and only Smithsonian Affiliate in the state of Maine, will open its 2015 feature exhibit, Coming Home, on February 5, 2015. This exciting and beautiful exhibit reveals a greater depth of information about historical Wabanaki objects through the traditional knowledge of working with Native community curators.
“This exhibit is not only a chance to learn through traditional and cultural knowledge, but to see amazing objects that are coming back to Maine after decades or centuries away,” said Julia Clark, director of collections & interpretation. “Wabanaki community curators chose an intriguing and diverse selection of objects, many very different from those in the Abbe's collection. This exhibit is a unique opportunity for our visitors to learn about Wabanaki culture directly from Wabanaki people and objects, rather than filtered through the lens of the museum curator.” 
From baskets to beadwork, woodcarvings to birchbark canoes, tools or artwork, many pieces of Wabanaki material culture have ended up in museums far away from the Wabanaki homeland, where it is difficult for community members to see these pieces of their history and culture. In recent years, the Abbe has spoken with several Wabanaki people about Micmac, Maliseet, Penobscot, and Passamaquoddy collections residing in museums outside of Maine, and whether it would it be possible to bring pieces “home” for a while so that community members could study them more closely.

Wabanaki community curators worked with Abbe curatorial staff to select and borrow objects from museums in the northeastern United States between Philadelphia and Maine. Throughout the exhibit, community curators share thoughts, ideas, and perspectives about the objects they selected, which broadens the interpretation and enriches understanding.
“Familiar objects can often trigger memories and spur curiosity,” said Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko, Abbe Museum’s president and CEO. “It’s the Abbe’s hope that this exhibit is a beginning, and that there will be future exhibits where pieces journey back from farther afield - across the United States and Canada, into Europe, and perhaps beyond.”
An opening reception, which is free and open to the public, will be held on February 5, 2015 from 5 – 7 pm.

Coming Home will be in the main gallery through the end of the year. Winter hours are Thursday through Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm. Admission is free through April thanks to the generosity of Machias Savings Bank.