News

The Gilley and the Southwest Harbor Public Library are giving away free copies of  “Sounds Wild and Broken: Sonic Marvels, Evolution’s Creativity, and The Crisis Of Sensory Extinction,” just in time for the March 21 online program with its author David George Haskell which is part of a new collaborative program called Reading with Wings.

The book starts with the origins of animal song and traverses the whole arc of Earth's history to explore the emergence, diversification, and loss of the sounds of our world, including human music and language. Cynthia Barnett, reviewing for the New York Times, wrote “'Sounds Wild and Broken’ affirms Haskell as a laureate for the earth … a glorious guide to the miracle of life’s sound.”

The book was longlisted for the PEN/E. O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and was an editor’s choice in the New York Times Book Review.

Join for a wide-ranging conversation with the author, online on Tuesday, March 21 beginning at 5:30 p.m. The program is free, but registration is required at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar.

To get a copy of the book, drop by the Gilley or the library during regular open hours.

The Gilley will be closed all day on Saturday, March 4, due to a weather forecast calling for 5-8” of snow accumulating at up to an inch per hour. The Birch Trees and Chickadees Family Paint ‘n’ Sip scheduled for March 4 has been rescheduled for the following Saturday, March 11, from 10:30am-Noon.

Stay safe, and we’ll see you next week!

If you have any questions about the museum's programs or open hours, contact Melinda Rice-Schoon, Director of Engagement & Communications, at mel@wendellgilleymuseum.org.

Join us for Getting’ Wild: Animal-based Game Play led by Camp Beech Cliff’s Matt Cornish on Saturday, Jan. 28 from 10:30am to Noon. No fee, and no registration necessary. We’ll spend some time getting to know each other, and exploring our environment through a combination of get-to-know you games and games involving critters that crawl, hop, and soar!  Whether it’s via parachute, camouflage, or more, we’ll make discoveries about our world and each other through play! This all happens outside.

We're thrilled to be partnering with Camp Beech Cliff this winter. Matt and his crew will be here one Saturday morning a month through April, and the Gilley will on hand for CBC's school vacation camp.

Be part of the Winter Fun at the Wendell Gilley Museum, now through the end of April.

The Museum is open again today, Saturday Jan. 21, after yesterday's snow day. Come visit between 10am and 4pm. The beginners' carving class scheduled for 10:30am on Jan. 20 has been rescheduled for Friday, Jan. 27 at 10:30am.  Sign up for that class HERE.

Hope to see you here at the Museum. 

The Gilley’s People-Nature-Art series kicks off for the year on Jan. 17. We have a fabulous lineup of presenters for the year, and a new supporter for this popular community program.

Each monthly installment of People-Nature-Art in 2023 is proudly sponsored by our friends at Bar Harbor Bank & Trust. We are grateful for their support.

People-Nature-Art 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. Each monthly event is offered in person when possible, and always online. This year, all but two of our presenters will be at the museum in person and will be livecast simultaneously. These programs are always free, family friendly, and open to everyone.

“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, BHBT’s Senior Vice President Regional Marketing Manager.

For the first time in its 41-year history, the Wendell Gilley Museum will be open all winter! We are excited to expand our hours and our offerings to the community.
Museum Members receive free admission all winter, just as they do the rest of the year.
For non-members, instead of charging a $10 admission fee for every visit, we are offering a special Winter Pass for $25, good from Jan. 17 to April 30, 2023. 
The Gilley will be a great place to gather this winter, and we hope you will visit often.
At the end of April, if you decide you'd like to become a member, we will deduct the cost of the Winter Pass from the fee for your membership, which will be good through the remainder of 2023.

Join the fun this winter!

Join us at the Gilley for a special holiday sale in the museum store on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 9-10, and the following Friday and Saturday, Dec. 16-17; 10am-4pm all four days.

Everything except consignment items is 10% off for non-members and 20% off for Museum members.

The Wendell Gilley Museum will be open and welcoming visitors on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Nov. 26, from 10am to 4pm. There also will be a special holiday sale in the museum store. Everything except consignment items will be 10% off for non-members and 20% off for museum members.

This is a chance to see the exhibit of stunning linocut nature prints by Sherrie York that is currently on display in the museum’s Special Exhibits Gallery. The show ends Dec. 18. Also on display are the photos of “Birds in Focus,” by David Speiser, along with carvings by Wendell Gilley, Hank Tyler, Steve Valleau and Elmer Crowell.

Admission is $10 per person, with anyone 12 and younger admitted for free.

The museum is closed Thanksgiving Day and Friday, Nov. 24.