Winter Projects at Victoria Mansion | |
Victoria Mansion is closed for the season and will re-open on May 1, 2024. | |
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In this newsletter:
- Conservation Update
- Help Us Reach Our Annual Fund Goal!
- Portland History Docents 2024 Starts February 15th
- Upcoming Public Programs & Events
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Conservation of the painted decoration on the Stair Hall landing has begun! Gianfranco Pocobene and Corrine Long (both pictured above) of Gianfranco Pocobene Studio, who have worked with Victoria Mansion on six previous projects, met in late 2023 with paintings conservator Chris Stavroudis to determine the best methods for moving forward with the Stair Hall project as it advances to the second floor. On January 25th, Corrine began cleaning on the landing using the solution recommended after testing.
As they did elsewhere in the house, conservators found evidence of early 20th century overpainting, undertaken before conservation methods as we know them today were formalized. Fortunately, these well-meaning but sub-par attempts at restoration proved removable. After cleaning, minor areas of damage to Giuseppe Guidicini's original design will be restored using reversible materials.
The second-floor Stair Hall presents a unique challenge in terms of space, given the narrow hallway overlooking the first floor. Frequent Mansion collaborator and historic woodworker Bob Cariddi is designing special scaffolding and barriers to help protect delicate areas and make working in narrow spaces in this part of the house more feasible. Conservation will be focused first on high-traffic areas to allow for ease of guest movement once we re-open for our regular season on May 1st, but the project will continue in full public view over the next year and a half.
Read more about the project in Megan Gray's Portland Press Herald article from Sunday, January 28th.
Funding for this project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)*, grant number MA-253203-OMS-23. Learn more about this project and help us reach our matching goal on our website.
*The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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Victoria Mansion relies on the support of our community near and far to help us realize our mission to conserve, maintain, and restore this one-of-a-kind property and share its history with the public. Our mission is put into practice every day, with preservation often happening in the public eye. Ongoing research initiatives help us better represent the Mansion within the context of its period to scholars, students, and our everyday visitors.
Support from our community helps us fund the much-needed care this historic structure requires, allowing us to consult with some of New England's top experts in historic preservation, as well as to bring our history curriculum, A Century of Change, to Maine classrooms at no cost to schools.
We have currently reached over 70% of our 2023-24 Annual Fund goal - help us reach our goal of $55,000 with a gift of any size by March 31, 2024. When you give to the Annual Fund, 100% of your gift goes directly to support Victoria Mansion, making the greatest possible impact on our educational and curatorial programs, restoration initiatives, and ongoing maintenance—all while allowing us to move the Mansion’s top priorities forward.
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Victoria Mansion is pleased to once again be taking part in the Portland History Docents program! This year's course begins on Thursday, February 15th.
The Portland History Docents Program (PHD) is a collaborative effort by local historic sites to provide an eleven-week training program for new prospective volunteer guides. Participants will not only learn about and visit the sites themselves, but also take part in lectures and workshops from local experts including:
- Libby Bischof (Professor of History and Executive Director, Osher Map Library and Smith Center for Cartographic Education, USM), discussing Portland history;
- Maine State Historian Earle G. Shettleworth, discussing historic Portland architecture;
- Art historian Jessica Skwire Routhier, discussing 19th-century arts in Maine;
- Peter Gittleman (Team Leader, Visitor Experience, Historic New England), presenting tips for crafting a great tour as a guide;
- Brittany Cook (Development & Communications Coordinator, Victoria Mansion), presenting a workshop on customizing a tour with object-based learning; and
- Brad Strause (Project Manager, Alpha One), discussing guiding for people with special needs or disabilities.
Staci Hanscom (Director of Education & Public Programs, Victoria Mansion) will also moderate a panel of PHD site leaders as they discuss crafting tour narratives specific to their historic sites.
If you want to learn more about Portland, meet other local history enthusiasts, and share your passion for history with the public, the Portland History Docents program is a great way to connect with others and engage directly with staff and other volunteers at eleven sites of historic significance in the Portland area.
To learn more about how to join this year's eleven-week course or to enroll, please visit PortlandHistoryDocents.org.
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Upcoming Public Programs & Events | |
Keep an eye on our Events page for tickets and more information about upcoming programs. | |
Director of Education & Public Programs Staci Hanscom (on stairs, left) and Senior Site Manager Michelle Josephson (on stairs, right) lead their OLLI program "Beyond the Morses: The People of Victoria Mansion" in September 2023. | |
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In 2023, Victoria Mansion offered its first workshops with the Osher Life-Long Learning Institute (OLLI) at the University of Southern Maine (USM). Mansion staff have offered three workshops through OLLI thus far: one focusing on the architecture in Victoria Mansion's neighborhood, one focusing on the Libby family, the Mansion's second owners, and the domestic servants who lived and worked at Victoria Mansion (presented with the Maine Irish Heritage Center), and one focusing on the Classical mythology in the Mansion.
Mansion staff and volunteers will present an eight-week course in Spring 2024 focusing on myriad topics relating to Victorian life, art, and architecture through the lens of Victoria Mansion. Registration is not yet open for the Spring course, but we will post updates to our social media (Facebook and Instagram) when registration goes live.
OLLI presents courses in the liberal arts and sciences for community members ages 50 and over. For more information about the program and how to enroll (or how to be an instructor), please visit USM's OLLI website.
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Above: Paintings conservator Corrine Long of Gianfranco Pocobene Studio cleans a section of the west side of the first floor Stair Hall, March 2023. | |
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As conservation of the decoratively painted surfaces on the first floor of the Mansion's Stair Hall continues apace with breathtaking results, we have been setting our sights on continuing this project onto the second floor of the hall. Following a series of tests and consultations, we were fortunate to receive a federal grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services*, and we need our community's support to help us continue this important work. A gift of any size to our Stair Hall Matching Fund brings us closer to our goal of $148,043 to match the generous funding from this grant.
This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services, grant number MA-253203-OMS-23.
*The views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
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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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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
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