Maine State Museum July Roundup

Museum Roundup

News & Updates from the Maine State Museum

July 2022

For the Birds, and Everyone Else!

An exciting feature of the museum’s new Lunder Education Center will be a large, dramatic showcase filled with some of the museum’s best Maine bird specimens. Visitors will get great close-up views (no binoculars needed!). Educational interactives nearby will guide fun explorations of bird life and lore. Watch the plans take flight in the video below!

Feather Report

Planning work continues for the newly renovated museum space. In this video, exhibit designer Brewster Buttfield shares his vision for the display cases in the new education center.

Two people conversing in front of a shelf full of bird specimens.

Brewster is working closely with education staff to capture the spirit and unique attributes of Maine’s bird population. For the display, Brewster and museum educators will choose highlights from the hundreds of bird specimens in the museum’s collection.

Gathered together, the differences between beaks, feathers, and claws are remarkable. The new display will give visitors the chance to admire the birds up-close.

Watch the video

Conservation Intern Embraces Museum Challenges

When she first spoke with objects conservator Teresa Myers about a summer internship, Daisy Greenwell knew the museum was in a state of upheaval. Halfway through her ten-week project, Daisy has experienced that disruption every day. And fortunately, she welcomes it!

Daisy Greenwell in front of the St. Mary, a Phippsburg-built ship that wrecked off the Falkland Islands on its maiden voyage in 1890. A portion of the ship's hull was “rescued” by nautical history preservationists and returned to Maine in 1979.

“I have an interest in being a ‘Swiss Army knife’ type of conservator,” explains Daisy. “I want to have the experience and training to understand and solve a variety of problems. I feel fortunate that I’m able to do that during this time of transition at the Maine State Museum.”

Daisy’s internship has been all about variety – from removing a stiff, aged oilskin fisherman’s apron stubbornly conformed to an exhibit mannequin, to analyzing the complex chemistry of the 132-year-old St. Mary hull fragment. Daisy has put special focus on the St. Mary. Her work on it will be the foundation for the hull fragment's future conservation treatments.

Following her internship, Daisy will return to her graduate program at the Garman Art Conservation Department at SUNY Buffalo State College in New York. The museum is grateful to Daisy for her excellent problem-solving and great work during the controlled chaos here. Every museum needs a ‘Swiss Army knife conservator’ like Daisy!

MAINE STATE MUSEUM | www.mainestatemuseum.org