
Calendar

Book Discussion - The Serviceberry: Abundance and Reciprocity in the Natural World by Robin Wall Kimmerer
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Braiding Sweetgrass, a bold and inspiring vision for how to orient our lives around gratitude, reciprocity, and community, based on the lessons of the natural world.

An Evening of Jazz with GSA’s Honors Jazz Combo
Get jazzed for George Stevens Academy’s Honors Jazz Combo!
Welcome in Summer! Heart-opening yoga workshop
Welcome in summer with this yoga workshop including heart-openers, reflection, and intension setting.

Hands-On History Open House
Immerse yourself in history & culture
History comes to life when you can see it, hear it, touch it, taste it, and smell it. Try traditional hand tools in the wood shop, hear the ring of the anvil in the blacksmith shop, see Castine history up close on a tour of the Perkins House, enjoy the smell of a brown ash log as it gets prepared and made into a basket, and taste delicious bread fresh from our outdoor bake oven.
See below for more information, including about a floating open house offered by the Maine Seacoast Mission at the Castine town dock!
Wood Shop - Youth visitors can gain experience using traditional hand tools while building a toy boat in our wood shop. They’ll learn how a spokeshave interacts with wood grain, how to make a mast hole with a hand drill, and how a nail bends when it gets hit a little off center.
Blacksmith Shop - In the blacksmith shop, watch a friendly blacksmith shape metal into a hook, a nail, or whatever special project they’re working on! Find out how quickly metal cools when dipped in the quench bucket and what happens to stock when it gets a little too hot. When you hear the ring of the anvil, you’ll know you’re in the right place!
Perkins House - Imagine living as part of a family of 10 during the 18th century on a tour of the John & Pheobe Perkins House. How might you spend your days? What would you eat for dinner? And what happens when the British move in?
And More! - Enjoy special demonstrations of basket making and ash pounding, delicious bread from the outdoor bake oven, and a dinosaur egg hunt! Dino eggs will be hidden around campus for youth visitors to find throughout the open house (one per person) while supplies last. Where will they be? Only time will tell! Eggs can be taken home to hatch in warm water (approximately 8 hours per hatching). Before you go, snap a picture in front of our dinosaur footprint as an extra memento.
Plus a floating open house with Maine Seacoast Mission
In conjunction with our Hands-On History Open House, Maine Seacoast Mission will be at the Castine town dock from 1 to 5 pm for a floating open house aboard their 74-foot flagship vessel, Sunbeam!
Visitors are invited to come aboard Sunbeam and learn more about the Mission’s work in coastal Washington County and on outer, unbridged islands. During the tour, visitors can see the inner workings of a vessel which welcomes more than 1,000 people aboard each year for basic healthcare, meals, community gatherings, and more.
Mission programming via Sunbeam regularly provides support through counseling, education initiatives, and education services. In addition, a full-time nurse offers flu and Covid vaccination clinics, leads a network of eldercare facilities, provides healthcare check-ups, and connects residents to mainland specialists.
The Castine town dock is a 10 to 15 minute walk from the Wilson Museum campus.
All Hands-On History activities are kid-friendly, open to the public, and free of charge.
Hands-On History at the Wilson Museum is made possible through the generous support of Camden National Bank.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Mi'kmaq Storytelling & Songs
Venture through the Mi'kmaq culture with stories and songs shared by John Dennis who will bring an understanding of how stories impact the Mi'kmaq culture.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Bastille Day French Vanilla Ice Cream Social
Come get a scoop of delicious French-vanilla ice cream topped with strawberries and blueberries.

Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Castine Town Band Performance
Bring a chair and enjoy the Castine Town Band’s free outdoor concert performed along the picturesque shores of Penobscot Bay. In case of rain, the performance will be held at Emerson Hall on Court Street.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Find us at the Blue Hill Maritime Heritage Festival!
Make boats and rope with us at the Blue Hill Maritime Heritage Festival under the big tent!
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Artisan Market & Community Picnic
Artisan’s Market - Promoting and supporting today’s fine artisans and craftspeople on and around the Blue Hill Peninsula and beyond.
Community Picnic - A timeless, multi-sensory experience you can share with your friends and community members. Sample bread fresh from our bake oven while soaking in the beautiful view.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.
Hands-On History
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action!
A must-visit experience you’ll want to repeat year after year.

Coming soon! Hand-building Workshop with Ellen Sedgwick
Stay tuned for program details coming soon!

Integrating Medicinal Mushrooms into your Life
Join mycologist and author Greg Marley for a medicinal mushroom talk focused on the common Northeastern wild and cultivated mushrooms providing health benefits in our lives and available in the woods or foraged in a good market.

Book Discussion - The Berry Pickers by Amanda Peters
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
2023 Barnes & Noble Discover Prize Winner
Winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
A four-year-old Mi’kmaq girl goes missing from the blueberry fields of Maine, sparking a mystery that will haunt the survivors, unravel a family, and remain unsolved for nearly fifty years.
“A stunning debut about love, race, brutality, and the balm of forgiveness.” —People, A Best New Book

Spooky Songs with Singer-Songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward
Get in the spooky spirit with singer-songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward as he pairs his love of history with his talent for storytelling.

We’re Morocco Bound!: A random walk through an Arab town with Larry Rosen
We’re Morocco bound with retired legal anthropologist Larry Rosen! Rosen will take us on a random walk through an Arab town where we’ll see elements of everyday life and features that paint the background to an understanding of Islam and Muslim cultures generally.

Book Discussion - Tangleroot by Kalela Williams
Noni Reid has grown up in the shadow of her mother, Dr. Radiance Castine, renowned scholar of Black literature, who is alarmingly perfect at just about everything.

Surveying Archaeological Sites around the Globe with Brian Norris
Known around Castine as the publisher of Stroll Castine (Castine Living) magazine, throughout his surveying engineering career, Brian Norris has participated in a multitude of archaeological assignments around the globe.

Writing a Food Essay with Deborah Joy Corey
This workshop is being rescheduled.
Through reading, prompts, and discussion, Deborah will guide each participant in finding their true voice for telling their story.

Jane's Walk - Echoes in the Landscape: Uncovering Sites in Castine’s African & African American History
How do we honor what we cannot see? How can the experience of history-in-place change our perspectives on the past?
Facilitated conversation, newly recovered history, and guided imagination will all play a role in this communal exploration.

Plastic-Free Oyster Farming: Prototyping Gear for Maine's Future
Marine scientist, researcher, and oyster farmer Abby Barrows will share what she’s learned prototyping plastic-free gear with her husband Ben Jackson and the international marine biology research that inspired her to take a closer look at our use of plastic locally and globally.

40 Under 40 Waffle Bar & Coffee House
44 North Coffee, music, and waffles!
Bring a friend, bring your kids, bring a book, whatever you like to this indoor family-friendly 40 Under 40 event.

Spoon Carving Workshop
A wooden spoon carving workshop with Troy Dickens of Castine’s Tilth & Timber. Includes instruction on safety techniques, use of simple hand tools, and a hands-on carving lesson to create your very own spoon.

February Vacation Camp: Our Animal Friends
What makes a horseshoe crab a superhero? How does a beaver build her dam? How did the black bear become a constellation? Youth in grades K-4 are invited to join Miss Georgia and Miss Haley at the Wilson Museum for an exciting February Vacation Camp to find out!

February Vacation Camp: Our Animal Friends
What makes a horseshoe crab a superhero? How does a beaver build her dam? How did the black bear become a constellation? Youth in grades K-4 are invited to join Miss Georgia and Miss Haley at the Wilson Museum for an exciting February Vacation Camp to find out!

February Vacation Camp: Our Animal Friends
What makes a horseshoe crab a superhero? How does a beaver build her dam? How did the black bear become a constellation? Youth in grades K-4 are invited to join Miss Georgia and Miss Haley at the Wilson Museum for an exciting February Vacation Camp to find out!

February Vacation Camp: Our Animal Friends
What makes a horseshoe crab a superhero? How does a beaver build her dam? How did the black bear become a constellation? Youth in grades K-4 are invited to join Miss Georgia and Miss Haley at the Wilson Museum for an exciting February Vacation Camp to find out!

February Vacation Camp: Our Animal Friends
What makes a horseshoe crab a superhero? How does a beaver build her dam? How did the black bear become a constellation? Youth in grades K-4 are invited to join Miss Georgia and Miss Haley at the Wilson Museum for an exciting February Vacation Camp to find out!
RESCHEDULED - Mi'kmaq Storytelling & Songs
Venture through the Mi'kmaq culture with stories and songs shared by John Dennis who will bring an understanding of how stories impact the Mi'kmaq culture.

A Girl Called Samson - Book Discussion
The fourth and final book in our book 2024 discussion series will be A Girl Called Samson by New York Times bestselling author Amy Harmon.

CANCELLED Nature-Friendly Ornament Making Workshop
Drop-in to this nature-friendly ornament making workshop in connection to the Castine Arts Association’s annual Holiday Tree Trail!

The Archaeology of El Niño: Stories of Climate Change from the Coast of Peru
Elizabeth Rodgers, a Ph.D. student at the University of Maine, will explore what artifacts, sites, and landscapes tell us about connections between people and climate and how this history can help us think about climate change affecting communities today, even here in Maine.

Batteries & Beyond: Why Lithium Matters
Myles Felch, Curator and Geologist at the Maine Mineral & Gem Museum in Bethel, will be talking about where lithium is found, how it is used, and why it is relevant to Maine.

Spooky Songs with Singer-Songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward
Get in the spooky spirit with singer-songwriter Gordon Thomas Ward as he pairs his love of history with his talent for storytelling.

Wilson Museum Office is Closed
The Wilson Museum offices are closed Friday, October 4 through Monday, October 14.

Wilson Museum Office is Closed
The Wilson Museum offices are closed Friday, October 4 through Monday, October 14.

Wilson Museum Office is Closed
The Wilson Museum offices are closed Friday, October 4 through Monday, October 14.

Foraging for Edible Mushrooms; Starting with a Foolproof Few for your Area
Join mushrooming author and teacher Greg Marley for a talk devoted to some common “foolproof” mushrooms found in Maine. This talk will be especially valuable for someone who is just starting out or wants to learn mushrooming.

The Schooner Bowdoin Returns to the Arctic!
The Schooner Bowdoin returns to the Arctic! Hear a firsthand account of the trip from the crew and the Maine Maritime Academy students who made the voyage.

Wabanaki Traditional Stories
John Bear Mitchell will share traditional Wabanaki stories. These stories teach us about the way in which we hold ourselves in this world and energizes our ability to understand the ancient wisdom of our ancestors. These stories are timeless and have relevance to whatever space we hold.

Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder - Book Discussion
The third book in our book discussion series will be Mr. Wilson's Cabinet of Wonder: Pronged Ants, Horned Humans, Mice on Toast, and Other Marvels of Jurassic Technology by Lawrence Weschler.

Following the Footsteps of Our Ancestors: Repatriation in Atacameño Territory of Northern Chile
Hearing about Patricia Ayala’s repatriation work with the Atacameño people will add some really interesting and important context to the work being done with tribal nations here in the United States.

Hands-On History Days
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action.
Immerse yourself in history, culture, and place during our Hands-On History Days. Offered every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon in July and August, this is a must-visit experience you’ll want to revisit year after year.

Hands-On History Days
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action.
Immerse yourself in history, culture, and place during our Hands-On History Days. Offered every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon in July and August, this is a must-visit experience you’ll want to revisit year after year.

Artisan Market & Community Picnic
Artisan’s Market - Promoting and supporting today’s fine artisans and craftspeople on and around the Blue Hill Peninsula and beyond.
Community Picnic - A timeless, multi-sensory experience you can share with your friends and community members. Sample bread fresh from our bake oven while soaking in the beautiful view.

Hands-On History Days
See, smell, touch, and hear history in action.
Immerse yourself in history, culture, and place during our Hands-On History Days. Offered every Wednesday and Sunday afternoon in July and August, this is a must-visit experience you’ll want to revisit year after year.