News At The Museum

Michael Kahn's Photos Bring Abstraction to Windjammer Exhibit

July 29, 2010 -- A new show of black and white photography by Michael Kahn brings an element of abstraction to the windjammer exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum. Part of the ongoing exhibit "Earning Their Keep: Maine's Windjammers," the display of Kahn's photographs runs August 5 – 24 in the museum's Main Street Gallery.

"Seldom in man’s history have we created something as beautiful and as functional as the sailboat," says Kahn, whose work has appeared everywhere from Cruising World and Family Circle to the New York Times and the James Bond movie Die Another Day. "These boats symbolize more than just basic transportation. They represent the ability of man to work with nature. To harness the power of the wind and endure the strength of the sea is an awesome achievement."

While generally pictorial in nature, Kahn's photography often emphasizes abstract shape and form as a means of exploring the beauty and grace of sailing vessels. His hand-processed gelatin silver prints provide a rich texture to his images that is one of his trademarks. Marine Art Quarterly has compared his work to that of Ansel Adams for its "sureness of vision, richness of atmosphere and subtlety of surface."

"Earning Their Keep," which runs through October 24, celebrates the history of Maine's windjammer fleet through photos, film, models, artifacts and ephemera. Following the Kahn exhibit, the museum will present windjammer photography by Fred LeBlanc.

Get in Touch with Marine Life

July 13, 2010 -- Museum visitors will have several opportunities to learn about the marine life of Penobscot Bay and touch a number of sea creatures this summer.

Oceanographer Mike Dunn will present a program on marine life at 1:00 p.m. on three Sundays: July 18, August 8, and August 29. Visitors will be invited to ask questions and hold some of the animals in the museum's "touch tank" marine aquarium.

In addition, the tank will be opened every Thursday from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. A staff person will talk about the animals in the tank and allow visitors to hold and touch some of them.

The programs are free with museum admission.

The touch tank is home to crabs, starfish, mollusks, a lobster, and other marine animals native to Penobscot Bay. It spends the winter at various elementary schools, providing learning opportunities to area students, and from May through October it is a feature of the museum's children's learning area known as the Marine Science Lab.

Historic Jacob Pike Finds a New Home

July 9, 2010 -- Penobscot Marine Museum has sold its 83-foot sardine carrier Jacob Pike to a private party who will repair and maintain the historic vessel in Rockland, near where it was built. The new owner is Mr. Jamie Steeves, who owns J&J Lobsters in Rockland with his fiancée, Joanne Campbell.

"We're thrilled to have found so good a home for the Jacob Pike and that she will remain in the region," said Niles Parker, the museum's executive director. "We feel a deep obligation to conserve this historic vessel, and transferring ownership to Jamie is part of that commitment. He'll bring a high level of energy and experience to the Pike's future, and he's dedicated to maintaining her historic value."

The Jacob Pike was built in 1949 by Newbert and Wallace in Thomaston, Maine, and worked between Gloucester, Massachusetts, and the Canadian Maritimes, taking on sardine catches from fishing vessels and delivering them to canneries. In 2007, years after her retirement, she was given to Penobscot Marine Museum, which used her as a working exhibit of Penobscot Bay's fishing and boatbuilding industries. After steaming the Pike to several ports and festivals, the museum commissioned a survey to assess her long-term viability. The survey revealed conditions that precluded her use as an educational vessel, and indicated that the costly process of rebuilding her to comply with Coast Guard requirements for carrying passengers would have destroyed much of her historical significance. In response to these findings, the museum decided to seek a buyer who could care for her properly.

Steeves, who has committed himself to the task of refurbishing the vessel, recently completed the rebuilding of the Rockland Gulf, a historic wooden-hulled tanker of a size similar to the Pike. Steeves will bring the Pike to North End Shipyard in Rockland, where she will undergo repair and refitting.

"We want to do what's best for the boat," said Steeves. "At North End Shipyard, I know it'll receive the best care possible."

Following repairs, Steeves plans to use the Pike as a bait carrier and to berth her in Rockland, where she will remain a visible reminder of the city's working-waterfront heritage.

Windjammer Exhibit Documents Maine's Commercial Sailing Fleet

Photo: Benjamin Mendlowitz

Maine's windjammers are the subject of a new exhibit at Penobscot Marine Museum. Opening July 1, Earning Their Keep: Maine's Windjammers will include historic photos, artifacts, ephemera, videos, schooner models and rotating exhibits by contemporary marine photographers.

"Maine's windjammers are the largest commercial sailing fleet in the world," said museum curator Ben Fuller. "They're still sailing not because of the efforts of some marine preservation society, but because their skippers are making them pay their way." Fuller added that the passenger-carrying schooners played a major role in establishing Maine's modern reputation for coastal tourism, and they continue to be an important part of the Midcoast region's economy.

The first rotating exhibit to open the show will feature the photography of Benjamin Mendlowitz of Brooklin, Maine. Mendlowitz is renowned for his work in WoodenBoat magazine and his annual Calendar of Wooden Boats. The Mendlowitz exhibit will run through August 3, followed by photographers Michael Kahn (August 5 - 24), Fred LeBlanc (August 26 through September 14), and Neal Parent (September 17 through October 24). Historic photos, ship models and artifacts of the windjammer trade will remain on display throughout the exhibit. More details here.

Penobscot Marine Museum To Preserve Maine's History In Photos
Announces Campaign to Acquire 7,500 Rare Glass-Plate Negatives

Street View, So. Brooksville, ME: from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. collection at the Penobscot Marine Museum. The museum is working to acquire additional images from the Maine postcard publisher to complete the historic collection.

Penobscot Marine Museum has announced a campaign to acquire 7,500 glass plate photographic negatives that document Maine towns from the early 20th century. The acquisition will bring the museum a big step closer to completing its important collection of photographs from the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Company. The museum is seeking donations from individuals and local businesses to help it aquire the collection.

"If we meet our goal, these remaining negatives will make the Eastern collection one of the largest and most significant coherent collections of historic photography from this region and era," said Kevin Johnson, the museum's photography archivist. "It will be a valuable resource for educators, historians, genealogists, and anyone interested in New England history."

The museum has already received pledges for approximately half the funds needed to acquire the collection, which documents more than 230 cities, towns and villages in Maine, as well as towns in other northeast states. Click here to download an index of the Maine towns and the number of negatives from each. Individuals and businesses can "adopt" a town for a donation of $10 per negative.

Founded in Belfast, Maine, in 1909, the Eastern Illustrating & Publishing Co. published "real photo postcards" with images taken by its own photographers throughout New England. The negatives, mostly on old-style glass plates, represent a fragile and irreplaceable record of the region's physical and cultural history up to the early 1950s.

Since 2007, when it acquired the bulk of the Eastern Illustrating collection through a generous donation, Penobscot Marine Museum has been steadily compiling pieces of the collection which had "escaped" over the previous decades. Currently the collection contains more than 40,000 negatives. The museum is scanning them with the help of volunteers, and plans to make the images available online later this year. Donations can be made by contacting the museum at (207) 548-2529 or online.

NOTE: After you log in to Paypal, the next screen will give you the option to adopt specific towns or give us other instructions.

Penobscot Marine Museum maintains nationally significant collections of marine art and artifacts, ship models, historic photographs, and the largest display of historic small craft in Maine. Founded in 1936, it is Maine's oldest maritime museum. Housed in 13 historic buildings including ship captains' homes, an early town hall, and two boat houses, the campus represents a bustling coastal village during the Age of Sail. Activities and exhibits for children and a busy schedule of year-round programs make it a special place for family visits.

Museum to Raffle "2009 Boat of the Year"

One lucky individual will soon have the rare experience of paddling his own birchbark canoe, just like the ones built by Penobscot Indians in the 17th and 18th centuries. The Penobscot Marine Museum has announced that it will raffle the canoe to raise funds for a popular public demonstration, and the drawing will be held July 1, 2010 -- in good time for the canoeing season.

"This is an extraordinary chance to own a piece of Maine history and American heritage," said Niles Parker, executive director of the museum.

At 16 feet overall, the canoe is authentic down to the last detail. Real birchbark is lashed to white cedar gunwales with split spruce root, and seams are sealed with a mixture of pine sap and fat. No nails or other metal were used anywhere in its construction.

Named a 2009 "Boat of the Year" by Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors magazine, the birchbark canoe was built at the Penobscot Marine Museum by a team of Native Americans from Maine and New Brunswick, led by master builder Steve Cayard of Wellington, Maine. The two-week-long demonstration was one of the museum's most popular events last summer. "By raffling this canoe, we'll be able to host another demonstration in 2010," said Parker.

In addition to the canoe as the Grand Prize (valued at $9,950), the raffle includes a 1st Prize of Sponsor-level museum membership (valued at $250), and a $150 gift certificate to the Museum Store. Tickets are $100, and sales are strictly limited to 200. The canoe will be displayed at various locations throughout the state until the drawing. For more information, contact the museum at 207-548-2529.

Read the Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors article about the museum's birchbark canoe.

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Gala Auction, Music And Dining At Point Lookout
Event Will Honor Wayne and Loraine Hamilton of Hamilton Marine

Wayne and Loraine Hamilton

A gala night of fine dining, live music and exciting auction bidding is scheduled for August 5 at Point Lookout in Northport to benefit Penobscot Marine Museum. The event, which will honor museum supporters Wayne and Loraine Hamilton, will feature auctioneer Kaja Veilleux of Thomaston Place Auction Gallery, an additional silent auction, and the music of swing-jump-blues and jive band Three Button Deluxe.

"Wayne and Loraine Hamilton have been among the strongest and most loyal supporters of Penobscot Marine Museum for many years," said Executive Director Niles Parker. "Whenever the museum needs a hand - with manpower, equipment, technical advice or financial support, Wayne and Lorraine and Hamilton Marine are there for us." Mr. Hamilton is a long-time member of the museum's board of trustees. With five locations in Maine, Searsport-based Hamilton Marine is one of New England's largest chandleries and boating equipment suppliers.

"The museum preserves the maritime and local heritage of our region, and provides important educational opportunities to area children," said Gala committee co-chair Johanna Tutone. "Held every two years, the Gala is one of our most important fundraising efforts," she said, adding, "The museum is seeking donations of auction items for the event. Bidders will be particularly interested in fine art, antiques, craft pieces, nautical items, jewelry, professional services and vacation opportunities."

This year's Gala and Auction will be held at Point Lookout Resort in Northport, offering creative cuisine and breathtaking views of Penobscot Bay. Doors open at 5 p.m. and the party runs until 9 p.m. For Gala tickets and to donate auction items, contact Pam Delehey at 207-548-2529 ext. 216 or pdelehey@pmm-maine.org

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Download Auction Catalogue

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