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February 23-May 28 Edgar Degas: The Private Impressionist will be the first comprehensive exhibition at the Museum devoted to the 19th-century French master Edgar Degas and his works on paper. Comprised of more than 70 drawings, prints, pastels, and photographs as well as several sculptures, the exhibition will provide an insightful exploration of the oeuvre of one of the most skilled and complex artists in art history.
Presidents Day, designated in 1880, was originally referred to as Washington’s Birthday, and was the first federal holiday to recognize an American citizen. Previously, many individuals had found their own personal ways to honor Washington. This exhibit tells the story of Elizabeth Wadsworth’s effort to secure a lock of George Washington’s hair soon after his death, and what it meant to her and her family. The lock of Washington’s hair is now in the MHS collection.
The Friends of the Maine State Museum launches its annual series of talks and programs, “Highlights at the Maine State Museum,” with a workshop and book signing at the Maine State Museum in Augusta by award-winning Maine illustrator and art teacher, Rebekah Raye, on Saturday, February 25. The presentation is free of charge and begins at 11:00 a.m.
Postcard valentines were fashionable in early America, often collected and pasted into albums. More elaborate valentines became popular in the mid-1800s. This exhibit explores the evolution of valentines. Perhaps you will be inspired to make your own! Or, you can purchase reproductions of our historical valentines from Maine Memory’s companion website, Vintage Maine Images.
On view through April 8 “There is much to appreciate and enjoy in this show. Peter Ralston’s portrait of Andrew Wyeth and Battleground will lead to many amazed double-takes. Barbara Goodbody’s 1988 portrait of Robert Indiana on Vinalhaven is wonderfully jovial and lively.”
-The Portland Press Herald
Efforts are underway to restore Fort Allen Park in Portland. The park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, contains the original earthen berm from Fort Allen, which was established in 1814 to protect the entrance to Portland Harbor. The Park’s iconic bandstand, carriage drive, and overlook were built in the 1890s. In 1905, the renowned Olmsted Brothers landscape firm created a master plan for the Eastern Promenade, including Fort Allen Park. The Park’s original design exemplifies the ideals of the Olmsteds’ signature landscapes.
Tanja Alexia Hollander: Are You Really My Friend? On view through June 17 In her new exhibition, Maine artist Tanja Alexia Hollander collapses the intangibility of cyberspace by traveling around the world on a modern-day odyssey to actually photograph her 600 (and growing) Facebook friends.
Facebook friendships exist in the nebulous world of cyberspace. Social networking creates a forum where we may connect or reconnect deeply with dear friends or become acquainted with new ones on a superficial level. But what happens when we reach across real time and space to physically connect with these same “friends”? In her new exhibition, Maine artist Tanja Alexia Hollander examines that question; she collapses the intangibility of cyberspace by traveling around the world on a modern-day odyssey to actually visit her 600 (and growing) Facebook friends.
On view through February 5 “These are not works of art; they are representatives of a life intended to be lived in faith that the universe had a purpose and that people had a place in it, an art of living.” – The Portland Phoenix
Lewiston Public Library has contributed 115 images to Maine Memory to date. The images shared by LPL are particularly rich in two eras: the turn of the 20th century when the mills and city hummed, and the 1970s, by which time many mills were idle and the health of the Androscoggin River was of increasing concern. It was during this latter period that the groundwork for the city’s rebirth was laid. To view all of the images from Lewiston Public Library, click here.
When millions of abled-bodied American men headed to war in the early 1940s, American women stepped forward to fill many of the vacated manufacturing jobs as well as new positions required for the war effort. Gender roles in America would never be the same. In 1997, Southern Maine Technical College produced a documentary film that chronicled the major societal shift that took place.
Until recently, few people were aware that Chinese had been living and working in, and contributing to, communities throughout the state since the mid-19th century–not just in cities, but also in smaller towns and rural parts of Maine, like Cherryfield, Rumford, and Skowhegan. Former MHS trustee Gary Libby got on the case, and, through tenacious research, found and documented the stories of the many Chinese people living in Maine communities.
Artist Andrea Zittel has earned international acclaim for her sculptures and experiments in living. From her first “living unit” that experimented in reducing all that a person needs into a small compact unit to her commission from the Danish government to create a floating living space off the coast of Denmark, her work explores individualism, community, and sustainable living.
Artist Andrea Zittel has earned international acclaim for her sculptures and experiments in living. From her first “living unit” that experimented in reducing all that a person needs into a small compact unit to her commission from the Danish government to create a floating living space off the coast of Denmark, her work explores individualism, community, and sustainable living. This program is made possible by the Leonard and Merle Nelson Social Justice Fund at the Portland Museum of Art.
“The Artist” to Run From Feb. 24 to March 1, 2012 at Eveningstar Cinema
Karaoke on the 23rd and Nasty Habits on Feb. 24th, 2012 at Jonathan’s
Open Jam with Mike at Sweet Love on February 23, 2012
Open Mic with Trish Thompson at Hatties Thursday, Feb. 23, 2012
WOW, The Line-up at The Boothbay Opera House is Amazing from Feb. 26 to Mar. 3, 2012
Shows at One Longfellow Square Include Guy Davis and Other Greats from 2/27 to 3/3/2012
Maine AG’s Position Reversal on Birth Control Irks Maine Women’s Lobby
Ten Cent Circus Tonight, Feb. 22nd, Down Time and Calypso Soldiers at Bridge Street through 2/25/12