Past Exhibitions

Exhibitions by Year

• 2024

  Threads of Tradition: The Legacy of Rug Hooking in Maine

  Co-curated by special guest Lisanne Miller, this exhibit explored the long history of textile arts – specifically rug hooking – in Maine. Threads of Tradition showcased rugs, archives and artifacts relating to Maine people’s ingenuity and artistry in this beloved art form that started as a necessity to keep homes warm and to reuse old pieces of cloth instead of throwing it out. This exhibition was produced thanks to the support and collections of the historic W. Cushing & Company. 

  The Art of Propaganda

  The Brick Store Museum opened “Who Controls the Present: The Art of Propaganda,” in Fall 2024, which featured historic and current day propaganda posters and imagery, including posters from its World Wars poster collection that is one of the largest in New England. Visitors to the exhibition learned about types of propaganda and how to recognize it; and viewed dozens of World War I and World War II posters created by the US government in the first half of the 20^th century. In addition to the exhibition, Museum educators produced curriculum modules and learning activities for area educators and homeschoolers to use in conjunction with the exhibition. Click through for more information on Educational Resources.

  Wicked Good Fiddling!

  Wicked Good Fiddling! focused on Maine’s fiddling heritage. Visitors to the exhibition explored imagery and information illustrating fiddling in Maine over two centuries, through photographs, tune books, musical recordings and of course fiddles themselves! Interactives included family accessible programs and activities. Co-curated by Paul & Sally Wells. This exhibit also served to launch Paul Well’s 2024 book, “Maine Musical Compendium” exploring fiddle tunes from 200 years ago.

  The Dwellings Project

  The Brick Store Museum’s 2023 Artist-in-Residence, Elizabeth Winter, applied her artistic residency to the study of “significant insignificant buildings” of the town and opened her exhibit, “The Dwellings Project,” in 2024. Visitors to the exhibit explored local well-known and unknown landmarks as depicted in Elizabeth’s multi-media works; and contributed to the Project through a large art activity in the center of the gallery. Elizabeth Winter is a painter and mixed media artist in based in West Kennebunk. She received her BA in Studio Art from Keene State College and an MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts. 

• 2023

  For Pastels Only: International Exhibition of the Pastel Society of Maine

   

  Making the Modern World: 100+ Years of Progress

  Based on the style and theming of the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair, the exhibition explores changes in communications, transportation, health, and wellbeing, all of which affect each of our lives today. Visitors exploring the exhibition can expect to find nearly 100 artifacts that many in the community will remember using, but may have not seen each format collected together. For instance, a discussion of the moving picture showcases everything from a Magic Lantern to a 1980s television set! Sponsored by Saco & Biddeford Savings.

  Smokey Bear: The Art of Rudy Wendelin

  Traveling exhibit courtesy of the Maine Forest Service. In promotion of 2023’s Wildfire Awareness Week in Maine, the Brick Store Museum exhibited nineteen original paintings by Rudolph Wendelin of Smokey Bear, loaned from the USDA National Agricultural Library in Washington, DC. Smokey Bear paintings by Rudolph Wendelin were made into fire awareness posters and have made an enormous impact on wildfire prevention in the United States. 

  The Great State of Illustration in Maine

  Curated by Maine’s Illustration Institute. Illustration is an art form with an ancestral home in Maine. We have a rich legacy of attracting notable illustrators to our state such as Dahlov Ipcar, Ashley Bryan, Barbara Cooney, NC Wyeth, Rockwell Kent, and Francis Hamabe. Fortunately, this legacy continues. In fact, we’d like to make the case that we’re currently living in a Golden Age of Illustration in Maine.  This exhibition featured the published work of over 80 historic and contemporary Maine illustrators. Sponsored by the Onion Foundation & Davis Family Foundation

  Sea of Stories: History Through Art and Archives

  Step into Kennebunk’s past through the “audio time machine” in the second-floor galleries. Using historic portraits and paintings from the Brick Store Museum’s permanent collection, many of which are rarely on display, Museum staff paired these portraits with archival documents (letters, diaries, etc.) written by the portrait subjects to allow visitors a peek inside the minds of historic townspeople. Volunteers from the Kennebunk community recorded audio performances of the documents, lending their voices to bring this history to life. When visitors use their smart phone (or a similar device loaned by the Museum) and aim the camera at the accompanying QR code, the experiences and emotions related to the images and objects come to life. Personal stories of historical figures, including children and immigrants, make clear that emotions such as fear, happiness, anger, and loneliness are timeless.

• 2022

  WHAT A RELIEF: The Art of Salley Mavor

  The retrospective exhibition featured a large selection of Salley Mavor’s artwork, spanning over 40 years, from early on to the present day. Rarely seen works on loan from private collections filled the Museum’s entire first floor. Original picture book illustrations, including the entire series from her recent book, “MY BED” were featured. For over 40 years, Salley has (and continues to!) created 3-dimensional hand-stitched artwork that ranges from precious to poignant to provocative. In addition to stand alone pieces, her work is applied in many ways, including children’s books, editorial illustration and stop-motion animation.

  Who Makes History? How Peoples, Museums and Archaeology Can Work Together

  This exhibit explored the Brick Store Museum’s own collecting history and questioned how museums can make positive change, with the help of two local archaeology projects now underway that help expand our community’s history. In the first gallery visitors encountered typical donations to the Brick Store Museum in its first years of existence (1936 onward).  Real newspaper clippings from the time show Museum announcements of what was donated, who it came from, and sometimes, why it was important to collect. On view in the adjoining gallery were artifacts uncovered through two recent archaeology projects: one uncovering the history of local indigenous people and the other at the site of Kennebunk’s historic formerly enslaved people’s community (c. 1785-1830), a  significant archaeological resource because it is one of a very few known to exist in Maine. 

  The Fire of ’47: 75th Anniversary Retrospective

  The Fire of ’47 was a collection of over 200 fires that burned in the State of Maine from October 13^th through October 27^th in 1947. Together, the fires consumed a quarter of a million acres of forest, and wiped out nine entire towns, making it one of the worst natural disasters in state history. The fires burned from Bar Harbor (which was almost completely destroyed) to Kennebunkport and Goose Rocks Beach. 1947 became known as “The Year Maine Burned.”

  Yary Livan: Khmer Traditional Ceramic Artist

  Through our treasured partnership with local Khmer families, the Museum welcomed Cambodian ceramic artist Yary Livan, with an exhibition of his traditional ceramics. Livan is one of only three known Master Ceramists to have survived the 1975 Khmer Rouge Genocide, and the only one known to be living in the United States. The ”Khmer Traditional Ceramic Artist” exhibition took place in the Museum’s contemporary Patsy Bauman Gallery.

• 2021

  The Art of Mending

  One of the most beautiful characteristics of human nature is our desire to fix that which is broken. This inclination is especially poignant during and after tumultuous times. “The Art of Mending” explored the artistic manifestation of this loving art. Curated by Illustration Institute. The exhibit focused on three interpretations of mending: Practical mending that restores beloved objects, or as a sustainable effort; Aesthetic mending, art that conveys a healing force; and Cultural mending, art that engages the community in a conversation about healing. A video Curator’s Tour can be found here. Supported by the Onion Foundation, Perloff Foundation and the Quimby Foundation.

  Lyrical Vision: Art & Poetry Mashup

  Have you ever seen a piece of art and thought of a favorite poem? Lyrical and visual arts went hand-in-hand in the Brick Store Museum’s “mashup” exhibition, which pairs pieces from the Museum’s permanent art collection and selected poems. “Lyrical Vision: An Art and Poetry Mashup” showcased twenty pieces of art by Maine artists in the Museum’s collection and highlighted poetry that echoes emotions in the works. Pieces on display included works by Maine artists Abbott Graves, Mildred Burrage, Edith Barry, Josef Arentz, Tina Ambrose, and Cissy Buchanan. Poetry paired with these paintings included prose written by Robert Frost, Pablo Neruda, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Stuart Kestenbaum, Emily Dickinson, and Allen Ginsberg.

  Cape Porpoise: Archaeology in the Archipelago

  This exhibition was presented in partnership with the Cape Porpoise Archaeological Alliance (CPAA), of which the Museum is a part. The exhibit explored 8,000 years of artifacts uncovered during recent archaeological investigations conducted by CPAA. Visitors encountered Indigenous stone tool technology and learned about the science of archaeology through the work undertaken in the past few years on the islands of Cape Porpoise. A highlight of the exhibit was the remains of the oldest dugout canoe ever found in the Wabanaki homeland of the Far Northeast, first identified in 2018 and painstakingly excavated in the summer of 2019 by CPAA. Carbon dating places the canoe between 1280-1380 C.E. Learn more about CPAA here.

• 2020

  Untitled: The Kennebunk High School Art Show

  During the month of March, the Brick Store Museum exhibited “Untitled: The Kennebunk High School Art Show,” an annual student art show, now in its fifth year. The show ran through March 17, 2020, and featured artwork from every Kennebunk High School visual arts student in grades 9 through 12.

  Western African Arts & Culture

  Guest curator Claudy Boy, a Maine resident, shares her amazing private collection of Western African Arts & Culture, through the end of April. Boy was born and raised in Western Africa, and emigrated to the United States (and ultimately Maine) during adulthood. She was the daughter of French colonialists in Western Africa, and grew up to be a humanitarian and artist.

  Perspectives 2020 | The Bicentennial Art & Artifact Exhibition

  To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the State of Maine (which became its own state in 1820), the Museum’s bicentennial exhibit featured over 50 local artists’ modern works paired with historical artifacts, which illustrated the many layers of our community’s story.

  New Mainers

  This exhibition explored the lives and histories of recent immigrants to Maine, in the Patsy Bauman Gallery. The collection of photo portraits were taken by Maine fine art photographer Jan Pieter van Voorst van Beest, who published a photo book of the same name in 2009. The exhibition held 26 portraits of recent immigrants to Maine from all over the world, and shared stories from their lives.

• 2019

  The Art of Cute

  The Art of Cute was curated and produced by the Illustration Institute and was displayed at The Brick Store Museum from May 1 – August 31st 2019. The exhibition took a serious look at a powerful aesthetic that is often not taken seriously. Organized into three sections, Normative Cute, Applied Cute and Meta Cute, the exhibit explored why we are drawn to that which is cute and how its impact is felt in life, in design and in art. Normative Cute illustrates the science and nature of cute and describes why it is so much a part of human (and animal) nature. Applied Cute sheds light on how cute aesthetics are employed in design, architecture and fashion. Meta Cute or “beyond” cute explores how cute, combined with other aesthetics, can create meaningful art that can be ironic, disturbing, political, joyous, humorous and provocative.

  Untitled: The Kennebunk High School Art Show

  During the month of March, the Brick Store Museum exhibited “Untitled: The Kennebunk High School Art Show,” an annual student art show featuring artwork from every Kennebunk High School visual arts student in grades 9 through 12.

  Patterns

  A pattern is essentially the repetition of an element or elements.  Patterns evoke unity, order and communication. Patterns can go far beyond the basics of stripes and polka dots, you just have to look outside to see a dazzling array of patters in nature, from the leaves on a tree to a butterfly’s wings. Shells and rocks have patterns, animals and flowers have patterns, even the human body exhibits patterns. This exhibit included a variety of patterns across art and history.

  The American Legion: 100th Anniversary

  The Brick Store Museum and Kennebunk’s American Legion Webber-Lefebvre Post #74 collaborated on an exhibition to honor the American Legion’s 100^th anniversary.  The exhibit displayed various artifacts, historical documents, photos and military uniforms on loan from the Post and its members; and asked for visitors to share their own memories of the Legion. The American Legion was chartered and incorporated by Congress in 1919 as a patriotic veterans organization devoted to mutual helpfulness. The Webber-Lefebvre, Post #74 supports local community and veterans’ programs such as funding a scholarship program for Kennebunk High School seniors, placing flags on veterans’ graves, donating to local charities and organizing Memorial Day activities.

• 2018

  The 2018 season was impacted by significant renovation and repair work conducted throughout the Museum’s Brick Store gallery.

  Tea Time

  This contemporary art exhibition, titled “Tea Time,” featured over 30 artists in a variety of media from throughout the state. The show, curated by local fiber artist Elizabeth Hunter, featured clay, fiber, photography, glass, wood paper, paintings, and metal works. Artists created the works on display in response to the curator’s question: “What does tea time mean to you?” 

  1968: A Year of Change

  1968 focused on events that contributed to 1968 being called “the year that changed the world.” Visitors to the exhibition were invited to share their own experiences from the 1960s, to contribute to the knowledge of the mid-20^th Century collected at the Museum. Music of the period filled the exhibition with familiar sounds as photos of local and national events help to inspire memories. Topics covered in the exhibition included family life, Vietnam, protests and riots, civil rights, and the women’s movement. The exhibition was sponsored by the Captain Lord Mansion.

• 2017

  The Golden Age of Radio

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  Toast to Temperance: Maine’s Ban on Alcohol in the 19th Century

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  For Pastels Only: International Exhibition of the Pastel Society of Maine

  The Brick Store Museum hosted the Pastel Society of Maine’s, 18^th International Juried Show: Pastels Only. The show was organized by exhibition co-chairs Mary Beth Morrison, Terrilynn Dubrueil and Cheryl DiCara, with artist Kim Lordier as the Juror of Selection. This exhibition and sale  displays works of pastel artists from the United States and Canada.

   

  Polite Society: Etiquette Past & Present

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  Festival of Style

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  Once Upon a Time in Maine: Fairytale Art & Artifacts

  The unique exhibition focused on twenty-six fairy tales and the “ordinary objects” that are imbued with magical powers in the stories. To illustrate their meaning, thirty-one local artists created new works of art to be paired with artifacts from the museum’s collection that speak to the fairy tales’ use of familiar objects.

• 2016

  Hand-Hooked Rugs

  Seek the Light: Photography of Rowland Williams

  Pastel Painters of Maine: Members’ Show

  To Your Health: Examining the History of Modern Medicine

  What’s in a Game?

  Bread & Labor: 200 Years of Elections in Kennebunk

  80 Years of Fashion: A Birthday Celebration Through Costume

• 2015

  Stories of Invention: Inventors and Inventions of the Kennebunks

  To Walk Through The Pasture Barefoot

  Memory In Black & White: Albion Moody’s Turn-Of-The-Century Photographs

  Visual Storytelling: Celebrating Maine Illustrators

  Kennebunk History In Objects

  Things We Keep: Kennebunk Collections 

• 2014

  Winter Is Coming To Kennebunk: Snowfall Through The Years 
  Vitamin V: How Food Fought The Second World War

• 2013

  The Tourist of 1913: An Exhibition Of Rusticators A Century Ago 
  To Sea: The Maritime Heritage of The Kennebunks
  Monsters Ball: Where Fashion And Fantasy Collide
  Design and Function: Furnishings, Portraits, And Art 1685-1840