In the Maine Stream
August 7, 2010 - April 2, 2011

Featuring the Museum's own circa 1899 Wabanaki birch bark canoe and an array of vintage paddles and oars on loan from the private collection of Kate Manko, In the Maine Stream is equal parts history, art, and nostalgia. Reflect upon Kennebunkport's "Indian Village" at the turn of the 20th century, the makings of a birchbark canoe, and the canoeing traditions on the Kennebunk River. Appreciate the utilitarian simplicity of the hand-crafted wooden paddles, many of which are painted in a folk art tradition with scenes, monograms and names conjuring up images of Maine's natural beauty.

Exhibition made possible by our proud business partner: Cape Arundel Inn.

History Showcase | 100 Years at the Beach: Commemorating the Centennial of the Kennebunk Beach Improvement Association
July 13, 2010 - September 14, 2010

2010 marks the 100th anniversary of the Kennebunk Beach Improvement Association (KBIA). This newest History Showcase traces the organization from its roots as the environmental steward of Mother's Beach and The Cove to its role in providing educational enrichment opportunities to children and their families. Take yourself back to the early 1900s, when "beach improvements" meant oiling the dirt road, adding streetlights, and acquiring a life boat to ensure safety at the bathing beach. Through a series of photographs, archival materials and artifacts both from the Museum's collections and on loan from KBIA, see what attracted the earliest summer residents and what traditions and allure remain to this day.


History Showcases are designed to address a timely topic or highlight a new acquisition at the Museum, so returning visitors are always seeing something new. The latest installment of the History Showcase is made possible by our proud business partner: Cape Arundel Inn.

History Showcase | Goodbye, Garden Street Market
May 1, 2010 - ongoing

The closing of Kennebunk’s Garden Street Market on May 7, 2010, offered the opportunity for the Museum to collect memorabilia related to the market’s 14-year history, not only as a locally-owned grocery store but also as a community–minded neighbor and anchor to the Main Street business corridor.

The disappearance of Garden Street Market concludes a 50-year era of the property’s continuous use as the town’s “bread basket.” This display case features the newest additions to the Museum’s permanent collections, demonstrating that history is indeed being made each and every day.

History Showcase made possible by our proud business partners: Ocean Bank, Captain Jefferds Inn, Captain Lord Mansion, Kennebunk Savings, and Tom's of Maine.

Mailed from Maine: Vintage Postcards of the Kennebunks
July 17, 2009 - through mid-July 2010

Greetings of “wish you were here” await each visitor to the Brick Store Museum’s new exhibition, Mailed from Maine: Vintage Postcards of the Kennebunks. Open through early 2010, the show invites visitors to step back in time and visit the Kennebunks as seen through more than one hundred postcards selected from the museum’s permanent collections.

Postcards can commemorate a holiday or event, memorialize a location, or capture a moment in history and always deliver the message of “wish you were here.” Postcards in the exhibition celebrate the towns of Kennebunk and Kennebunkport, representing all aspects of these communities, from their landmark hotels, to scenic views of the beach, to sights that have since disappeared. 

To emulate the energy of the era, guests are surrounded by several large-format prints of vibrant postcards and the sounds of swing music. A colorful timeline illustrating the development of postcards welcomes guests to the exhibition, offering tips on dating postcards by the details. An interactive game challenges visitors to test their knowledge of postcard history. With the message on the back of a postcard often just as interesting as the picture on the front, guests are invited to look at dozens of hand-written postcard messages from the early 1900s and compare this historical form of “quick” communication with today’s Twitter community. Visitors even get an up-close look at several fascinating early twentieth-century cameras that produced the kinds of postcards on display.

Exhibition made possible by our proud business partner, Ocean Bank.

History Showcase |
Happy Birthday, "41"!
June 12 , 2009 - mid July 2010

With former President George H. W. Bush’s 85^th birthday on June 12, 2009, comes an opportunity to reflect upon what he has meant to the Kennebunks, as well as what the Kennebunks— so often referred to as his “anchor to windward”—have meant to him. The Brick Store Museum unveils Happy Birthday, “41”! as its newest History Showcase display. History Showcases are temporary displays that change throughout the year and address a timely theme, current event or new acquisition, thus ensuring that visitors are always seeing something new.

President Bush has frequently stated that he has returned to the Kennebunks every year but one, when he was serving his country in WWII. While the world has come to know George H. W. Bush as congressman, ambassador, Director of the CIA, Vice President and 41^st President of the United States, to many locals he is the neighbor, friend, golf or fishing companion affectionately known simply as “41.”  This commemorative display draws primarily from the Museum’s Bradbury and Kippax collections, replete with memorabilia telling not so much the national story as the story of the unique Maine connection. Personal snapshots, thank-you notes, Kennebunkport souvenirs, local headlines, campaign buttons, and invitations to area events juxtapose statesman Bush with citizen Bush and illustrate the intersection of the international political stage with the village green. The iconic home on Walker’s Point that served as the “Summer White House” and backdrop to so many news anchors’ reports is also a retreat, a gathering place where the Bushes reconnect with family and friends, relive memories and create new ones.

This birthday salute includes a giant card upon which visitors can pen their greetings, which will be presented to the President later this summer. In addition, the display encourages locals to document their own recollections of the President, First Family, press corps, and Secret Service over the years. These anecdotes will be added to the Museum’s archival collections chronicling the President’s enduring presence in the community.

History Showcase made possible by our proud business partners, Ocean Bank, Captain Jefferds Inn, Captain Lord Mansion, and Kennebunk Savings.

Renovations Revealed!
March 7, 2009 - ongoing

This exhibit presents the nearly 200-year history of the museum’s buildings and invites you to explore their recent structural renovations through artifacts, more than 40 construction photos, materials…and the very buildings themselves! Out of the basements, through the walls and into the attics, you’ll discover what powderpost beetles can do, how nails are made, and why there are now three steel beams in the buildings. Finally, in a section on "Basement Archaeology," see a number of items—from an early light bulb to an unique patent medicine bottle—uncovered by the construction crews.

This exhibition is made possible by the Museum's proud business partners: Jeffrey A. Bonney, CFP^®, Captain Lord Mansion, Cole Harrison Insurance, and Ocean Bank.

Salon Style: Fine Art from the 1830s to the 1920s
July 1, 2008 - ongoing

The Brick Store Museum has temporarily packed away some of its collections for safekeeping during structural restoration work on its historical buildings. Rather than crate up the museum's works of fine art that are in ornate and delicate gilded frames, we have opted instead to exhibit as many as possible in our upstairs gallery. This installation entitled, Salon Style, is so named for the stacked display format made popular by private collectors of the 18th and 19th centuries to showcase their holdings.

Thirty-two paintings—with many that have not been on public view in years—create an impressive cavalcade of primarily American art from the 1830s to the 1920s. Stunning still lifes, idyllic landscapes, and heroic seascapes are interspersed among genre paintings and portraiture of early Kennebunk notables. Featured artists include Josef Arentz (1903-1969), Thomas Badger (1792-1868), Abbott Fuller Graves (1859-1936), E. L. Ipsen (1869-1951), W. L. Metcalf (1858-1925), Hannah Brown Skeele (1829-1901), and D. A. Teupken (1828-1859).

This exhibition is made possible by the Museum's proud business partners: Jeffrey A. Bonney, CFP^®, Captain Lord Mansion and Ocean Bank.

History Showcase | The Nation's Guest: Lafayette's 1825 Visit to Kennebunk
May 2, 2009 - ongoing

In 1824 and 1825, the aging American Revolutionary War hero General Lafayette made a farewell tour of the United States as “the nation’s guest.” His epic journey included an afternoon stopover in Kennebunk, Maine, in 1825. See the artifacts and archival materials that tell what transpired that June day and learn about the long-term impact Lafayette’s visit would have on the community.

This latest installment of The History Showcase is made possible by the Museum's 2009-2010 proud business partners: Ocean Bank, and Captain Jefferds Inn, and Captain Lord Mansion.

Treasures of the Community
May 2003 - ongoing

Treasures of the Community is a broad, cross section sampler of the history of the Kennebunks, from its earliest settlements to the present. Also featured are representational items from the Museum's collection of early American fine and decorative arts. There are numerous pieces of furniture—including sideboards, clocks, and chairs dating from 1700 - 1900—and portraits by John Brewster Jr., Thomas Badger, Walter Ingalls and others.