Enjoy a birding expedition through William Shakespeare’s plays and poetry with artist Missy Dunaway whose independent art project “The Birds of Shakespeare”  will catalog every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's plays and poems. Dunaway will be at the Gilley on Tuesday, Oct. 10 for a 5:30pm reception and a 7pm presentation as the museum’s October People-Nature-Art presenter.

Each month, Dunaway releases a painting of one bird with an accompanying essay that analyzes how the species features in Shakespeare’s world.

People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach to nature. Each session for 2023 is sponsored by our friends at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.

Join Missy Dunaway, the Gilley’s October People-Nature-Art presenter, for this special painting workshop to create realistic feathers. According to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918, it is illegal to collect feathers from birds that are migratory and native to the United States territories. Let’s collect feathers lawfully—as paintings! In this lesson, Dunaway will guide you through an approachable step-by-step process to create a realistic painting of feathers using acrylic-ink on paper. Appropriate for all skill levels, including children, beginners, and experienced artists. Materials provided. Registration required.

Paint a colorful elephant in acrylics on canvas, inspired by the museum's exhibit of elephant photos by Peter Beard and animal sculptures by Dan Falt.

Artist Erika Rosso will walk students through creating their own acrylic painting modeled after one of her watercolors. All materials provided as well as tea, seltzer and juice for this family friendly paint 'n' sip suitable for all experience levels, and those age 5 and older.

Students will each receive their own canvas to create a painting of an elephant adorned with color and jewels. Paintings will be created using acrylics so wear clothing that you don't mind getting messy!   

Relief prints are one of the most versatile and low-tech methods for creating repeating or multiple images, and you can learn the basics in just a few hours. Award-winning printmaker Sherrie York will guide you through the process of designing, carving, and printing a single-color image using the most basic tools and materials. Where you go from there is up to you! All materials provided. 

It’s printmaking playtime with award-winning Maine printmaker Sherrie York! A single-color block print is fun, but what happens if we play with repeating patterns, overlapping images, and color? Let’s find out! We will take time in the morning to design and carve two different relief printing blocks, and in the afternoon we will experiment with combining them to create something new. Some experience with carving relief blocks is helpful, but not necessary. Bring some ideas for small, square formats. All materials provided. There will be a break for lunch (not provided).

Make a wall hook from clay inspired by the Gilley’s exhibit “Nature’s Masterpiece: Elephant Photographs of Peter Beard,” which will be in the museum’s special exhibits gallery until Nov. 4. Kathie Pratt will lead you through the process, including baking it in the over, and you’ll have something to take home with you at the end of the workshop. All materials supplied.

This is an evening class for adults only; wine will be provided along with non-alcoholic beverages.

Paint a colorful elephant in watercolor, on the last day of the museum's exhibit of elephant photos by Peter Beard and animal sculptures by Dan Falt.  

Artist Erika Rosso will walk students through a step-by-step process. All materials provided as well as tea, seltzer and juice for this family friendly paint 'n' sip suitable for all experience levels, and those age 5 and older. All materials provided.

Printmaker and mixed media artitst Sara Tabbert – a past Acadia National Park artist in residence – joins us from her home studio in Fairbanks, Alaska as December’s People-Nature-Art presenter at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Tuesday, Dec. 12 in an online-only presentation at 7pm. Free but registration is required.

Tabbert’s large-scale public art commissions can be found throughout Alaska and her work is housed in public collections through the state and far beyond. In early 2020, the Alaska State Museum presented a solo exhibit of her recent work.

 She has been awarded grants from the Rasmuson Foundation and the Alaska State Council on the Arts. In addition to residencies in the United States, Canada, Argentina, and Italy, Tabbert has been an artist-in-residence through the National Park Service in Denali, Zion, Isle Royale, the Chilkoot Trail, and Acadia National Park. She has been selected as a 2024 resident fellow in the Windgate ITE program at the Center for Art in Wood in Philadelphia.

​People-Nature-Art is a monthly series that brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach to nature. Each session for 2023 is sponsored by our friends at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust.

Gather as a community and enjoy the creative spirit of MDI at the Wendell Gilley Museum for the Museum's annual Community Open House & Art Show on Sunday, Dec. 17, from 1 to 4 p.m.. Admission is free and light refreshments will be served.

We will have a special one-day-only exhibit of art created at the Gilley in 2023, everything from bird drawings by third-graders to bird carvings by long-time carvers. There will be felted fish and birds made of butternut, linocut prints and pencil drawings, paintings and more.

This exhibit will include a special section devoted to work produced as part of the Fall HandWorks Festival collaboration with ArtWaves this year.

Free and open to all.

Have ‘Fun with Feathers’ in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Saturday, Feb. 19 at 2 p.m. in a special hands-on family program. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. $5 per person. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. Registration is required. Sign up at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/events

Join Chris Maynard of Featherfolio online on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 7pm for February’s People-Nature-Art, the Wendell Gilley Museum’s signature monthly series that explores the connection between nature and art.

Mr. Maynard carves feathers into intricate art pieces. Pairing his artistic sense and scientific knowledge, he uses surgical tools to sculpt feathers while striving to respect their natural form. His message is one of beauty and appreciation of life. In grand installations, and in shadowboxes, he positions them so their shapes are enhanced as they cast shadows.

Unlike a painter’s palette, the choice of colors in feathers is quite limited. Mr. Maynard mostly keeps the natural colors and patterns of each feather. He gets his feathers from aviaries and all are legal to possess.

He believes feathers can represent flight, transformation and a bridge between our present lives and dreams.

Mr. Maynard’s work is in museums and private collections in North America, Asia, Europe, and Australia and has been featured in print and online around the world.

Gather up some watercolor paper, paints and brushes (whatever you have on hand), and explore the "Vocabulary of Watercolor" in this online workshop with award-winning nature artist Barry van Dusen. You’ll learn how, with a combination of materials and techniques, you can add variety, interest and sparkle to your watercolor paintings.

You'll cover the basics of wash, glazing and dry-brush (along with some other useful but less common techniques) and explore some color mixtures that are especially useful for painting nature subjects. Using step-by-step examples and a simple demonstration, Barry will help you demystify the wash sequence by applying the concepts of shadow pattern and local color.  And, of course, you'll have fun.

Join us to make art with feathers. Feathers can be a paintbrush or be painted, they can be the subject of the media for your special art. We provide the feathers, paint, yarn, glue and art paper. You bring your creativity. Art teacher Erika Rosso joins us for this special session to help your creativity soar. Registration required. Class size limited. All ages welcome. This is a terrific family activity. We will work in our outdoor classroom at the Gilley. 

Have Fun with Feathers in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on June 23 in a special hands-on workshop. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Join the Wendell Gilley Museum and artist Erika Rosso for a watercolor class outdoors.

This class is suitable for beginner to intermediate painters but does require curiosity and a willingness to experiment! Erika has a positive and experimental teaching style that builds confidence in budding artists, making it joyous to learn and create. This is a class for adults but also accepts mature students aged 12 and older. Registration is required and space is limited.

Learn from a master of the Eastern Woodland Flute, Hawk Henries, and make your own flute from bamboo using only hand tools – carving knives, files, sandpaper and fire in this all-day workshop on June 25. All tools and materials will be  provided. The workshop will be tailored to each participant’s level of experience, and beginners are welcome. Hawk will teach in a relaxed setting, allowing everyone to ask questions and talk about their experience as they learn the art of flute-making.

Space is limited and registration is required.

Bring a little bit of the outdoors indoors with this Nature Journaling Workshop on Wednesday, June 29, from 9 to 11am taught by artist and nature-lover Erika Rosso. Gather tips and techniques for capturing your memorable moments. All materials supplied. This is a terrific family activity; children younger than 12 must be accompanied by an adult. Registration required and class size is limited.

We’re teaming up with the Southwest Harbor Public Library on July 27 at 1pm for a special Birds and Books at the library! Learn about feathers and make some Loon art.  Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

Workshop size is limited and registration required, but since this event is happening at the library, please sign up directly with them HERE. 

Join us to make art with feathers. Feathers can be a paintbrush or be painted, they can be the subject of the media for your special art. We provide the feathers, paint, yarn, glue and art paper. You bring your creativity. Art teacher Erika Rosso joins us for this special session to help your creativity soar. Registration required. Class size limited. All ages welcome. This is a terrific family activity. We will work in our outdoor classroom at the Gilley. 

Have Fun with Feathers in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on June 23 in a special hands-on workshop. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Have Fun with Feathers in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on June 23 in a special hands-on workshop. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Join the Wendell Gilley Museum and artist Erika Rosso for a watercolor class outdoors.

This class is suitable for beginner to intermediate painters but does require curiosity and a willingness to experiment! Erika has a positive and experimental teaching style that builds confidence in budding artists, making it joyous to learn and create. This is a class for adults but also accepts mature students aged 12 and older. Registration is required and space is limited.

We’re teaming up with the Southwest Harbor Public Library on July 27 at 1pm for a special Birds and Books at the library! Learn about feathers and make some Loon art.  Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult.

Workshop size is limited and registration required, but since this event is happening at the library, please sign up directly with them HERE. 

Have Fun with Feathers in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on June 23 in a special hands-on workshop. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Join us to make art with feathers. Feathers can be a paintbrush or be painted, they can be the subject of the media for your special art. We provide the feathers, paint, yarn, glue and art paper. You bring your creativity. Art teacher Erika Rosso joins us for this special session to help your creativity soar. Registration required. Class size limited. All ages welcome. This is a terrific family activity. We will work in our outdoor classroom at the Gilley. 

Have Fun with Feathers in person at the Wendell Gilley Museum on June 23 in a special hands-on workshop. Draw feathers. Use a magnifying glass to see them up close. Learn about their structure and function. Use a feather to draw or paint your own work of art.

Workshop size is limited and masks are required. Children younger than 7 must be accompanied by an adult. 

Artist James Eric Francis, Sr. explores an indigenous sense of place in the landscape, along with art that expresses that sense of place, in a presentation at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Friday, Aug. 12, at 7p.m.  This program is free but registration is required. When you sign up, please indicate whether you will attend in person or online.  

Mr. Francis is a multi-media artist, painter, graphic artist, photographer and filmmaker. He is also a researcher, and serves as the Penobscot Nation’s tribal historian. He says that Penobscot culture and an indigenous perspective on landscape and nature infuses all of his artwork.

Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Museum and Archives commissioned him and two other indigenous artists to create contemporary art for its permanent museum collection in an exhibit called “American Indians and Conservation,” which opens this year at the Service’s National Conservation Training Center in Shepherdstown, West Virginia.

The piece he created in acrylic on canvas commemorates the reestablishment of Atlantic salmon in the Penobscot River watershed. “Each dot that I painted represents one salmon that was able to go into the Penobscot watershed,” he says. The piece also includes a fishing spear as a cultural connection between the salmon and the Penobscot.

Mr. Francis grew up on Indian Island, the reservation of the Penobscot Nation near Old Town, and studied history at the University of Maine, then earned a Master of Fine Arts from UMaine in Intermedia Fine Arts.

Master Carver Floyd Scholz is the Wendell Gilley Museum’s People-Nature-Art speaker for August. He will be at the museum Tuesday, Aug.16 at 7pm to share his journey from NCAA decathlon champion, to working as a logger, to being featured in magazines as diverse as Smithsonian Studies in American Art and People Magazine, the latter of which dubbed him “one of the world’s true Renaissance men.” This talk will happen in person, and be live cast simultaneously; registration is required. People-Nature-Art is the Gilley’s monthly speaker series that explores the space where art and nature interact.

The following day, Wednesday, Aug. 17, he will give a four-hour demonstration of his much-lauded airbrush painting technique beginning at 10am. People are welcome to attend all or part of this demonstration, but registration is required.

There is no fee for either of these events.

Much like Wendell Gilley himself, Mr. Scholz began carving as a hobby while making a living doing something else. "Since 1968 I've had the pleasure of pursuing what has become my life-long passion of transformation—taking a block of wood, and with careful planning and carving, transforming it into a beautiful bird,” he says. Mr. Scholz “quit his day job” and became a full-time carver in 1983.

He is a five-time U.S. National Champion bird carver, and won the World Master’s Best in Show Championship in 2005, and his work has been chosen for the international juried art show Birds in Art at the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum. In 2014 he was named a Living Legend by the prestigious Ward Museum of Wildfowl Art.

Master Carver Floyd Scholz gives a four-hour demo of his airbrush painting technique at the Gilley on Wednesday, Aug. 17, from 10am to 2pm.

"The art of bird carving is not 'wooden taxidermy,'" Mr. Scholz says. "Bird carving is sculpture in its highest and purest sense."

Mr. Scholz replicates a dazzling array of feather colors, patterns and plumage variation as part of his work. From the cryptic patterning found throughout the body of a great horned owl, to the brilliant blue of a male bluebird, he says bird artists are faced with the daunting challenge of replicating this on the hard surface of the carved, wooden bird.

He invites you to challenge yourself to learn more about this "most important aspect of the art form by joining me for an in-depth demonstration of dynamic color theory, and procedure including airbrush demonstrations."

The demo will include the importance of surface preparation and proper color application to bring forth the beauty and subtlety of a bird`s plumage. All aspects of the art form including design, carving, texturing and most importantly the painting process will be covered in great detail. Special emphasis will be placed upon the versatile application and magic of airbrushing.

Questions welcome.

No fee, but registration is required. You may attend all or part of this demo. 

Join the Wendell Gilley Museum and artist Erika Rosso for a watercolor class outdoors.

This class is suitable for beginner to intermediate painters but does require curiosity and a willingness to experiment! Erika has a positive and experimental teaching style that builds confidence in budding artists, making it joyous to learn and create. This is a class for adults but also accepts mature students aged 12 and older. Registration is required and space is limited.

Cheryle St. Onge is a fine art photographer whose work is deeply connected to the natural world, with a focus on the crossover of art and science, and photography's ability to distill our sense of time and curiosity. She makes pictures predominantly with an 8 x 10 view camera and considers her work a collaborative process. She has been named one of the ‘Top 50 Photographers’ in the country by Time Magazine.

She joins the Gilley online as the September People-Nature-Art presenter on Tuesday, Sept. 20 at 7pm.

Her photographs are in many private and public collections, including the University of New Mexico Art Museum, the Houston Museum of Fine Arts, the Cassilhaus Collection, and the Guggenheim Foundation.

Her photographs have also been widely exhibited, most notably at London’s National Portrait Gallery, Princeton University, Griffin Museum, University of Rhode Island, Massachusetts College of Art, Rick Wester Fine Arts, and with the American Institute of Architects traveling exhibition. She has received numerous awards and residences, among them a 2009 John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship, a Critical Mass Finalist Exhibition Award, Polaroid Materials Artist Support Grant, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Graduate Fellowship.

She divides her time between Durham, New Hampshire, and coastal Maine. 

Award-winning artist Barry van Dusen joins us in person for a special two-day painting workshop Sept. 24-25. 

Combining a lifelong interest in nature with a formal art education, Barry has developed a style that acknowledges the importance of science and biology while maintaining the primacy of artistic expression. His paintings have been described as a unique blend of impressionism and realism, and his exhibition paintings always arise from direct personal experience. Built upon a foundation of fieldwork and strong draftsmanship, they are carefully planned but freely executed in a direct and painterly manner. 

The first day of this workshop happens at the Gilley Museum from 9am to 3pm with an hour for lunch; it will be an intensive teaching day. The second day, students will move outside to paint live animal subjects at the Acadia Wildlife Center from 1 to 4:30 p.m.; students will have more time this day to work independently, with tips and assistance from Barry.

Cost is $100 for this two-class session for non-members, and $80 for museum members. Lunch is not included. If you want to sign up for one day only, please contact Director of Engagement Melinda Rice-Schoon directly at mel@wendellgilleymuseum.org.

Mr. van Dusen is an internationally respected wildlife artist whose career has taken him all over the world. His work is frequently chosen for Birds in Art, the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Art Museum's prestigious annual juried art show; in 2014 he was chosen by that museum as a Master Wildlife Artist. He is a full member of London's Society of Wildlife Artists, and his work is regularly exhibited worldwide. His articles and paintings have been featured in Bird Watcher's Digest, Birding, and Yankee magazines, and he has illustrated a variety of natural history books and pocket guides in association with the Massachusetts Audubon Society.

He prefers to work in the field, even with difficult subjects such as wild birds. Over the years, he has filled countless sketchbooks with hundreds of drawings done on location. Birds, he says, were his gateway to a passion for nature.

In 2020 he was one of two artists to provide illustrations for the book "Birds of Maine," the first comprehensive overview of Maine’s avian inhabitants in more than seven decades. For another book published in 2020, "Finding Sanctuary: An Artist Explores the Nature of Mass Audubon," he provided all the text as well as the illustrations, based on his visits to all 60 Mass Audubon sites over more than four years.

Printmaker Sherrie York, the artist behind Moments & Reflections, the exhibit currently in the Gilley’s Special Exhibit Room, will be with us in person at the museum on Friday, Sept. 30 at 7pm to share insights, talk about her artistic process, and share stories from her artist’s journey. Join us before the presentation for a reception honoring Sherrie and her work from 5:30 to 6:45pm.

This talk is free and open to all, but registration is required. It will be livecast simultaneously. When you sign up, please indicated whether you will be attending the presentation in person or online, and if you'll be attending the reception in person.

In her linocuts, she strives to represent the interactions of living things, both as a moment in time and as a reflection of the wider experience of life on earth.

As a printmaker she has pushed the linocut medium to be uncharacteristically realistic, treating the application of color as a watercolorist might, with special interest given to strong rhythms and patterns between a subject and its environment.

Her linocuts have been chosen for national and international exhibitions, including the multiples times for the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum’s prestigious Birds in Art, and the Society of Animal Artists’ Art & the Animal. Her work is also collected in numerous museum, corporate and private collections.

She is also a naturalist and educator, who works with the Acadia Birding Festival and Maine Audubon.

Michael Boardman is a master naturalist and a masterful artist who finds inspiration in wild places. “Where the wild things are – that’s what gets my creative spark going,” he says, “places that are pristine enough to support communities of life that don’t walk around on two legs. Places where you can feel humbled and unimportant.”

He will bring his passion, vision, and talent to the Gilley as the museum’s October People-Nature-Art presenter, on Tuesday, Oct. 11 at 7pm. This program will be in person, and livecast simultaneously. There is no fee to attend, but registration is required. Please indicate when you sign up whether you will attend in person or online.

For more than 20 years he has field-sketched, drawn and painted animals from Baxter State Park to Eastern Africa, and what he calls “fortunate alignments” have allowed him to connect his artwork with science and conservation. He says the combination of art and science is essential to his work. His training as a Maine Master Naturalist gives him insight into the interconnected nature of wildlife and landscape, and this comes through in his work. Michael works mostly in watercolor in the field, painting when time permits or field sketching when not.

He was the Visiting Artist at Baxter State Park in 2010; the Artist in Residence at Acadia National Park in 2012; in Glacier Bay National Park in the summer of 2015 for the Voices of the Wilderness residency; and in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in 2019.

A second class has been added! The morning class is full but there are spots available in the afternoon (1-4pm class) .

Make a Fantastical Felted Fish with Cristy Benson at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Saturday, Dec. 3. There are two sessions: 9am-Noon and 1-4pm. All materials provided. $15 for non-members and $12 for members.

A second class has been added! The morning class is full but there are spots available in the afternoon (1-4pm class) .

Make a Fantastical Felted Fish with Cristy Benson at the Wendell Gilley Museum on Saturday, Dec. 3. There are two sessions: 9am-Noon and 1-4pm. All materials provided. $15 for non-members and $12 for members.

RESCHEDULED FOR MARCH 10

Join us for a celebration of Ashley Bryan's Beautiful Blackbird, an adaptation of a tale from the Ila-speaking people of Zambia about appreciating one's own heritage and discovering the beauty within. This program is in cooperation with our friends at Island Readers & Writers. After reading the story together, we will make our own artistic interpretations of the story with cut paper and other materials. For ages 5 and older. This event has been rescheduled due to the Feb. 23-24 storm.

Friday, March 10, 130-3:30pm

Learn simple watercolor techniques to bring your paintings to life.  Led by Erika Rosso, students will be playing with the unpredictability of watercolor and using salt, wet washes, and dry brushing to achieve different effects.  Students will also go over the process for more planned works, learning how to draft and prepare for a more detailed watercolor painting.  Students are encouraged to bring a photo of a bird they would like to paint, however we will also have pictures available for you to look through.

RESCHEDULED for Saturday, March11, 10:30am-Noon IN PERSON

Family Fun! Work together to make a painting filled with rainbow birch trees and black-capped chickadees with local artist Erika Rosso. You'll learn a playful approach to watercolor, using salt for special effects and a palette knife for texture. Sip on hot chocolate and cider while creating your art. Suitable for ages 6 and older. Fee: $25 for a family of up to 3 people & $5 for each additional person in the group.

This class was originally planned for March 4 but was rescheduled due to weather.

A California native who continually studied and refined her art skills while making a career of teaching English around the world, Leslie Moore is a full-time poet and printmaker who takes her inspiration from the natural world. Her book, What Rough Beasts, features both art forms. At the Gilley she’ll explore the alchemy that helps her poetry and prints spring from her connection to nature. This event will be livecast via Zoom. Please note: recordings are available only to museum members. We will begin at 5:30 with a reception and book signing, followed by the program at 7pm. Please indicate which you will be attending when you sign up. There is no charge to attend.

This monthly series brings artists, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to explore how nature and art interact in their work, and how their art impacts their own approach nature. All 12 programs in this year’s series are proudly sponsored by our friends at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. 

“At Bar Harbor Bank & Trust, we take great pride in partnering with area nonprofits doing important work to keep the community engaged. Wendell Gilley Museum is a wonderful example of this. We are excited to support this special artist series and look forward to the positive impact throughout the region,” says Lisa Parsons, Senior Vice President Regional Marketing Manager.

Get started with nature journaling in this workshop at the Gilley on Saturday, April 29, from 10:30am to noon. Scientists, artists, and outdoor enthusiasts all utilize nature journaling, a skill that is accessible to anyone. Using real scientific practices and artistic abandon, participants will walk away with a small nature journal of their own. All materials will be provided. This workshop will be taught by Camp Beech Cliff's Matt Cornish.

“Nature journaling is a wonderful way to engage observational skills, curiosity, and creative thinking,” he says “Regardless of age, people need nature. People also need the time and space to slow down, notice the world around them, and hopefully experience wonder.”

The class meets in person at the Museum. Cost is $10 for museum members and $15 for non-members. Registration required.  

Artist Erika Rosso leads a Misty Mountains Paint ‘n’ Sip on Thursday, June 8 from 6 to 8 p.m. Participants will create a painting inspired by Japanese artist Higashiyama Shinkichi that weaves together layers of mountains fading into the mist. Sip on wine, tea or seltzer as part of this adults-only evening class, which is suitable for artists of all levels who are at least 21 years old.

All materials and beverages will be provided. Each step will be demonstrated and explained, making for a fun and approachable class. The cost is $25 for museum members and $30 for non-members. Spaces are limited.

Artist Erika Rosso leads a Magical Whales & Sailboat Paint ‘n’ Sip on Friday, June 16 beginning at 10:30 a.m. This workshop is suitable for painters age 7 and older. Students will paint wet on wet, work with salt, and learn to use masking fluid to create a watercolor of a humpback whale and sailboat, all while sipping on tea, coffee, seltzer or hot cocoa. Families and individuals welcome.

All materials and beverages will be provided. Each step will be demonstrated and explained, making for a fun and approachable class Spaces are limited.

Come play with watercolors in this daytime paint ‘n’ sip and create your own nighttime mountain landscape. Local artist Erika Rosso will guide students through painting a beautiful landscape under the night sky with mountains and a tree silhouette. Learn how to do a watercolor wash, use salt for stars, and apply masking fluid. Suitable for participants of all skill levels age 7 and older.  Families and individuals welcome. Cocoa, tea and seltzer for sipping will be provided, along with all art materials. Registration is required and class size is limited.

All materials and beverages will be provided. Each step will be demonstrated and explained, making for a fun and approachable class.  

Join us at the Gilley for a celebration of Avian Artistry: Treasures from Maine Collections, a special show comprising more than 100 pieces from 50 donors.

The show’s guest curator, Carl Little, will be on hand to answer questions and offer insights.

He says: “In selecting the work for this exhibition, I sought to present a wide array of bird species and an equally broad range of formats: ceramics, paintings, sculpture, a wood relief, prints, carvings, fabric, photography—even a handmade book. You’ll find geese made from tamarack twigs by Cree artists, an eagle’s-eye view of Edo, Japan, by Ando Hiroshige (1797–1858), and a pair of Eurasian jays made from majolica.

In addition to a bounty of historical work, the exhibition showcases the work of a stellar sampling of contemporary Maine artists, from Ashley Bryan, David Driskell, Father Paul Plante, and Bernard Langlais to Carol Shutt, Susan Amons, Siri Beckman, and Amy Pollien.

  As you view the avian artistry in this show, please take time to study the many ways the artists represent feathers, talons, beaks, and bodies, from the real to the imagined. I guarantee you will be amazed.”

Come get your feet wet and step into the magical world of watercolor with local artist Erika Rosso.  Erika will be guiding students to create a watercolor portrait of a colorful Maine puffin.  Class is suitable for all levels and ages, families and individuals welcome. 

All materials supplied as well as tea and non alcoholic beverages.

Paint a Japanese-style watercolor with local watercolor artist Erika Rosso.  Erika will walk you through your watercolor painting, offering demos throughout class.  Each step will be demonstrated. Class is suitable for all levels of painter, but is restricted to adults only. All materials are supplied, as well as wine and spritzers.

CANCELED FOR WEATHER

NEXT PLEIN AIR CLASS IS SEPT 6 at SEAWALL

Come paint in the fresh air on the quiet side of the island.  Local artist Erika Rosso will be teaching a three- hour plein air workshop near the shore at Seal Cove. Erika's teaching style encourages a playful approach to watercolor painting that all levels will find enjoyable. Bring your own painting materials or request a set from the museum. You may also want to bring a chair and easel, water, sunhat, and sunscreen.

Join us at the Museum to meet multidisciplinary artist Richard Huck on Friday, Sept. 8 from 5 to 7pm. Rick is the creator of Huck’s Ducks, a battalion of duck-defending battleships now floating serenely in the Museum’s decoy pool.

Hors d’ oeuvres and beer and wine will be served. There is not charge to attend but registration is requested.

Make a wall hook from clay inspired by the Gilley’s exhibit “Nature’s Masterpiece: Elephant Photographs of Peter Beard,” which will in the museum’s special exhibits gallery until Nov. 4. Kathie Pratt will lead you through the process, and you’ll have something to take home with you at the end of the workshop. All materials supplied.

In this workshop we will look at the world through a filter that focuses on textures, shapes, highlights and shadows over a sometimes overwhelming range of color. It is a simpler way of looking at your subject, and captures it quickly. A selection of warm and cool toned papers will be provided, as well as pencils. There will be natural objects to choose to draw, or bring your own. Lettering, and combining drawing and text will be discussed.

No experience necessary just an interest in nature and being creative.

Taught by naturalist and artist Karen Zimmerman. All materials supplied.