Pullman Car, Sunbeam: Many Voices
In June of 2011, this restored 1903 wooden Pullman palace car, Sunbeam, arrived at Hildene after two years of meticulous restoration following a two-year nationwide search for the right car: one that would have come off the production line during Robert Lincoln’s tenure as president of the Pullman Company. The car we decided on was the least modified from its 1903 configuration. Many Voices is a powerful, profound, and sometimes difficult look at the paradox of the Pullman porters. While a job as a porter was perceived by those in the black community as one of prestige, the porters themselves knew that it was arduous work with long hours and low pay. This exhibit is a site on the Vermont African American Heritage Trail.
On view permanently Location: Hildene, The Lincoln Family Home, VT
The Collections at the Middletown Springs Historical Society
MSHS collects, preserves, and exhibits community history at its home in the historic Adams House on the Green in Middletown Springs, and at the Mineral Springs Park on the Poultney River. In 1984, through the efforts of the Historical Society trustees and other interested townspeople and the allocation of necessary funds by the voters, much of the village of Middletown Springs was designated a Historic District. The District includes 65 residences, six public buildings and six other structures. MSHS hosts several public events each year for educational and fundraising purposes. Open on Sundays, 2-4 p.m. from Memorial Day through October, and by appointment.
On view permanently Location: The Middletown Springs Historical Society, VT
Crossing Lines, Constructing Home: Displacement and Belonging in Contemporary Art
What does it mean to be displaced from culture and home? What are the historical contexts for understanding our contemporary moment? How does an artist’s work and process embody and engage the narratives of displacement and belonging? Crossing Lines, Constructing Home investigates two parallel ideas: national, political, and cultural conceptions of boundaries and borders; and the evolving hybrid spaces, identities, languages, and beliefs created by the movement of peoples.
(Image: Wall, East of Nogales, Arizona, Pigment print, 2014, 64 x 84 inches (framed), Photographs Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund, 2018.111)
Women’s Long Road – 100 Years to the Vote
This exhibit features historical photographs, stories about people, documents, and artifacts to explore the wide-ranging efforts by many women (and some men) to gain the voting rights finally guaranteed in 1920 by the 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Women’s Long Road – 100 Years to the Vote is also part of Maine’s Suffrage Centennial Collaborative, a diverse group of organizations that will feature a variety of programs throughout 2019 and 2020.
Afrocosmologies: American Reflections
Black artists explore ideas about spirituality and culture in Afrocosmologies: American Reflections. Alongside artists of the late-nineteenth century, contemporary artists define new ideas about spirituality, identity, and the environment in ways that move beyond traditional narratives of Black Christianity. In dialogue, these works acknowledge a continuing body of beliefs—a cosmology—that incorporates the centrality of nature, ritual, and relationships between the human and the divine. Emerging from the rich religious and aesthetic traditions of West Africa and the Americas, these works present a dynamic cosmos of influences that shape Contemporary art.
On view through January 20, 2020 Location: Wadsworth Atheneum, Museum of Art, CT
Still Standing: 300 Years of the Clough House at Old North
While it was originally constructed as an elegant single-family home, the Clough House has served many purposes over time: a single-family home, a tenement for many families, and a house museum. It witnessed all the changes in its surrounding neighborhood over the past 300 years while changing to meet the needs of the community. Today, it serves as a testament to the architectural prowess of Ebenezer Clough, the master brickmason of Old North Church, the indomitable spirit of immigrants working for a better life, and the countless individuals who valued its history and fought to save it from demolition. Through documents and records from the Old North Church archives as well as historical photographs and information gleaned from a 2013 archaeological dig behind the house, this exhibit considers how this one small plot of land represents the experiences and domestic lives of hundreds of people while also serving as a microcosm of Boston. In the gallery, channel your inner Ebenezer Clough through hands-on creative activities, vote on hypothetical preservation projects, contribute to a chart on housing, and more! #CloughStillStanding.
On view through December 31, 2019 Location: Old North Church & Historic Site, MA
Finding Our Voices: Breaking the Silence of Domestic Violence
Created by domestic violence survivor Patrisha McLean, whose abusive ex-husband singer/songwriter Don McLean made international news when he was arrested and eventually plead guilty to domestic violence charges in Camden, Maine in 2015. Finding Our Voices is an interactive exhibit that allows visitors to hear abuse survivors speak utilizing their cell phones. Through displays, photographs, and audio, visitors experience the power of a new Sisterhood breaking the silence of domestic abuse.
On view through December 13, 2019 Location: Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, ME