Maine Maritime Museum
Bath, ME
Job Profile
Executive Director
The world-renowned Maine Maritime Museum (MMM) in beautiful Bath, Maine, seeks an Executive Director to lead the institution, with its dedicated board, staff, and volunteers, into its seventh decade. Located on the site of a historic shipyard on the Kennebec River, MMM offers museum exhibits, traditional crafts (including boatbuilding), a research library, a remarkable collection of wooden watercraft, river and ocean excursions, and a wide array of educational programs to 50,000 visitors annually.
The new director will respect the museum’s institutional history while helping to build consensus on a vision for the future and playing a key role in managing a long-range plan currently in preparation. They will manage a strong financial operation deftly and transparently to achieve thoughtful, sustainable growth in staff and facilities. The director will be an enthusiastic and effective public face of the museum, engaging with and participating in the community in Bath and the surrounding region.
Opportunities
• Leading a museum whose cultural assets, financial condition, and human resources comprise a strong foundation for further growth.
• Working with a supportive board with deep institutional history and many skills.
• Leading a talented and compatible staff.
• Living in a scenic area with easy access to the water, wilderness, mountains, urban areas, and cultural life.
Challenges
• Restoring appropriate board and staff roles after an extended period without a permanent executive director.
• Setting priorities among diverse interests to focus resources and promote further sustainability.
• Balancing the maintenance of valued institutional traditions with the adoption of new ways of reaching and expanding our audience.
• Addressing recent incidents that could be viewed as affecting MMM’s public image, including a recent accident involving the Museum’s schooner, Mary E, and a protracted transition in leadership.
Candidate Profile
The successful candidate will be a museum professional whose understanding of current issues and best practices in the museum field has helped create a record of accomplishment as an institutional leader. Enthusiasm for the central role of maritime history in the nation’s story will be essential, along with a willingness to increase whatever knowledge of that history this person brings to the position.
This leader will relish engaging staff, volunteers, and the board in shaping and fulfilling the museum’s mission. They will not be shy about promoting and raising money for the museum. The new director will be an effective public face of the museum and a builder of partnerships.
Skills in management of people and processes will help them refine a well-functioning operation. They will be an adept financial manager able and willing to keep the board and staff appropriately informed to fulfill their duties.
Key Responsibilities
• Coordinating completion of a comprehensive long-range plan incorporating departmental plans being formulated by senior staff.
• Developing for board approval an annual operating plan and budget in pursuit of the long- range plan.
• Oversight of 20 full-time, 5 part-time, and 25 seasonal staff, and 237 volunteers. Hiring and evaluating paid staff.
• Managing an annual operating budget of $3 million—with independent projects of $1–$2 million at any given time—and transparently reporting to the board on finances.
• Working with the development director and board members to cultivate and solicit contributions from individuals and businesses. Oversight of grant-writing for projects.
• Representing the museum in the community and region and with the media.
Qualifications
• B.A. in United States history or a related subject. M.A. in museum studies or public history, or the equivalent in education and experience.
• At least three years’ successful management of a museum or museum department.
• A record of collaborative, team-based staff leadership and productive relationships with boards.
• Demonstrated skills in expository writing and public speaking.
• Experience managing effective public relations.
• A record of successful fiscal management and transparency.
About the Museum
MMM originated in the Marine Research Society of Bath, formed in 1962 to support research and publication of a monograph on the history of shipbuilding in the Bath area and “to establish and maintain a museum” dedicated to the same subject, which opened in 1964. In the 1970s, it acquired the grounds of what had been three nineteenth-century shipyards, chief among them being the Percy and Small Shipyard. The now 21-acre campus (half of it conserved wetlands) fronting the Kennebec River has been the museum’s home ever since.
The centerpiece of the museum is a permanent exhibit entitled A Shipyard in Maine: Percy & Small and the Great Schooners, which features five historic buildings: the mould loft, the paint and treenail shop, the mill and joinery shop, and the caulker’s shed and its pitch oven. An open- air interpretation of the shipyard’s blacksmith shop, complete with a working forge, occupies the site of the original, which was torn down in 1939. The museum’s oldest building is the 1868 residence of shipbuilder William T. Donnell, who later sold his yard to Percy and Small.
Dominating the museum campus is an evocation of the schooner Wyoming of 1909, one of the largest wooden vessels ever built. Life-sized outlines of the bow and the stern, as well as six masts, are situated where the ship was built.
The climate-controlled Maritime History Building, built in 1989, features three permanent exhibits—A Maritime History of Maine, A Shipyard in Maine: Percy & Small and the Great Schooners, and Into the Lantern: A Lighthouse Experience. Permanent exhibits in other parts of the campus include “Snow Squall”: An American Clipper, featuring the forefoot of an 1851 ship built in South Portland and recovered from the Falkland Islands in the 1980s; BIW: Building America’s Navy; Honing the Edge: The Apprenticeshop at 40; and Lobstering and the Maine Coast. The William T. Donnell House, built in 1868 for the owner of what was then the Deering and Donnell Shipyard, and the Mary E, a 1906 Bath-built fishing schooner, are also major exhibits.
The collections database comprises more than 34,000 records of artifacts, paintings, photographs, ships’ plans, ephemera, and manuscripts. The museum has also accessioned more than 100 watercraft, in addition to the Mary E, including working and recreational vessels from Maine’s inland and coastal waters, from a Wabanaki canoe and an 11-foot-long gunning skiff (1910), to Eight Bells (1928), a 28-foot-long lobster boat once owned by artist N. C. Wyeth.
The Nathan R. Lipfert Research Library houses some 15,000 books and journals, as well as nearly 400 logbooks and diaries. The museum holds approximately 2,300 linear feet of personal
manuscripts and corporate archives in more than 650 collections ranging in size from single bound volumes to hundreds of boxes. The museum is also home to one of the largest photo collections in the state, with more than 130,000 images.
MMM has a diverse range of educational programs. Since 1995, the museum’s Discovery Boatbuilding Program has taught traditional boatbuilding as a vehicle for STEM education to students from schools in four Maine towns. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)- funded Sense of Place caters to over 600 students in grades 2, 4, and 7 from six schools who enjoy several field trips to the museum over the course of the academic year. In 2021, the museum embarked on its first collaborative effort with a college or university. MMM educators co-taught the Introduction to Africana Studies course at Bowdoin College. This brought themes of the African Diaspora and the African American experience learned in the classroom to a new interpretation of archival documents and artifacts held in MMM’s collection. The work, funded in part by the NEH, culminated in Cotton Town: Maine’s Economic Connection to Slavery, a student-curated exhibit that opened in December.
In July 2021, the Museum’s recently restored schooner Mary E, suffered a knockdown while on a passenger cruise in the Kennebec River. The cause of the incident is currently the subject of an on-going Coast Guard investigation. The Museum is discussing its future plans for the vessel with all appropriate parties.
MMM employees characterize the staff as a good group of people working in a fun atmosphere with a diverse collection of activities and engagement areas and many exciting projects throughout the year. Departments are small, so department heads have decision-making power. Volunteers are a vital element of the museum’s character, helping to give visitors a genuine regional experience.
About the Region
Bath, a city of about 8,500 people, is the county seat of Sagadahoc County. Situated on the Kennebec River, it has been a center of shipbuilding for over 300 years, and Bath Iron Works (BIW) still builds ships for the U.S. Navy today. The downtown features an attractive array of shops and restaurants housed in nineteenth-century buildings.
MMM staff members say Bath is a fabulous community and a great place for a family. There is a lively arts scene. Nearby Brunswick (10 miles away), the home of Bowdoin College, and Portland (36 miles away) offer an array of culture, including music, theater, museums, and historic sites. Outdoor recreational opportunities are all around, from boating and fishing in the waters of the Kennebec River and nearby ocean to hiking and skiing the mountains within easy driving distance.
The Maine Maritime Museum is an EA/EO employer and actively encourages candidates with diverse backgrounds to apply. It does not discriminate against any candidate or employee based on race, national origin, gender, marital status, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, or veteran status.
HOW TO APPLY
Apply in confidence: Email cover letter, resumé or CV, salary requirement and names of 3 references and your professional relationship, with contact information by March 14, 2022, to: Scott Stevens, Senior Search Consultant, Museum Search & Reference at: Searchandref@museum-search.com. References will not be contacted without prior permission of the applicant.
Category: News & Updates
Mermaids: Visualizing the Myths and Legends through Photography
Thousands of years ago, the Assyrian goddess of the sea, Atargatis, transformed herself into a mermaid by flinging herself into a lake. She emerged with the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a human. Ever since, mermaids and mermen have captivated the imaginations of people and cultures around the world, including Europe, Asia, and Africa. A popular subject of art and literature, they have also been the subject of operas, comics, animation, and live action films.The Santa Barbara Maritime Museum is thrilled to announce the opening of the long, Covid-delayed exhibit, “Mermaids: Visualizing the Myths and Legends through Photography,” which consists of 16 images printed on canvas by Ralph Clevenger and friends. Originally scheduled to open on April 22, 2020, the exhibit was postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic closures. Now, thanks to the generous support of Mimi Michaelis, the Alice Tweed Tuohy Foundation, and the Wood-Claeyssens Foundation, the exhibit will be open to the public from November 11, 2021, through April 30, 2022. There will also be mermaid photo opportunities at the museum by appointment on Saturday, November 13, 2021, from 11:30am-12:30pm and 1-2pm, $10 for museum members and $30 for non-members.
The images displayed in the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum’s gallery exhibit were part of an underwater photography course Ralph Clevenger taught at Brooks Institute. Clevenger was a senior faculty member at the Institute for 33 years, teaching courses in Natural History and Underwater Photography, among other photo and video courses. Based in Santa Barbara, California, Mr. Clevenger is continuing to pursue his passion for the natural world by specializing in location photography and video projects of eco-travel, environmental portraits, wildlife and undersea
South Street Seaport Museum Announces Expanded Digital Galleries in Collections Online Portal: 400 New Pieces Now Available
South Street Seaport Museum announces the release of the next set of collections artifacts for digital visitors to browse, research, and enjoy. In March 2021, the Museum launched a Collections Online Portal, which today features over 2,000 pieces on virtual display, allowing audiences to explore New York City’s past through the archives, artifacts, and photographs of the South Street Seaport Museum. This third iteration includes over 400 newly digitized works of art and historic objects covering a variety of mediums, historical subjects, and themes relating to the growth and changing physical fabric of New York City as a world port. Now available, the digital galleries can be viewed for FREE at seaportmuseum.org/collectionsonline.
Discover history and works of art from the comfort of your home with the new online database. Featuring items from the early 19th century to the mid-20th century, the online collection is comprised of a searchable database of selected works of art and historic artifacts from the Seaport Museum’s permanent and working collections of over 28,500 objects, encapsulating the rich maritime heritage of New York City.
The four sets of new digital galleries include:
Architecture Elements The Museum’s collection of architectural elements and building components includes bricks, doors and windows, samples of wallpaper, cast iron and terracotta ornaments, structural ironworks, and more. Most of the artifacts belong to different adaptations and style iterations of Schermerhorn Row, a Federal-style counting house built between 1810-1812, and home of the Seaport Museum since the 1970s. The remaining artifacts belong to other significant Lower Manhattan buildings that are no longer extant, including but not limited to the 1849 Edgar H. Laing Stores, the 1882 Fulton Fish Market, the 1893 Rhinelander Building, and the 1905 Bush Company Building.
George P. Hall and Son Photograph Collection The large-format glass plate negatives in this collection provide detailed depictions of Manhattan from the 1880s through the 1910s including harbor activity, bridge constructions, downtown streets, early skyscrapers, and as well as views of the U.S. Navy’s new steel battleships of the 1890s. The commercial photography firm George P. Hall & Son operated in Manhattan from 1886 through 1914, working out of several studios in Lower Manhattan and the Seaport, documenting the changing face of New York City at the turn of the 20th century.
Nautical Instruments The South Street Seaport Museum’s collection of nautical instruments includes navigational instruments used by sailors to monitor their environment and their vessels, along with thousands of historic and antique tools used for shipyard and port work by workers and riggers. These artifacts are the testimony to the generations of artisans, carpenters, workers, riggers, and sailmakers used the South Street waterfront district as a place to craft, market, and export their wares.
Wood Patterns This collection of small pieces of carved wood is an example of pattern-making: a centuries-old technology used to build all kinds of fittings and parts of ships. Part of the collection of wood shipyard patterns was produced by the New York Naval Architectural firm Gibbs & Cox, while others were manufactured by the historic Ira S. Bushey Shipyard, formerly located on Gowanus Creek, Brooklyn.
Additional virtual highlights of the South Street Seaport Museum collections include the following categories on seaportmuseum.org/collections: Drawings and Watercolors, Manuscripts and Ephemera, Navigational Instruments and Shipwright Tools, Objects Around the Neighborhood, Paintings, Prints and Lithographs, Printing History, Scrimshaw, Ship Components, Ship Models, Special Collections, Tattoo Collection, Remains of the Old Hotels, Institutional Archives, and Maritime Reference.
The South Street Seaport Museum’s collections consist of more than 28,500 works of art and artifacts and over 55,000 historic records documenting the rise of New York as a port city, and its role in the development of the economy and business of the United States through social and architectural landscapes. The Museum’s collections trace the history of New York City’s Harbor and Port, from the East River piers and the waterfront areas of Manhattan, to the city’s other boroughs and the New Jersey shoreline. The Museum also documents and interprets New York international trade routes, global cultures, and seafaring, including all aspects of life, art, and work associated with them.
For a deeper dive into the collection, visit the Museum’s “Collections Chronicles” blog where the collections team takes readers behind the scenes to share some of their work, while highlighting hidden gems of history, the Seaport, and the Seaport Museum’s collection at seaportmuseum.org/blog/collections-chronicles/.
National Park Service Youth & Young Adult Programs on Facebook
NPS/CAMM Sally Kress Tompkins intern Cassandra Sadler on her project documenting Great Lakes fish tugs – September 30 dateline
National Museum of the Great Lakes’s 2021 Fall Lecture Series sets sail with a “Message in a Bottle”
As summer ends, the National Museum of the Great Lakes is excited to announce the return of our Fall lecture series. Our first lecture will take place on Wednesday, October 20th and will be offered as a hybrid event. Presented by Emmy nominated documentary filmmaker, author, and historian Ric Mixter and based on his same-titled book “Bottled Goodbyes”, the lecture will explore famous messages that have floated ashore.
Please visit nmgl.org or our Facebook page for additional details.
October Online Programs at Penobscot Marine Museum
Windjammers of Penobscot Bay Film Screening + Discussion
PanelOctober 7th, 6pm on Zoom
Free, suggested admission $5
Find out more here.
Reserve your tickets here.
Peek Into Paintings – Thomas Buttersworth and The War Of 1812
October 8th, noon
Find out more here.
Member Monday – Behind the Scenes: Researching the Tragic Stories of the Twilight Tours
October 11th, noon
Member exclusive
Find out more here.
Not a member? Join here.
Hemp and American Maritime History
October 14th, 6pm on Zoom
Free, suggested admission $5
Find out more here.
Reserve your tickets here.
Twilight Tour
October 15th, 5-7pm
Free, suggested admission $20 per family (up to 10 people)
Find out more here.
Reserve your tickets here.
Maine’s First Ship
October 21st, 6pm on Zoom
Free, suggested admission $5
Find out more here.
Reserve your tickets here.
Peek Into Paintings – Victorian Vogue, Creepy Now?
October 22th, noon
Find out more here.
Stories from the Spirits of Sea-Goers II
October 28th, 6pm on Zoom
Free, suggested admission $5
Find out more here.
Reserve your tickets here.
“Found…a DDT dumping ground near LA & Catalina!” Free Zoom Webinar with David Valentine
In January 2019, UCSB’s Dr. David Valentine revealed a shocking and unexpected discovery off Catalina Island and Los Angeles… hundreds of ruptured waste barrels and abundant DDT 3,000 feet below the water’s surface. That finding, along with the realization that the toxic chemical may be causing cancer in sea lions and getting into the human food chain, has led to a massive seafloor mapping exercise to discover the extent of the problem. Numerous newspapers have covered the situation, including the LA Times.
Now, the Santa Barbara Maritime Museum (SBMM) is proud to present “Found…A DDT Dumping Ground near LA and Catalina!” a free Zoom webinar with Dr. David Valentine, the Norris Presidential Chair in Earth Science of the University of California-Santa Barbara, speaking about his discovery, research, and the issues affecting the Channel.This presentation will take place on Thursday, October 21 at 7pm PDT. The webinar is free, but registration is required, and donations are welcome.
Hulloween Pumpkin Trail Festival at Hull Lifesaving Museum
Friday & Saturday, October 29 & 304:00-8:00 pm each day. Suggested Donation $5 per person, $10 per family. Children under 5 are free as is enjoying the museum side yard, light snacks and the gift shop.
Join us at the Lifesaving Museum for this family-friendly “Hulloween” adventure that includes many spooky / fun surprises. Our socially-distanced walking trail will begin at the entrance to the museum, exploring the exhibits as you pass by 100+ carved jack-o’lanterns crafted by fellow Hullonians, onto the pumpkin-lit deck, and, if you dare, wander through our haunted wilderness trail, returning to the main lawn. Visitors are encouraged but not compelled to wear their Halloween costumes.
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum offers youth boater safety course
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is offering another Maryland DNR-approved boater safety course, with a three-session course scheduled for Nov. 15–17 that is aimed at young adult boaters ages 10 and up.
All sessions will be virtual, held via Zoom from 5–8pm, and led by qualified CBMM staff members. The cost to attend is $25 per person, with space limited and registration required. A 20% discount is available for CBMM members.
Boater’s Safety Courses teach participants the basics needed to safely and confidently operate a vessel on Maryland waterways. Maryland boaters born after July 1, 1972, are required to have a Certificate of Boating Safety Education. Participants must attend all sessions and pass the Department of Natural Resources exam to earn a certificate that is good for life.
Early registration is recommended as classes typically fill fast. To register, go to cbmm.org/boatersafety. For information on Maryland DNR’s boating safety program, visit dnr.maryland.gov/boating.
Maryland Dove tours offered in October
On Thursdays in October, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is offering the public a chance to go behind the fences of its working Shipyard for an immersive small group tour of the Maryland Dove build project.
Scheduled for 3pm on Thursdays Oct. 7, 14, 21, & 28, the 45-minute tours will provide an up-close look at what it takes to build a historic maritime vessel in modern times. Led by CBMM’s shipwrights, each tour will give guests a more personal experience with its construction of Maryland Dove, a reproduction of the vessel that accompanied the first European settlers to Maryland in 1634. Slated for completion in 2022, the iconic ship is owned by the state of Maryland and operated and maintained by Historic St. Mary’s City.
The cost to participate is $15 per person, with a 20% discount offered to CBMM members and registration required to cbmm.org/shipyardprograms. Please note: CBMM’s working Shipyard is an active construction site; all participants are expected to wear closed toed, supportive shoes.
