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News

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End of Year Sale in Museum Store

It’s the holiday season and the Gilley is celebrating with a sale in the Museum Store. Beginning on Friday, Nov. 24,  and extending through Sunday, Dec. 17, everything in the store except consignment items is on sale. Non-members are eligible for 10% off while Museum Members get 20% off. The Museum is open 10am-4pm on Fridays and Saturdays through Dec. 16. The store will also be open on Sunday, Dec. 17 from 1 to 4pm during our annual Community Open House & Art Show.

Winter Passes Available Now

The Museum’s second annual Winter Session starts Friday, Jan. 5, 2024 and runs every Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm through Saturday, April 27.

Members get free admittance to the museum and discounts on classes as part of their memberships.

Non-members may purchase a pass for $25 that is good for January-April; it can be credited toward purchase of a membership for the rest of 2024 at the end of the Winter Session.

Workshops and activities for all ages will be offered throughout the Winter Session. Visit the Calendar or Events pages for more information about scheduled programs.

To purchase a Winter Pass or membership, contact office manager Jane Holland at jane@wendellgilleymuseum.org or call 207-244-7555.

Snowflake photo by Alexey Kljatov.

Last Chance to see Nature's Masterpiece: Photographs of Peter Beard

The Museum’s current special exhibit, Nature’s Masterpiece: Elephant Photographs of Peter Beard, closes this Saturday, Nov. 4. Don’t miss your chance to experience this powerful display of the famed photographer’s iconic elephant images on loan from the collection of David and Susan Rockefeller. These gelatin silver prints highlight some of Beard’s close encounters with these powerful creatures, while simultaneously eulogizing their passing.  

Beard was a ground-breaking Long Island-based naturalist, photographer, and artist. From his first visit to Africa at age 17, he devoted much of his life to recording—and paying tribute to—the creatures he encountered there, receiving the greatest attention for his images of African elephants. Beard’s work was featured in many solo exhibitions, including at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan, and the Centre National de la Photographie in Paris. 

He died in 2020, leaving behind an artistic and personal legacy defined, as several publications at the time noted, by the word “wild.” In a statement on Beard’s website, his family wrote, “Peter was an extraordinary man who led an exceptional life. He lived life to the fullest; he squeezed every drop out of every day. He was relentless in his passion for nature, unvarnished and unsentimental but utterly authentic always.”

Sculpture created by Northeast Harbor artist Dan Falt is featured alongside Beard’s photos.

The Gilley is open Tuesday through Saturday, Oct. 31-Nov. 4 this week from 10am to 4pm each day. Admission is $10 per person or free for Museum Members.

Museum closed Saturday, Sept. 16

The Wendell Gilley Museum will be closed Saturday, Sept. 16, out of an abundance of caution due to Hurricane Lee’s potential impacts on Mount Desert Island. We will be closed as usual on Sunday and Monday; then resume our regular schedule, reopening on Tuesday, Sept. 19 at 10am.

Last Chance! See Avian Artistry before it closes

Avian Artistry: Treasures from Maine Collections closes Thursday, Aug. 17 at 4pm. Don’t miss this chance to see a stellar art exhibit featuring more than 100 pieces from more than 50 private donors and galleries.

Closed for Exhibit Installation

The Museum is closed from 1pm Friday, Aug. 18 through the end of day Monday, Aug. 21 as we install a new special exhibit – Nature’s Masterpiece: Elephant Photographs of Peter Beard. We reopen on Tuesday, Aug. 22 at 10am and will be open that day until 2pm before reverting to our standard schedule of Tueday-Saturday, 10am to 4pm each day.  We look forward to seeing you when we reopen.

Gilley's "...extraordinary and uplifting..." exhibition lauded in new Review

The Gilley is honored by the latest review of our current Special Exhibition, Avian Artistry: Treasures from Maine Collections. Read it for yourself HERE.

You still have time to see this fabulous show before it closes Aug. 17.

The Museum is open every Tuesday through Saturday, from 10am to 4pm.

Closed 4th of July

The Wendell Gilley Museum will be closed on Tuesday, July 4, and will reopen on Wednesday, July 5 at 10am.

That same day we'll be offering:

  • Fabulous Feathers (a fun one-hour workshop for kids and adults) at 10:30am and again at 12:30pm.
  • Mountain Landscape Paint 'n' Sip for kids and adults on Wednesday from 1-3pm.

And on Thursday we’ll be offering two Intro Carving Classes, one at 10:30am-Noon and the other from 1:30-3pm.

Check out our CALENDAR and come visit the Gilley, where our guiding words are: “People, Nature, Art.”

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Current newsletter

January 2020

Archive

Check out some of our past newsletters:
November 2019
October 2019 - Fall Fun
August 2019
June 2019 - People, Nature, Art and Parties
Winter 2017
Fall 2016
Summer 2016
Summer 2012
October 2011
September 2011
July 2011
May 2011

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