“I see the extra in the ordinary, whether I’m looking at people, places, or things. I always have at least one camera with me and find inspiration everywhere. I find people especially fascinating and am honored that everyone I photograph, even if they are initially reluctant to pose for portraits, ends up enjoying the process and the images.”
Bob Crink’s photography may be viewed now through the end of March in the Great Room during normal library hours.
The Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation Research Collection Photo Show
Friday, August 5 5:00—7:00 p.m. in the Great Room
The collection is currently on display in the Great Room.
Boothbay’s rich fishing history is on display in an exhibit of historic and contemporary photographs at Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library. The exhibit is drawn from a research collection of fishing-related photographs from various organizations and community members and hosted in an online database. The Boothbay Regional Maritime Foundation (BRMF) was formed in 2018 to preserve working waterfront but also to educate the public on the region’s important maritime history. As part of this effort, the foundation has collaborated with the Boothbay Region Historical Society (BRHS) and the Penobscot Marine Museum (PMM) to build a research collection of photographs and make them available to the public. Photos from the Historical Society collection have been digitized as well as hundreds of photos and negatives from the Department of Marine Resources, historical photos from BHML and the Boothbay Register and many individuals.
The Research Collection is an online archive of stunning photos that will give you a glimpse into the colorful maritime history of the Boothbay region. You will find photos of shrimping, herring and mackerel seining, pogy fishing, lobstering, Fishermen’s Festival, the Boothbay Harbor tuna tournament and more. There are photos of the fishing industries that long ago dominated the inner harbor and outlying areas and include canneries, smoke houses, cold storage facilities, sail makers’ lofts, boat shops, and fertilizer and fish oil factories. These photos document the lives and livelihoods of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents.
A selection of 22 photos will be sold by silent auction at the Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library exhibit. High resolution photo reprints in 16×20 frames and four 30×40 gator board prints are available. The photo show is sponsored by a grant from the Maine Community Foundation.
This is a community-sourced collection that relies on individuals and organizations from the Boothbay region for photos as well as background information. Photos and artifacts loaned for the project will be returned to their owners or may be donated to the Boothbay Region Historical Society or the Penobscot Marine Museum. Recent donations include 39 photos taken by Alden Stickney, a talented artist, avid photographer and scientist who worked at the Department of Marine Resources. The Stickney photos were donated by sons William Stickney and Christopher Stickney and include some amazing shots of local fishermen and fishing wharves.
BRMF is excited about this opportunity to work with PMM, BRHS and the community to preserve and provide access to photos that are of vital importance to the region’s culture and identity. This is a unique opportunity for people to share their photos while still maintaining ownership of them and for the community to work together to create a digital photo archive reflective of our way of life. This is an ongoing project and your donations or loans are welcome. Your personal memories and reflections are also appreciated and can be added to the photo records.
The Boothbay Region Maritime Foundation is a 501 (c) 3, nonprofit organization formed in 2018. Its mission is to preserve working waterfront and the maritime heritage of the Boothbay Region. Contact them at BRMaritimeFoundation@gmail.com. Click here for more information about their projects and programs. The Penobscot Marine Museum is located in Searsport and their online photo collections can be view online.
Author of Valentin Henneman (1861-1930), artist between Bruges and Bangor
Thursday, April 14th 2:00-4:00 p.m. at Boothbay Harbor Town Office
“Haymarket Square in Bangor” by Valentin Henneman
Join us in the Boothbay Harbor Town Hall Meeting Room to hear author Patrick Vanden Berghe discuss discuss the life and work of Valentin Henneman, a Belgian-born painter and ice sculptor.
Henneman received his formal training at the art academies of Bruges and Antwerp, where he studied together with Vincent Van Gogh. He settled in Bruges where he became a famous painter of portraits. Among his many subjects were noblemen, politicians, religious people and all who could at that time afford a portrait. Henneman went to France and Italy to enhance his skills. On his many trips he became acquainted with foreign artists, such as Fritz Thaulow, Ebenezer Hoeck, Arthur Watson Sparks,…
In 1904 a painting of Henneman was exhibited in the Belgian pavilion at the Louisiana Purchase World’s Fair. This proved to be the ideal occasion for Henneman to visit his brother Arthur who was living in St. Louis, Missouri. At the same time Henneman was invited by Charles Marshall Cox, a businessman from Boston, to paint portraits of him and his family. During his stay Henneman met Asa G. Randall, a painter and art teacher who was looking to start an Art Colony along the coast of Maine. In 1906 Randall and Henneman founded the Commonwealth Art Colony in Boothbay Harbor. From that year on Henneman traveled annually between Belgium and the U.S. During the summer he would teach at the colony while staying in Maine during autumn in order to make paintings he could sell in Belgium.
“Lantern Parade at Halloween” by Valentin Henneman
One of his students at the colony was Mabel Dealing from Bangor. In 1914, due to the outbreak of World War I, Henneman was forced to stay in the U.S. He eventually married Mabel and they lived at this latter’s home in Bangor. Henneman became a famous resident of Bangor, especially after he started making ice and snow sculptures, which he put up for exhibition in his garden on Main Street.
Henneman had many exhibitions, some at the Public Library of Bangor. The library acquired 7 paintings which are still on exhibit at the library. Henneman also made a bust of vice-president Hannibal Hamlin. Henneman died in May 1930 in his house in Bangor. He is buried at Mount Hope Cemetery along with Mabel and her family.
This talk will discuss this fascinating artist’s life and work, but also facts that were only recently unearthed, such as inventions by Henneman and his preoccupations with his native Belgium during World War I.
This talk draws back on more than 10 years of continuous research which led me and my wife to Bangor and Boothbay Harbor. We were able to find Valentin’s grave and our research led to the discovery of an unknown painting at the Zillman Art Museum in Bangor.
In 2022 the Historical Society of Oostkamp (the village where Henneman was born) published a book on Valentin Henneman. It consists of more than 200 pages and 200 full color pictures. Especially for English-speaking readers each chapter is concluded by an English summary.
About the author:
Patrick Vanden Berghe (1967) spent most of his youth in Oostkamp. After teaching English at Parahyangan Catholic University (Bandung, Indonesia), he returned to Oostkamp to work at the public library. Now he is head librarian at the Public Library of Pittem. He is also teaching library courses at Artevelde Hogeschool. He co-founded the Historical Society of Oostkamp where he is still a board member. His interests include arts and migration. He is married to Katrien Steelandt, who played a key role in the research on Valentin Henneman. Katrien also coordinated the Historical Society’s Growfunding Project (2021) through which a painting by Valentin Henneman was restored.
This event is not sponsored by the municipality of Boothbay Harbor, nor does it necessarily represent the values and opinions of the Board of Selectmen or the community at large.
A photography exhibit featuring the work of Bob Crink
Photograph by Bob Crink
Bob Crink’s photography may be viewed from January 11th though February in the Great Room during normal library hours.
About the photographer: I see the extra in the ordinary, whether I’m looking at people, places, or things. I always have at least one camera with me and find inspiration everywhere. I find people especially fascinating and am honored that everyone I photograph, even if they are initially reluctant to pose for portraits, ends up enjoying the process and the images.
The library, at 4 Oak Street in Boothbay Harbor, is open Tuesdays, 9:30am—4:30pm, Wednesdays 9:30am—7:00pm, Thursdays and Fridays 9:30am—4:30pm and Saturdays 10:00am—4:00pm. Masks required.
Jeff Kowalski’s art work may be viewed from August 28th though December in the Great Room during normal library hours.
About the artist: Jeff grew up in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where his grandfather founded a commercial art studio. Visiting museums and taking art classes as a child honed his interest in art. After earning a PhD in Art History at Yale University in 1981, Jeff taught at Temple University and Northern Illinois University, where he headed the Art History Division from 1996 to 2004. A specialist in the art and architecture of ancient Mesoamerica and the Andes, he has authored numerous articles interpreting the visual culture of ancient Maya civilization. Along with his teaching and scholarship, from the 1980s to the present, Jeff has been painting regularly during summer visits to Maine, where he has exhibited and sold his work at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation Gallery and at the Maine Art Gallery in Wiscasset. Speaking of his paintings, Jeff notes that his work, “Often deals with recognizable places where I have spent time, have personal memories and associations, or simply have visited and whose subject matter and mood captured my attention.” While his subject is generally representational, he has been inspired by artists such as Fairfield Porter and Wolf Kahn, and he enjoys simplifying or exaggerating aspects of form and color to create compositions that keep this imagery more visually effective and engaging.
The library, at 4 Oak Street in Boothbay Harbor, is open Tuesdays, 9:30am—4:30pm, Wednesdays 9:30am—7:00pm, Thursdays and Fridays 9:30am—4:30pm and Saturdays 10:00am—4:00pm. Masks required.
‘Great Sprucehead Pier, Morning Light’ by Jeff Kowalski
DAVE HIGGINS, ARTIST of the MONTH at BOOTHBAY HARBOR MEMORIAL LIBRARY.
An exhibit by Dave Higgins will be on display in the upstairs Community Room throughout May at normal library hours.
Born in Portland, Maine, Dave has been a photographer and educator for more than fifty years. He is a tech school graduate of graphic arts and over the years earned a BS in vocational education and a Master of Fine Arts – Visual Arts. Higgins taught photography and graphic design for twenty-five years and in 1999 he was Technology Teacher of the Year in New Hampshire. He retired from public education, but continued to teach photography and design at local art societies and workshops. Higgins’ work has been exhibited and published throughout New England as well as online. In 2005, he was Artist in Residence at Carina House on Monhegan Island.
Photography is Dave’s first love, and his images cover a wide spectrum of interests. Although much of his work could be called landscape, Higgins feels it is more about subtle relationships than grand vistas. He places emphasis on line, tone, form and relationships. Minimalism is often an important concept in his work. Twenty years ago he moved completely into digital photography which allowed him to simplify and blur borders between black and white and color, between photography and other art forms, and especially between the real and the perceived.
These ideas led him back to painting, a medium he had not used since he was in his twenties. Compositional techniques and camera ‘points of view’ in his photographic work readily transferred to his painting and drawing. He soon found that his photography and painting influenced each other. In 2012, he had an epiphany and began to combine both art forms with computer technology. These images often start with a photograph and digital brushes, various software, filters and/or screens are used to develop a scene. The resultant works are neither photographs nor paintings, but an amalgamation of the two into something new. Higgins now finds his options for expressing his vision are truly limitless.
More of Dave’s work can be seen on his website: http://www.d-higgins.com.
Artist Fran Scanell’s work is on display throughout April in the upstairs Community Room, viewable during regular library hours.
Fran moved to the Boothbay Region from Massachusetts after marrying a ‘real’ Mainer in 1983. For over thirty years she has lived on Southport Island, working at public relations and fundraising for the Maine Maritime Museum and then the Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.Now retired, she has time for exploring, tennis and painting.Her life-long interest in art was revived through courses at the Boothbay Region Art Foundation and with Plein Air Painters of Maine Mid-coast Chapter.She is also a member of River Arts in Damariscotta, where she often shows her work.
“Art is essential to my well-being; whether viewing the work by others or creating my own, it
provides a purpose and path for learning, growth and enjoyment.I am fortunate to have time to paint and to meet some of the amazing artists who frequent this region and who share their talent at exhibits, workshops and galleries.”
Her artwork in oil, watercolor and acrylic is usually of local scenes, the coast, boats and buildings you may recognize.
By Hilary E. Bartlett (Volunteer Art Exhibit Coordinator)
When World War I erupted in 1914, President Woodrow Wilson promised neutrality, which most Americans favored. Within three years the tide of public opinion had turned and the President asked Congress to approve sending U.S. troops to Europe. He gave two reasons for entering the conflict: the Germans had violated their pledge to refrain from attacking passenger ships and they had attempted to entice Mexico into an alliance against the U.S. The Legislative Branch supported the President and America declared war against Germany on April 6th, 1917.
Wilson asked the country to sacrifice in order to defend democracy and posters appeared encouraging citizens to support the war effort. Millions of loyalty leaflets were also printed in fourteen different languages. Meanwhile the President was making plans for a military draft and subsequent notices encouraged people to enlist. Thousands of men marched into city halls to register, including many from our community. Women also signed up to serve in the Army Corps of Nurses or the Red Cross. Posters were produced to entice people to buy Liberty Bonds to fund the war. Others motivated people to reduce their consumption of wheat, meat and sugar in the cause of freedom. Boothbay Harbor Memorial Library is marking America’s participation in WWI with an exhibit of some of these posters. They belonged to the late Gertrude Mather and were kindly lent by Tom Tavenner. Thanks are also extended to Barbara Rumsey of Boothbay Harbor’s Historical Society and Fran Nicoletta of American Legion Post 36, for providing pamphlets, photographs and newspaper articles. These provide images and accounts of the Local Coast Patrol from 1917-18, Armistice Day and the 1919 Welcome Home Celebration for veterans from Boothbay, Boothbay Harbor, Southport and Monhegan. The exhibit will run through May in the Great Room of the library, where a WWI Honor Roll is displayed above the fireplace. Residents are invited to attend a reception on Wednesday, May 3rd from 5 – 7 p.m.
General Pershing was given command of an ethnically diverse US army with forty two spoken languages. Worn down after three years of heavy fighting, the Allies welcomed the arrival of American Forces and Germany was surprised at the speed with which the US trained and transported their troops. They were known as doughboys, because of their doughnut shaped buttons. Yet our country was divided and protests sprang up against the draft, as it ran counter to the notion of American individualism. A sense of unease and distrust swept through the States. Vigilante groups sprang up to ensure neighbors did their patriotic duty. A Sedition Act was passed and camps were set up to imprison anyone who threatened US security. The right to free speech was the price paid to wage war in Europe. Anti-German hysteria was rampant, beer steins were publicly smashed and many Americans with German ancestry changed their surnames.
By the summer of 1918, there were more than a million American fighters in France and casualty lists in newspapers were staggering. A grim influenza pandemic also accounted for many deaths. The US army helped to stop the enemy from reaching Paris and Germany acknowledged that they had underestimated the Americans. The enemy calculated that fresh US troops would keep on coming, while their own were depleted and this fact helped to forge a peace. An Armistice was declared at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month. In Boothbay Harbor the Navy’s Coast Patrol (stationed in the Carbone’s building) picked up the news from a wireless communication at 3 a.m. Word soon got out and spontaneous celebrations sprang up between 5 – 6 a.m. with the firing of the Yacht Club cannon, ringing of church bells and Navy boys blowing horns and beating drums. Townspeople joined in with a fanfare of cheers and banging on tin cans. A holiday was declared, bunting appeared and by 7 o’clock separate parades combined to form one large group with three bands. The town’s hearse led the way with a sign reading, “To hell with the Kaiser.” A funeral pyre was built on the ledge behind the bank building and an effigy of the infamous German leader was burned to the roar of crowds watching from vantage points on Oak Street and Townsend Avenue. Our boys would soon be coming home.
The First Thanksgiving 1621. J. L. G. Ferris. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
November is Native American Heritage Month. Native American life and culture has been intertwined with American life since colonialists first arrived and still influences us today; from the first Thanksgiving with the Wampanoags to the Sioux water defenders. Below are some sites to visit to read about Native American history, and news today.
An exhibit by Dave Higgins will be on display in the upstairs Community Room throughout May at normal library hours.
