July 9 - 20, 2007 ~~~ Peaks Island
Peaks Island Children's Workshop, the only child care center on Peaks Island in Casco Bay, sees its school-age population double during the summer months. To accommodate these children, the Workshop runs a summer camp called Island Rovers. In 2007, the camp program will offer a different theme each week. Two of the themes are notable for their arts and humanities content. During the week of July 9, staff from the Maine Historical Society will facilitate "Now and Then: Exploring Peaks Island History." The campers will visit the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum, view the Eighth Maine Regiment Memorial, and talk with senior residents of the island. They will end the week with a visit to the Portland Harbor Museum's "Then and Now" exhibit. The following week, photographer Craig Davis will work with the children to create a "Then and Now" book. The book will be shared with seniors at the Peaks Island Senior Center and housed at the Peaks Island Library. To learn more, please call (207) 766-2854.
Back to the TopJuly 2 - August 25, 2007 ~~~ Yarmouth
New to the Merrill Memorial Library in Yarmouth is this summer's Teen Read program, which begins on July 2, 2007. Residents in grades 7-12 who keep a log of their summer reading can enter to win a prize. Other special efforts to make Merrill more welcoming to teens include movie nights, craft events, author visits, and a monthly book group. To learn about upcoming events, call children's librarian Melissa Madigan at (207) 846-4763.
Back to the TopJuly 12, 2007 ~~~ Rockland
Coastal Senior College presents Mahmud Faksh, professor of political science at the University of Southern Maine, at Rockland Town Hall, starting at 7 pm. Dr. Faksh will speak on U.S./Middle East relations as part of the John Syrett Distinguished Lecture Series, held each year in honor of a beloved volunteer professor for Coastal Senior College. For more information, please call (800) 286-1594.
Back to the TopJuly 12 - 15, 2007 ~~~ Rockland
"Maine Gardens: Nature and Design" is a four-day symposium on the history and beauty of Maine's varied landscapes. Participants will discover writers and artists who have imagined these landscapes and hear from those who continue to do so. They will become acquainted with the work of both the eminent landscape architects and the ordinary people who have shaped and softened the wild terrain of Maine. To register for the symposium, which will be held at various locations in Rockland, please call (207) 230-0142.
Back to the TopJuly 13, 2007 ~~~ Hinckley
The Central Kennebec Heritage Council consists of seven museums and historical societies working together to promote the cultural richness of their section of the Kennebec-Chaudière corridor. Drawing on the exhibit development and oral history workshops made possible by the Maine Humanities Council over the last two years, the member museums have organized the Central Maine Works project for the summer of 2007. Each site will examine an aspect of central Maine labor from a perspective that suits its location and collections. For example, Victor Grange in Fairfield Center will present "The Work of the Grange in Building Community." The project kick-off, a lecture and slide presentation by Whitefield writer Bill Bunting, is scheduled for July 13 at Good Will-Hinckley. Member museums will host open houses on the following day, and most exhibits will run through the fall. For details, please contact the individual sites or call the L.C. Bates Museum at (207) 238-4250.
Back to the TopJuly 14 - 28, 2007 ~ South Portland
Audiences at free outdoor performances of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, presented by The Stage at Fort Preble in South Portland, will enjoy pre-show presentation called "Welcome to the Classics: Wild about Wilde." The presentations will introduce audiences to Oscar Wilde, Victorian theatre, and the workings of verbal comedy through a monologue written and performed by Equity actor Harlan Barker. Barker researched the period, drawing on the expertise of director Janet Ross. The Importance of Being Earnest runs July 13-28, 2007. "Wild about Wilde" will be presented prior to every show except for the first. For details, please call The Stage at (207) 828-0128 or visit www.thestagemaine.org.
Back to the TopJuly 14 and 28; August 11 and 25, 2007 ~~~ Jefferson
Jefferson celebrates its bicentennial in 2007 with a series of events and publications supported by several public education projects. In May, a Living History encampment with accompanying school programs showed what life was like for early 19th-century Jeffersonians. This summer, the Jefferson Historical Society will host five open houses at the 1869 Old Jefferson Town House. The open house dates are June 30, July 14, July 28, August 11, and August 25. Look for other bicentennial events using this online calendar: www.maine.gov/local/lincoln/jefferson/news.php.
Back to the TopJuly 17 - 18, 2007 ~~~ Portland
The Center for Ethics in Action has planned an educational program to complement the summer exhibition at the University of New England's Gallery of Art, "Cuba: Hearts and Minds Past and Present." Following a full day of film screenings on July 17, scholars in Cuban and Latin American studies will examine historic Maine connections to Cuba, the role of women in arts and culture, the relationship between baseball and politics, and the history of Havana. For a list of films or a schedule of the lectures on July 18, please contact the Center for Ethics in Action at (207) 221-4499.
Back to the TopJuly 18; August 11 and 15, 2007 ~~~ Lovell
Among the many educational programs of the Greater Lovell Land Trust are a summer lecture series and an annual educational forum. These programs support the mission of the Trust: to protect the ecosystems of the Kezar Lake and adjacent watersheds. On July 18 at 7:30 pm, Martin Engstrom, longtime forecaster at the weather station on Mt. Washington, will recount his experiences. On August 15, anthropologist Alvin Morrison will speak about the famous 1725 conflict between Lovell settlers and Pigwacket Natives. This local stalemate-skirmish became an epic myth of American jingoism with the help of poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Both of these lectures will take place at the Charlotte Hobbs Library. The forum is planned for the morning of August 11 at the Lovell VFW Hall, with keynote speaker Tom Wessels addressing the topic of "Reading the Forested Landscape." Wessels is the author of Reading the Forested Landscape and The Myth of Progress. For more information, please call (207) 925-1056 or visit www.gllt.org.
Back to the TopJuly 20 - August 12, 2007 ~~~ Lewiston
In conjunction with the 25th Anniversary Bates Dance Festival, Dr. Suzanne Carbonneau will conduct a residency from July 20-August 12, 2007. She will contribute program notes and present scholarly "Inside Dance" lectures for public performances by David Dorfman Dance, Bridgman Packer Dance, and Pearson Widrig Theater. She will also design and moderate "Global Exchange," a panel discussion with choreographers from Africa, Asia, and Latin America, on July 26. For tickets and other details, please visit www.bates.edu/dancefest.
Back to the TopJuly 27, 2007 ~~~ Camden
On Friday, July 27, 2007, the Camden Philosophical Society will present a one-day conference called "Philosophy at the Edge." This free program, hosted by the Camden Public Library, will feature talks on diverse mainstream topics in contemporary philosophy by leading academic philosophers, with the goal of making these topics comprehensible to a non-academic audience. Topics will include environmental ethics, the philosophy of time, medical ethics, and the philosophy of work. The Society, which was founded in 2005 and regularly attracts audiences of 25-50 people for its lectures and book discussion groups, intends to make this summer conference an annual event. For details, please visit www.philosophyedge.com
Back to the TopJuly 31 - August 2, 2007 ~~~ Presque Isle
The Historical Pavilion is an annual event at the Northern Maine Fair, bringing items from more than twenty regional historical societies and family collections together for an exhibition of local history. The Pavilion is in the Forum, the largest building on the Northern Maine Fairgrounds in Presque Isle. The 2007 Fair runs from July 27-August 4; the Historical Pavilion will open July 31-August 2. This year, the Fair is working especially hard to increase participation from the St. John Valley. For the Historical Pavillion, that means covering transportation costs and providing special outreach to historical societies from these northern communities. For more information, contact Kevin McCartney at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, (207) 768-9482.
Back to the TopThrough August 1, 2007 ~~~ Rockland
As the town of Swan's Island restores the historic Burnt Coat Harbor Light Station (built in 1872), residents hope to simultaneously restore an understanding of how the buildings were used. With the help of a 2006 planning grant from the Council, island resident Donna Wiegle began conducting oral history interviews with the surviving children of 1930s lighthouse keeper Roscoe Chandler. The oral histories, combined with photos and explanatory text, were presented at the March 5 town meeting, and a related exhibit will be on display at the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland from January 15 through August 1. A permanent outdoor exhibit will be established on Hockamock Head, adjacent to the lighthouse station. To learn more about this project, please visit www.swansisland.org and click on "Lighthouse."
Back to the TopBeginning August 4, 2007 ~~~ Lubec
Lubec Landmarks continues its restoration of McCurdy's Smokehouse Packing Sheds, with new exhibits this summer providing glimpses of life and work in the last operating herring smokehouse in the United States. The new exhibits, which opened on June 30, are located in the Skinning and Packing Sheds. The smokehouse process and the dramatic extent of the marketing network that supported the industry are revealed through artifacts, ethnographic materials, and photographs taken by Frank Van Riper during the smokehouse's last year of operation. A third new exhibit on the development of the industry from 1880 to 1990, revealing its significance for Washington County communities, will open on August 4. Van Riper will present a talk on his photographs during the summer, and consulting curator Edward Hawes will give another informative talk. For details on the exhibit or the events, please call (207) 733-1095.
Back to the TopAugust 10, September 13, October 11, and November 8, 2007 ~~~ Bethel
The Bethel Historical Society's 2007 Summer Lecture Series, Maine Character and "Characters," got underway on May 10 with a lecture on Maine-Hawaii connections by Paul Burlin of the University of New England. On June 14, Earle Shettleworth will speak on "A Painter's Progress: The Life, Work, and Travels of Harrison Bird Brown of Portland." Vandall T. King of Rochester, NY, will explore Oxford County mines and miners on August 10. On September 13, William B. Krohn of the Maine Fish and Wildlife Research Unit will address "Joshua Gross Rich: Western Maine Pioneer and Wildlife Writer. David Fuller of Farmington will lecture on the spruce gum industry in Maine on October 11. Finally, Bethel Historical Society Director Stanley Russell Howe will present on the life and times of Elizabeth Mason Carter, one of Bethel's most famous "characters," on November 8. For details, please call (207) 824-2910 or visit www.bethelhistorical.org.
Back to the TopSeptember 11 - November 11, 2007 ~~~ Portland and Gorham
Seven years of research have gone into the first and only survey of contemporary self-taught art in Maine: "Off the Grid: Maine Vernacular Environments." The project's findings will be presented to the public this fall through two simultaneous art exhibits, a catalog, video and oral documentation, and related programming. The exhibits will run from September 11 through November 11 at the art galleries on both the Portland and Gorham campuses of the University of Southern Maine. A symposium on November 4, free and open to the public, will serve as a critical forum for examining the issues raised in the exhibits: what are the commonly-held beliefs abour Maine's vernacular? how are these beliefs portrayed in self-taight art environments arising from that vernacular? how are cultural notions of authenticity assimilated in the display of such art? To learn more, please visit www.usm.maine.edu/gallery.
Back to the TopThrough November, 2007 ~~~ South Portland
The Portland Harbor Museum's 2007 exhibit is entitled Picturing Portland: A Century of Change. This exhibit will employ the concept of "rephotography" (pairing old photographs with current ones) to explore the many aspects of Portland Harbor that have changed or remained the same. Many of the old photographs will come from the museum's Angell Collection of glass plate negatives from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The contemporary images will be taken by members of the Bakery Photographic Collective. The exhibit opened April 27 and runs through November 25, 2007. An accompanying series of lectures, events, and activities will include photography workshops and a scavenger hunt for children. For event listings and museum information, please visit www.portlandharbormuseum.org or call (207) 799-6337.
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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.