News

Last Chance! Don’t miss  “Memories Fly Home,” the exhibit of stunning textile works created with English Paper Piecing and Silkshading techniques by MDI native Sarah Matthewson, currently on display in the Museum’s special exhibit gallery. It closes this Saturday, Nov. 1 at 4pm; last entry to the museum is at 3:30pm.

Inspired by the exhibit, the Gilley is offering a landscape embroidery class that day from 10:30am to 1pm taught by Emma Mary Murray. No experience necessary. It will start with the basics of embroidery – from choosing colors to threading needles and tying knots – then Emma will show students how to depict light and topography with thread. Bring images of landscapes that are special to you, or use an image available at the Gilley. All materials are provided. The cost is $57 for Museum members and $65 for non-members. Class size is limited. Sign up at www. wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar   

The Wendell Gilley Museum will have a delayed opening on Tuesday, Oct. 14.

The Museum’s doors will open that day at 1pm and close as usual at 4pm. Hours for the rest of the week  will be the usual 10am-4pm.

Matinicus folk artist David Sears — carver, painter and multimedia artist — has been beset by the elements and a ferry in need of repair. Unfortunately, he cannot get from Matinicus Island, where he lives in the summer, to the mainland to join the Wendell Gilley Museum as planned on July 29 for the People-Nature-Art series. His program is rescheduled for March of 2026 and there will be no People-Nature-Art program on July 29 as previously planned.

People-Nature-Art continues in August with sculptor David Smus on Aug. 12. Join in person or online. Sign up at www.wendellgilleymuseum.org/calendar

Due to the popularity the new Carving and Woodburning a Bird for Beginners workshop, the Gilley is adding two additional sessions of the class over the holiday weekend. Join us Saturday, July 5 from 10:30am to 12:30pm or from 1:30pm to 3:30pm to learn basic skills in wood carving and woodburning in this two-hour class and create a small piece of avian art you can finish during the workshop and take home with you. Registration is required and class sizes are limited. Participants must be at least 11 years old.

For the morning class, sign up HERE.          For the afternoon class, sign up HERE.

The Museum’s 2025 Winter Session ends Saturday, May 3 at 4pm and with it, two exhibits close – Dan Miller: Going with the Grain, a collection of woodblock prints featuring birds and landscapes by the 96-year-old artist who summers in Corea; and Alley’s Avian Art, a collection of all nine of Islesford painter Rick Alley’s winning depictions of seabirds in their natural habitat which won the prestigious Maine Duck Stamp Contest (more than any other painter in the award’s history.)

The Gilley is open Tuesday night from 6 to 8pm for the April People-Nature-Art reception and presentation by Peggy Clark Lumpkins, and on Friday and Saturday from 10am to 4pm. The we will be closed until Wednesday, May 28 when we reopen with hours Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 4pm.

Come see this art before it is gone from the Gilley; then plan to come back for the next special exhibit, “Birds in Art,” a traveling show from the vaunted exhibit at the Lee Yawkey Woodson Museum.

The classes scheduled for March 29 have been canceled but the Gilley is still open for visitors. Come visit and see the special exhibit of Dan Miller’s spectacular woodblock prints; the Maine Duck Stamp winning paintings by Islesford painter and lobsterman Rick Alley, Jr.; carvings by Wendell Gilley, Elmer Crowell, Hank Tyler, Steve Valleau, and more. We’re open 10am to 4pm and hope to see you soon.

The Museum is open two days each week, Fridays and Saturdays,
from 10am-4pm, with People-Nature-Art programs one Tuesday night each month and some workshops on other days or evenings.

The Winter Session runs from Jan. 10, 2025 through May 3, 2025, open from 10am to 4pm on Fridays and Saturdays with People-Nature-Art programs one Tuesday night each month and some workshops on other days or evenings.

If you are not a member but would like to have membership benefits, including reduced prices on workshops and unlimited free admission to the Gilley, you can purchase a Winter Membership for $30. In May, if you decide to convert it into a full membership, the $30 will be deducted from the membership you choose.
For more information or to buy a Winter Membership for yourself or someone else, contact Office Manager Jane Holland.

Following a terrific 2024 season, the Wendell Gilley Museum is closed until Friday, January 10, 2025 when the Museum’s Winter Session begins. Our People-Nature-Art series continues to happen one Tuesday night every month throughout the year, and we’ll be offering workshops in: carving, painting (including Paint ‘n’ Sips), haiku writing, printmaking and more. To sign up, go to the Calendar above and click on the link to the workshop you’d like to attend. Or leave us a message at 207-244-7555. Warm wishes and a happy new year to all of you from all of us here at the Gilley.