Celebrate Nature, Art and Creativity in Maine.
Wendell Gilley delighted in helping others find connections with nature and creativity. Our Museum sustains his legacy through vibrant art exhibitions and a wide range of hands-on creative and educational programs for all ages.
Watch a video about Wendell Gilley.

Woodburning
In this beginner-friendly two-hour class, you’ll learn the basic techniques of decorative woodburning and will create an image of a feather to take home. Using a pen-like burning tool, you'll start by practicing mark-making techniques to explore options and possibilities with the wood burner. Then you will create an image of a feather by copying a design from nature or making up your own design. All materials provided. Students must be at least 8 years old.

Carving and Woodburning a Bird for Beginners
Learn basic skills in wood carving and woodburning in this two-hour class to create a small piece of avian art you can finish during the workshop and take home with you. Registration is required and class sizes are limited. Participants must be at least 11 years old.

Birds in Art
Birds in Art is a prestigious juried international exhibit that debuts every September at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum and features more than 100 works of the 1,000+ submitted annually, all themed around the wonders of the avian world. When it closes at the Woodson, sixty works of art are chosen for a traveling show and it is that show — featuring new paintings, sculptures, and works on paper created by contemporary artists — that is coming to the Gilley in 2025. The exhibit will be featured from when we reopen on May 28, through Aug. 9.
This Birds in Art is an especially exciting collection of work. Using a range of mediums including watercolor, acrylic, oil, wood, and bronze, the artists depict the beauty, spirit, and habitat of birds through approaches that are both classic and innovative.
.jpg)
Reading with Wings: Haiku & Hope Eco-poetry Workshop
Join us for a plen air haiku writing workshop at the Gilley as part of “Haiku & Hope: 50 States of Climate Change,” as part of Readig with Wings which is an occasional series co-hosted by the Museum and the library. This workshop will be taught by writer and filmmaker Maggie Dewane, the author of "Haiku & Hope." The book includes two haiku for each state, one inspired by its present and the second in an imagined future affected by climate change.
This is the second part of Reading with Wings: Haiku & Hope. Ms. Dewane will start at the library on Tuesday, June 17 -- the day before the workshop — at 6pm with a poetry reading and a discussion about “Haiku & Hope.”

News
Winter Session Ends May 3
Read moreClasses canceled but Museum is open
Read moreWinter Session starts Jan. 10!
Read moreClosed until Jan. 10
Read moreJob Opening: Director of Development
Read moreEvents
Carving Workshop: Decorative Mourning Dove with Josh Brewer
Pen-and-ink Workshop with Mattie Rose Templeton
People-Nature-Art with Mattie Rose Templeton
People-Nature-Art with Becky Keefe
Carving Demonstration by Master Carver Larry Barth
People-Nature-Art with Carver Larry Barth
People-Nature-Art with Fred Michel
People-Nature-Art with Sculptor David Smus
Painting Technique Class: Drybrush Bumble Bee
Flower Drawing with Amy Pollien
Poetry Reading with Christian Barter
Family Paint 'n' Sip: Magical Night Sky with Mountain Silhouettes
Woodburning
Carving and Woodburning a Bird for Beginners
Feather Illustration with Missy Dunaway
Plein Air Painting at Seawall
Plein Air Painting at Charlotte Rhoades Park & Butterfly Garden
Puffins and More — Full-day Birding Trip
Workshop: Self Expression Through Nature Photography
George Archibald: Helping the Rarest of Cranes
Felting Workshop: Landscape with 3-D Trees
Reading with Wings: Haiku & Hope Eco-poetry Workshop
Reading with Wings: Haiku & Hope Eco-poetry Reading @ the SWH Library
Nature Journaling
Textile Art with Elaine O'Neil
Full-day Printmaking Workshop with Sherrie York
People-Nature-Art with Printmaker Sherrie York
Flash Fiction with Annaliese Jakimides
Paint 'n' Sip
Paint 'n' Sip
Paint 'n' Sip: The Wave in Ink & Watercolor
Paint 'n' Sip: Puffins
Paint 'n' Sip: Magical Mushrooms in Ink & Watercolor
Community Open House & Art Show
Haiku Workshop with Kristen Lindquist