Art Afloat

To bring the artwork of Anne-Emmanuelle Marpeau, whose shadowbox dioramas depict Maine coastal scenes via fanciful takes on historic events, to an audience that might not otherwise see it, Penobscot Marine Museum and the Maine Seacoast Mission collaborated and brought an exhibit to seven island communities by sea. The collection traveled aboard Sunbeam, the mission's ship. At each port, the exhibit was set up and made available for viewing. The adventure began in Northeast Harbor and continued on to Isle au Haut, North Haven, Islesboro, Stonington, Swan's Island, and Great Cranberry. The museum hosted shadowbox-making workshops in North Haven, Stonington and Rockland. The show then went ashore at the end of August to the Dowling Walsh Gallery, in Rockland, where hundreds more people came to see it before the artwork was sold. The trip was supported by grants from the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Arts Commission, the Wyeth Foundation, and several private donors.

Photography by Polly Saltonstall