News

The Gilley opens for the season on Friday, May 14.

We'll be open Tuesday through Friday from 10am to 4pm.  And there are a lot of great programs planned.

Our new canopy-covered outdoor classroom will the site of workshops and events throughout the year.

We will be requiring masks while on the property, and are limiting the number of people who can be inside the museum at any one time. Please email us at reservations@wendellgilleymusuem.org to set up a time to visit.

If you'd like to visit before May 14, please email the same address.

Wendell Gilley Museum and Schoodic Institute are teaming up in May to offer six special programs -- four birding adventures on MDI  and two art classes on the Schoodic Peninsula.

The Gilley’s artist-in-residence, Steve Valleau, will offer a two-part Whittle-A-Warbler at Schoodic Institue May 15 and 22, and Erika Rosso will lead an en plein air painting class called Watercolors, Birds, and Shorelines, on May 29. For more information about these classes. Visit Schoodic Institute's website HERE.

Based out of the museum, the director of the Schoodic Bird Ecology Lab, Seth Benz, will lead bird walks on Thursday mornings in May on the 6th, 13th, 20th, and 27th. Group size is limited to 10 people and all ages are welcome. Participants will meet at the Gilley at 7am, with coffee and pastry available along with a tour of the museum. The group will depart the museum promptly at 7:30am for a birding location on Mount Desert Island chosen that day by Seth. There is a $25 per person fee, and registration is required. Mask required and social distancing will be observed. E-mail us at reservations@wendellgilleymuseum.org to reserve your spot, and please include your name, email, telephone number, and the date of the Seth Benz Bird Walk you're interested in.

The Gilley is launching a monthly series to bring painters, writers, carvers, and creative types of all kinds to the Gilley to share how nature impacts their art and their approach to making it; and how their art affects their approach to the natural world. 

This is our passion – using art of all kinds to help people connect with nature in some way. So we’ve put together a diverse group of really interesting and creative people to share how they do it.

Back on July 12, 1981, the Wendell Gilley Museum opened its doors to the public for the very first time, with a celebration that included Wendell and his wife Addie, who was responsible for saving most of the carvings that make up the core of the museum's collection of Wendell's work. Ever since then, we've worked to preserve and promote Wendell's legacy, share and teach the skills he elevated to an art form, and help people connect to nature through art.

Throughout this year we'll celebrating with special events. We hope you'll join us.

The Gilley's own master carver, Steve Valleau, is the featured artist for the Shelburne Museum's first Artist's Afternoon online event for 2021!

Join us for this exploration of the works of master carvers Elmer Crowell and Wendell Gilley, a discussion of Steve's own carving practices and current projects, and live audience Q&A on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2021 at 1pm. The event will be live online. It's free, but we do ask that you register with the Shelburne HERE.

If you have questions, please contact Melinda Rice-Schoon at mel@wendellgilleymuseum.org.

Visit our Learn & Do page for lots of fun and inspiring online art projects, created by local artists. You'll find videos about using clay, collage and collotype printmaking to create your own birds, as well as a download-able project to make mythological bird gods and goddesses. And there's a video by Ashley Bryan featuring his book "Beautiful Blackbird." We'll be adding more videos and projects during the fall and winter, so check back often.

A fascinating exhibit at the Wendell Gilley Museum highlights  endangered, threatened and extinct bird species from Maine, using carvings by Wendell Gilley, Harold Haertel and Edwin Hawkes, along with full-size prints from John James Audubon’s "Birds of America.”  

Handpicked by Tammy Packie, the museum’s longtime visitor services manager, the display combines art with thoughtfully researched text to show the effect of human-avian interaction in Maine.  

A lot of art has been created by visitors to the Gilley this year. And while we cannot host our usual Community Art Show, we're still featuring the creations that people have made with us this year. We invite anyone who's created something -- a print, bee house, painting or drawing, a pinwheel, or a carving to be part of the show. We're hosting an in-person show and an online one. So bring or send your creation to us by Nov. 17; if you can't send the artwork itself, send us a photo for the online gallery. Send photos to mel@wendellgilleymuseum.org The show itself kicks off Saturday, Nov. 21, the first of three Saturdays we'll be open in November and December. The show continues during our open hour, every Tuesday and Thursday from 10am to 4pm, as well as on Saturday, Dec. 5 and Saturday, Dec. 19.