Summer at Victoria Mansion | |
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Victoria Mansion is open for the season May 1 - October 31.
Tickets are now available on our website.
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In this newsletter:
- Reception Room Bay Restoration Begins Soon
- Free Admission and Program for Juneteenth
- Upcoming Programs & Events
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Reception Room Bay Restoration Begins Soon |  | |
As conservation of the painted decoration in the Stair Hall continues inside the Mansion, a major exterior restoration project* is set to begin this summer. This project, ten years in the planning, will reverse 160+ years of deterioration that both compromises the aesthetics of the building’s principal façade and ultimately threatens water incursion into the precious decoratively painted interiors within. Having secured the necessary stone for an in-kind replacement and assembled an expert team to carry out the project, we need broad community support to carry this work forward.
Following the restoration of the tower in 2004-2005, the bay was identified as the next area in critical need of masonry restoration. The 2012 closure of the last brownstone quarry in Portland, CT - where the Mansion's original stone was sourced - complicated the future of the project. Plans were in development to rebuild the bay with carefully color-matched cast stone when conservator Ivan Myjer made a thrilling discovery: a cache of large Portland brownstone blocks left over from a major restoration project two decades ago. We scrambled to purchase the largest of these blocks to enable an in-kind replacement of the bay.
This project has been so long in germinating because it is complex and fraught, with elaborate interior decorative finishes sitting mere inches away from thousand-pound stones requiring surgical removal and replacement. Not since the tower project have we contemplated such a high stakes restoration. But the stars are aligning to allow us to move forward. We have a skilled team assembled, we have some funding in place and are putting the project at the center of our development efforts. And, against all odds, we have secured perfectly matching replacement stone. If executed to the highest standards, this project will protect and preserve Victoria Mansion’s iconic front façade for a century to come.
Stay tuned for updates as well as public and Member-exclusive events centered around this exciting undertaking. On July 12th, we hope you can join us for our summer fundraiser, Brownstone Brews & Bites, which will feature a small exhibit of original brownstone architectural elements from our archive. Plus, Members are invited to a reception on September 19th featuring a talk about brownstone by Executive Director Tim Brosnihan - learn more at the Event page, or join now as a Member for updates.
*This project was partially funded by a grant from the 1772 Foundation in cooperation with Maine Preservation. Additional support has been provided by the Davis Family Foundation, the Elsie and William Viles Foundation, the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, the Louella and Nicholas Martin Charitable Trust, an anonymous bequest, and individual supporters like you from our Victoria Mansion community.
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Jillian Borghardt and Gabriel Wathne of Structures North, Salem MA,
conducting an assessment of the bay in summer 2023. | |
Executive Director Tim Brosnihan (center) reviews the bay during an assessment in summer 2023. | |  |
Jillian Borghardt of Structures North conducting an assessment of the bay in summer 2023. | | |
Temporarily re-opened quarry in Portland, CT in 2007. | | |
Reception Room bay under assessment, summer 2023. | | |
Want to help us carry our historic preservation efforts forward? Consider a gift to our Annual Fund! A gift of any size helps us preserve and maintain Victoria Mansion for generations to come. | |
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Victoria Mansion is open for Juneteenth. In observance of this holiday, we are offering a community day with free admission and a special program. Thank you to Kennebec Savings Bank for their support of our Free Admission Days.
We invite visitors and members of the public to join us on Victoria Mansion’s lawn at noon for a recitation by local actors of the Emancipation Proclamation, in commemoration of its reading in Galveston, TX on June 19, 1865. We will also honor and hold space for the twenty-seven individuals known to have been enslaved by Ruggles and Olive Morse in New Orleans, whose lives and journeys before, during, and after enslavement we continue to uncover and share with visitors.
Since 2021, our Unwilling Architects Initiative has prompted extensive research that has begun to discover much about these enslaved persons, whose uncompensated labor in Louisiana contributed to the fortune that built Victoria Mansion. Through this ongoing effort, we endeavor to shine a light on these individuals’ lives and bring their stories into the full human history of this landmark property.
Tour admission is free on Juneteenth, but reservations are encouraged due to museum capacity. To reserve your free admission on June 19th, please select the date on the calendar at our Plan Your Visit page, select the time you wish to visit from the dropdown menu, and then select the number of Juneteenth Admission tickets you wish to reserve. (For parties larger than 8 people, please call 207-772-4841.)
Learn more about the importance and observance of Juneteenth at Juneteenth.com and via the National Museum of African American History & Culture.
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Upcoming Programs & Events | |
Read on to learn about some of the events we have in the works for spring & summer 2024! Keep an eye on our Events page for tickets and more information about upcoming programs. | | |
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Maine Academy of Modern Music's Resurgam Music & Arts Festival is returning for its third year! Check out the free, all-day festival starting at the Ocean Gateway Plaza for live music, art booths, food trucks, and more.
Victoria Mansion will have a booth in the Maker's Mall - look for us in the Ocean Gateway parking lot near the Maine Narrow Gauge Railroad to say hello, make a Victorian craft, and learn about some of our own upcoming season's events!
Learn more about the Resurgam Festival at their website.
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The Reception Room in natural light during an open shutters tour. | |
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Our calendar of Member events kicked off on May 2nd with a preview reception for our Celebration of National Textiles Day, and a Basement to Tower tour on May 24th, and we have many other events on the horizon.
Upcoming Member events include:
June 6th: Backstairs Lives Tour
August 15th: Open Shutters Tour
September 19th: Preserving Maine's Brownstone Masterpiece
With a calendar of exciting opportunities in the works, now is a great time to join as a member! Memberships start at $50 (or $30 for educators and university students). Members also receive free admission for tours during both the regular and holiday seasons, discounts on ticketed events, and more.
Learn more about our Membership program and join any time on our website.
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The crowd begins to gather for Brownstone Brews & Bites on the Mansion lawn, July 2023. | |
Celebrating our 18-year partnership with Allagash Brewing, our summer fundraiser Brownstone Brews & Bites returns to the Mansion lawn this summer!
Featuring Allagash beer, Cellardoor wine, Green Bee soda, music by the Pete Kilpatrick Band, and food from Cheese Louise and other local providers, this annual fundraiser helps support our ongoing historic preservation projects, with a special eye on preserving the Mansion's iconic brownstone exterior. Special thanks to event sponsor Bird & Co!
Tickets are on sale now!
$40/members, $48/general public.
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Ruffi Stuffie Sleepover, December 2023. | |
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Our newest program for young visitors, their caregivers, and their stuffed animals returns this summer!
Would your child’s stuffie like to explore the Mansion with host Ruffi the (stuffie) Museum Cat? Bring your stuffed animal friend from home to join us for a story time and a look around the Mansion on July 24th at 4:30pm.
Then, leave your stuffed animal with Ruffi and our museum staff for a Mansion stuffie sleepover! Photos of all their fun activities will be shared with participants when they pick up their stuffies in the morning on July 25th.
Reservation information coming soon.
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Actor Andrew Harris greets the Bizarre Victorian Bazaar crowd in character as Charles Dickens, October 2023. | |
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Our Bizarre Victorian Bazaar returns to the Mansion lawn on Saturday, October 5th! This one-day fair kicks off the Halloween season with an educational (and entertaining!) take on Victorian folklore, camera trickery, Spiritualism, and more.
Keep an eye on our Events webpage, and our Facebook and Instagram pages in the coming weeks. A full schedule of events will be available onsite on the day of the event, and a preliminary schedule of events will be available closer to the event date.
Tickets will go on sale September 1st.
Stay tuned!
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We are looking for docents to join us in 2024!
For more information or to sign up, please email Stacia Hanscom, Director of Education & Public Programs at shanscom@victoriamansion.org.
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Help us start the fiscal year off strong with a donation to our Annual Fund!
Keeping the arts alive in our communities helps foster connections while enhancing our quality of life. Victoria Mansion is simultaneously a museum of art, architecture, and the decorative arts, as well as a site rich in social, economic, and political history, offering multiple pathways to connect to the issues of the day. As a nonprofit organization, Victoria Mansion depends on contributions from our community near and far to ensure the preservation of this National Historic Landmark for generations to come.
When you give to Victoria Mansion’s Annual Fund, your contribution directly supports the myriad efforts to conserve, maintain, restore, and share this National Historic Landmark with the public, from historic preservation to educational programming and beyond.
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Members enjoy year-round free admission, discounts in the Museum Shop, and invitations to exclusive events. Become a member today to assist in our conservation efforts and receive the first news about upcoming Victoria Mansion events and programs. | |
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The Staff of Victoria Mansion
Timothy Brosnihan, Executive Director
Ann O'Hagan, Director of Development
Stacia Hanscom, Director of Education & Public Programs
Siobhan Lindsay, Conservator
Brittany Cook, Development & Communications Coordinator
Molly Kingsbury, Museum Shop Buyer & Merchandiser
Sue Flaherty, Visitor Services Coordinator
Michelle Josephson, Senior Site Manager
Sarah Coughlin, Scheduling Coordinator
Jean Piekart, Site Manager
Elena Popov Savchenko, Museum Housekeeper
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