Bar Harbor, Maine - During the month of September, the Abbe Museum is celebrating its current members and reaching out to new members. From September 1, 2012 – November 1, 2012 Abbe members will be able to bring in one guest for free each time they visit the museum; additionally, members will be able to double their discount and enjoy 20% off purchases in the museum gift shop on the first Friday of each month throughout the entire year. Anyone who signs up for a membership will immediately be able to start enjoying these and all of the benefits that come with being an Abbe member.
For new or returning COA students, admission to the Abbe is free for the entire month of September. Students will need to show their meal cards or course schedule as ID at the admissions desk and the number of visits in September is limitless. Students can sign up for a membership card at the Abbe and pay a reduced rate of $20 which buys one year of membership.
If you have not yet seen the award winning exhibit now on display at the Abbe, now is your chance to see it! Earlier this summer, the Abbe received a 2012 Leadership in History Award from the American Association for State and Local History (AASLH) for Indians and Rusticators: Wabanakis and Summer Visitors on Mount Desert Island 1840s-1920s. This immersive exhibit explores the unique relationship between the first summer tourists visiting Mount Desert Island, called rusticators, and the Wabanaki, the collective name for the four Native tribes in Maine. Living in encampments through the summer season, Wabanaki people traveled to Bar Harbor to offer their services as guides and entertainers, and sold souvenirs of traditional baskets made to appeal to the summer visitors from the big cities on the east coast of the U.S. The exhibit features a 19’ birch bark canoe purchased on a ship coming to Bar Harbor in 1878, Victorian-influenced baskets made from ash, sweet grass and birch bark, steam ship and rusticator artifacts. Voices of contemporary Wabanaki people can be listened to at a number of stations throughout the exhibit and there are hands-on activities for all ages. The exhibit will be on display at the Abbe in downtown Bar Harbor through the end of December 2012.
There are two fun programs happening this week at the Abbe Downtown: On Thursday, September 13 from 12:30 -2:30, there will be a flint knapping demonstration with Chris Sockalexis, Penobscot. Chris is an archaeology student at the University of Maine who has been learning the process of making flaked stone tools traditional to his Wabanaki ancestors.
And on Saturday, September 15, 2012 the Rez Dog Singers Drum Group will perform from 10:30am -12:00pm and 2:00pm-3:30pm. This spirited group of young men perform on a large drum, singing pow wow style songs, and music traditional to their tribal backgrounds. Members represent several tribes from New England, including the Wabanaki and Wampanoag. The singers also perform with more traditional hand drums and compose contemporary songs for both styles. Both programs are free with admission, thanks to support from Bar Harbor Bank & Trust and the Maine Arts Commission.
Open hours for First Fridays = Member Double Discount Days for the remainder of 2012 are:
10:00am -5:00pm October 5
10:00am - 4:00pm November 2
10:00am – 4:00pm December 7
The mission of the Abbe Museum is to inspire new learning about the Wabanaki Nations with every visit. The Abbe holds the largest and best-documented collection of Wabanaki basketry of any museum in the world and holds a collection of over 50,000 archeological, historic and contemporary objects. In addition to Indians and Rusticators, other current Abbe exhibits include: the 2012 Waponahki Student Art Show, Transcending Traditions: The Next Generation and Maine Indian Basketry, Layers of Time: Archaeology at the Abbe Museum.
The Abbe Museum in Downtown Bar Harbor and at Sieur de Monts Spring in Acadia National Park are currently open seven days a week from10:00am - 5:00pm; admission for adults is $6 and $2 for children ages 6-16; free for children ages 5 and under.
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