Current Exhibits
Art of the People: Folk Art in Maine
Open to the Public: June 27 – December 30, 2008
Adults: $5.00; Students & Seniors: $4.00; Children 5–17: $2.00
Free for MHS members
Family Record of samuel and Lydia Libby, 1830 - Maine Historical Society Collections
This original exhibit features an interesting and colorful selection of objects that reflect the diverse experiences of Maine people over the past three centuries.
These beautiful and historic artifacts provide a window into our past. For years, people in Maine have made quilts, samplers, rugs, carvings, portraits, and other types of decorative, personal, or useful objects as a way to express their feelings and record important moments in their life – a marriage, a graduation, a death of a loved one. The materials they used, their artistic style or technique, and their sense of design are the essence of these wonderful objects, and invite us to explore the dynamic nature of everyday life in Maine.
Art of the People: Folk Art in Maine draws from the extensive collections of Maine Historical Society. Over 70 museum artifacts are on view, featuring carved powder horns, decorative quilts, finely made samplers, colorful portraits, and other historic paintings. Featured items include:
- Carved and Painted Eagle, c. 1861; by ship carver Emery Jones (1827 – 1908) of Freeport.
- Man and Woman Nut Doll, 1840. The heads of these two dolls were made from nuts, their body and clothes from available materials, and yet their costumes represent the fashions of the time.
- Burning of the Second Parish Church, 1866; painted by Woodbury Hatch (1829 – 1904) of Portland, a witness to the great Portland fire.
The exhibit is part of a statewide collaboration of eleven museums that have created the Maine Folk Art Trail and are presenting exhibits of their collections during the summer and fall.
