WASHINGTON – Three Maine museums will receive federal grants totaling nearly $354,000 to strengthen programs serving the community, according to U.S. Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins.

The funding is distributed as follows:

. $107,624 to the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay. The funding will support the Plants, People, Place: Interpreting the Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens project, which will provide visitors with a better understanding of gardening and horticulture.

. $96,265 to the Hudson Museum, University of Maine in Orono. The funding will assist the Gifts from Gluskabe: Documenting Maine Indian Material Culture project, which will document artistic traditions represented in the museum’s material culture collections.

. $149,939 to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. The funding will support the Maine Science Collections Curatorial Assessment project, which will provide a statewide assessment of science collections held by state-funded institutions, including universities, to gain control over these materials.

Funding is through Museums for America, which provides millions of dollars each year to sustain cultural heritage and to support lifelong learning.