February 2025

The Latest...

The Friends Secure Tourism Grant for Maine State Museum's Grand Reopening

Signpost, Lynchville, about 1980. MSM Collection 2009.33.1. Mike Taylor Photo

We are pleased to announce that the Friends of the Maine State Museum has been selected for a $30,000 Maine Office of Tourism Enterprise Marketing Grant. The award will underwrite costs for improving our communications about the new exhibits and events related to the Maine State Museums' reopening in early 2026.

Along with creating behind the scenes videos and modernizing the museum website, the award will support a variety of community outreach projects. Stay tuned for updates as we get ever-closer to reopening our doors!

Roger Pomerleau Honored with Peter G. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award

Roger Pomerleau and his wife Carol at the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Kenney Awards ceremony.

Maine State Museum Commission member and longtime Augusta-area businessman Roger Pomerleau was recently awarded the Peter G. Thompson Lifetime Achievement Award by the Kennebec Valley Chamber of Commerce at their Kenney Awards on January 24. He may be following family tradition (both his father and brother are previous winners), but Roger's very active involvement in community boards, committees, and events makes this recognition well-deserved. Congratulations, Roger!

Maine Quilts Bring Warm Support During Winter’s Chill

The museum received word this winter that the upcoming exhibition, Maine Quilts: 250 Years of Comfort and Community, is the recipient of a generous grant from the Coby Foundation. The grant will enable this long-awaited and stunning presentation of over 70 Maine quilts to be a star attraction in the reopened museum.

Curated by retired Maine State Museum curator, Laurie LaBar, the exhibit will show the quilts’ stories hidden in plain sight and reveal women’s work within their communities. The exhibit will also help visitors look for “clues in the calico,” whether through imagery, dyes, colors, or patterns.

Wool crazy quilt made by Aline Neveux of Biddeford; 80.5 x 64.5 in. MSM Collection 2009.20.1. Mike Taylor Photo

The museum’s superlative quilt collection will anchor the exhibit, with Maine quilts from over a dozen other institutions and private collections rounding out the show. Maine Quilts will open when the museum reopens in spring 2026 and will run for a year. To protect their fragile fabrics from damaging light exposure, many of the quilts will change at the exhibition’s midpoint.

In addition to the Coby Foundation, private funding for the exhibition and its programs will come from the Elsie and William Viles Foundation.

This 1973 photo shows Aline Neveux (right), her husband Eugene, and the crazy quilt she made that was later donated to the museum. This quilt (see color image above) will be in the upcoming exhibit and shows how a maker can use a quilt to record and preserve dates and symbols important to family members.

We Need YOU for the Grand Reopening!

Sign Me Up!

The Friends of the Maine State Museum is gearing up for all the fun and festivity that will surround the museum’s reopening in early 2026, and looking for a few good people to serve on an event planning committee, a marketing committee, and the board.

The reopening means hoopla, merriment, and most importantly, spectacular new exhibits. You can read about these new committee description s here. If you are interested in helping celebrate the return of your beloved museum, let us know!

Please contact Ellen Dyer, Director of Membership and Development at ellen.dyer@maine.gov or 207-287-2304 to find out how you can get involved.

New Ways to Beat Cabin Fever this February

Looking for entertaining and educational ways to stay busy during these long winter months? Look no further than our Home Act ivities & Family Fun page for great ideas and inspiration to engage the whole family. Scroll down to check out some of our offerings.