News

The museum is open:

Thursday, Dec. 9, from 10am-4pm;

Saturday, Dec. 11, from 10am-4pm;

Thursday, Dec. 16, from 10am-4pm;

Saturday, Dec. 18, from 10am-4pm.

Our last day open to the public for 2021 is Saturday, Dec. 18. After a short break the museum will reopen to the public on Saturdays throughout the winter, beginning on Jan. 15.

The Museum will be closed on Thanksgiving Day and on Friday, Nov. 26.

But we will reopen on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 10 am and we'll be open all day. The museum will close at 4pm as usual on Saturdays, with last entry at 3pm.

And as a special way of thanking the community, everything in our Museum Store will be 10% off all day long with the exception of consignment items. For Museum members, it's a doubly special deal because members already get a 10% discount in the store excluding consignment items, so their discount will be doubled. Want to become a member? You can become one online now HERE, or sign up in person on Saturday.

From all of us to all of you, Happy Thanksgiving.

The Wendell Gilley Museum is reopening Tuesday, Oct. 5 at 10am, and will resume normal operating hours of Tuesday through Saturday, 10am to 4pm.

The museum was closed for a week out of an abundance of caution, following a positive Covid-19 test for an employee. The ill employee is receiving treatment, quarantining at home, and doing well. No other staff member has tested positive.

“To best support and protect our patrons and staff, we are following the most up-to-date guidance from the CDC, Maine Center for Disease Control & Prevention, and our local health professionals,” said museum director Sean Charette.

Since the beginning of the pandemic in the U.S. in 2020, the Gilley has required face coverings for everyone inside the museum, and has limited the number of people inside the museum at any one time, and required social distancing.

Anyone who has questions or concerns, please contact Mr. Charette at sean@wendellgilleymuseum.org.

There is still room in the last few 1.5-hour carving classes of the season. Sign up for a spot on Thursday, Sept. 9 or Tuesday, Sept. 14 at either 10:30am or 1:30pm. These classes come with a kit including a roughed-out blank you carve, sand, paint, and take home with you. To secure your spot, register HERE.

The museum will be closed all day Tuesday, Aug. 17 as we take down Birds in Art to make way for our next special exhibit, "Light, Sky, Land and Edges." The museum will also be closed on Saturday, Aug. 21 so we can install the new exhibit, which opens Tuesday, Aug. 24. "Light, Sky, Land and Edges" is a rich artistic collaboration between painter Tracy Baker-White and poet Martha Donovan. See more about the exhibit HERE.

We apologize for any inconvenience these closures might cause, and look forward to sharing this new exhibit with you.

Sherrie York celebrates the natural world, birds in particular, with original, hand-pulled linocuts from her studio in Maine. Her work has been featured in national and international exhibitions. And now she is going to be at the Wendell Gilley Museum in person to teach, and to explore with us that special place where nature and art intersect.

On Aug. 6 and 7 she will be at the Wendell Gilley Museum teaching classes during the day and offering an evening presentation about the connection between nature, her creative process and the art she makes. "Human relationships with wild lands and wild creatures are as individual as we are, whether we see nature as a nourishing mother, a suite of resources to be exploited, or a frightening and dangerous wasteland,” she says. “When an image I create sparks a memory or reflects an experience familiar to the viewer, it provides common ground for sharing our stories and understanding each other’s perspective. And shared stories can help us not only to celebrate the beauty found in nature, but also to tackle larger issues of wildlife, water, and land conservation."

On Friday, Aug. 6 from 9am to 3pm she will lead a workshop for creating two-color prints; the fee is $40. On Saturday, Aug. 7 from 9am to noon she will lead a workshop for creating prints with one color; the fee is $20 per person.  And on Saturday, Aug. 7 at 7 pm. she will be discussing the connections between nature and art with museum director Sean Charette in “Celebrating the Natural World with Sherrie York: A Special Birds in Art presentation” This presentation will happen in person at the Gilley, and will be simultaneously livestreamed. There is no charge to attend, but registration is required.

York is the sole artist from Maine represented in the stunning Birds in Art exhibition on display at the Gilley through Aug. 14, She has been Artist-in-Residence at Acadia National Park and the National Audubon Society, and her work is in many museums and private collections.  

To sign up for any of these events, or for more information, visit the Events page HERE.

Beginning in November, the museum is open Thursdays from 10am-4pm, Fridays from 10am-1pm, and Saturdays from 10am-4pm except for Thanksgiving when we're closed. We will be open the Saturday after Thanksgiving, 10am-4pm. We'll keep this schedule through Dec. 18 and then we will be closed to the public for the rest of 2021, reopening on Saturdays, 10am to 4pm beginning Jan. 15, 2022.

Now is a great chance to see our current exhibit, "Light, Sky, Land and Edges" and to do a little holiday shopping in our museum store.

Reservations required, but walk-ins are welcome if room allows. We are still limiting the number of people who can be inside the museum at any one time, and we are requiring masks indoors as part of our continuing pandemic safety precautions.

Register for your visit online HERE.

This prestigious juried art show is at the Gilley through Aug. 14. Come see sculptures and carvings, block prints, and paintings of all kinds -- 60 in all.  Among them are new pieces by Maine artist Sherrie York, a friend of the Gilley who conducted a popular printmaking class here in 2020 and will be offering several classes this year; and renowned wildlife watercolorist Barry van Dusen who was our People-Nature-Art speaker in March and has taught classes for us.  They are among a wide range of accomplished contemporary artists, who offer their unique interpretations of the avian world in a variety of media. 

Maine Magazine is the official media sponsor of Birds in Art.

Birds in Art is organized by the Leigh Yawkey Woodson Museum in Wausau, Wisconsin each year. Following the show's debut there, 60 artworks embark on a national tour to a select venues. This will be the third visit of Birds in Art to the Gilley and we cannot wait to share the exhibit with you.