We are pleased to share our new bold and vibrant logo that captures the Penobscot Marine Museum’s historic campus, dedication to seafaring traditions, and focus on centuries of stories at home and at sea. 

Thanks to an Enterprise Marketing Grant from the Maine Office of Tourism, we were able to survey our stakeholders, hold focus groups, and work with a special committee to explore what differentiates the Penobscot Marine Museum and how to express our distinctions. The new logo draws inspiration from the Nickels-Colcord-Duncan sea captains’ home at the heart of our campus—with its arched windows and yellow clapboards; and it incorporates the square sail of our Set Sail interactive in a traditional tanbark color. The overall vibrant color palette speaks to the hands-on, family-friendly experience of visitors to our museum. 

Watch for new advertisements, promotions, and wayfinding signage as we launch our logo and refreshed branding in the months ahead. We look forward to inspiring even more people to join us in collecting and sharing the stories of Maine’s coast. 

If you have not made it to Waterfall Arts in Belfast yet to see the Peggy McKenna exhibit, this month is your last chance. McKenna and Her Camera: The Midcoast Maine Art Scene, 1987 – 2002 opened to a huge crowd in late June and continues to attract visitors. This collaboration between PMM and Waterfall Arts features 34 rare photographs from the PMM photo archives taken by McKenna of mid-coast artists. Each photograph is paired with a piece of the artist’s work, and the exhibit includes iconic artworks by notable names such as Alex Katz, Katherine Bradford, Lois Dodd, Linden Frederick, Yvonne Jacquette, and Rudy Burckhardt. McKenna and Her Camera captures the essence of the Midcoast Maine art scene from 1987 to 2002. 

McKenna’s archive, with over 100,000 pieces, including negatives, slides, prints, and published articles, was generously donated to the Penobscot Marine Museum by her long-time friend Wendy Rowland. The museum has meticulously preserved and digitized these works, making them accessible to the public.

The exhibit runs through September 2nd. Catalogs of the exhibit are available for purchase here or at the WFA gallery kiosk, and Left Bank Books in Belfast. The Clifford Gallery at Waterfall Arts is open Tuesday through Friday from 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM and Saturdays from 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM. For more information about visiting the exhibit, call Waterfall Arts at (207) 338-2222, email [email protected], or visit waterfallarts.org.

By Cipperly Good, Richard Saltonstall Jr. Curator of Maritime History

Landing a million pounds of redfish per month for twelve consecutive months would grant skippers the honor of being part of the “Million Pound Per Month Club” in the post-World War II fishery on the Georges Banks. Captain Edward “Eddie” Carver Ames (1907-1982) of Vinalhaven, Maine was one of the members of this prestigious club. He worked out of Rockland, which was home to many groundfish trawlers, including 16 owned by the Birdseye company. Ames earned his membership in the million pound per month club by taking three trips a month, and each trip took ten days total—to fit out the boat, fish, and return with a catch. Thanks to a recent donation to the Penobscot Marine Museum, we are now able to see Captain Eddie’s redfish trawls mapped out through his charts, logbooks, and tools of the trade.

Troy Bennett of the Bangor Daily News wrote a wonderful article about the PMM and Waterfall Arts collaborative exhibit McKenna and Her Camera. You can read the article here.

One of our unique artifacts was featured on the segment "Destination Devin" on FOX 22 / ABC 7. Watch the segment here.