Penobscot Marine Museum links past, present Energetic new director seeks to raise facility’s visibility

SEARSPORT – Niles Parker believes it’s possible for a museum to be stuck in the past.

Parker, hired as executive director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in August, sees the institution’s key challenge as linking its central story – the life of 19th century sea captains – with the lives of 21st century people.

Opportunities abound to make those connections, he said in an interview Monday, through a variety of initiatives, from developing a new Web site that will allow access to the museum’s photographic and document collection, to using the nearby Mack Point cargo port to illustrate contemporary shipping.

The museum is also working to further increase its presence on Main Street, which is also U.S. Route 1, Parker said, and early next year will unveil a bold new educational resource based on its collection to offer to schools statewide.

“Museums are often perceived as the town’s dusty old attics. At some point, you’ve got to grow or evolve,” he said, clearly putting the Penobscot Marine Museum in the “grow and evolve” camp.

Parker, 38, was most recently acting director and chief curator at the Nantucket Historical Association’s Whaling Museum. He and his wife and their three children were in Nantucket for almost eight years.

Before that, he was a curator with the New York State Historical Association’s Fenimore Art Museum and Farmers Museum.

A Colby College graduate with a degree in American Studies, Parker met his wife at the Waterville school. She has family ties to Hampden and Bangor, while he has some family history in Sedgwick and Brooklin. Both jumped at the opportunity to return to Maine.

Since taking the helm of the museum, Parker has heard the now-familiar refrain of those who visit for the first time: “Wow – this is a gem. Great collections, great place. I’ve driven by a million times and never stopped in.”

Museum officials are pleased with the rave reviews, but less than thrilled with the “driven by a million times” part.

Parker said a large part of his charge is to continue ongoing efforts to market the museum regionally. Too often, people think of it as “that Searsport museum,” he said.

“I think it really is a diamond in the rough,” Parker said, and he’s looking forward to shining it up.

The Penobscot Marine Museum features a dozen historic buildings, including 19th century homes, an art museum and a library.

Parker believes it’s poised to become a leading cultural and educational resource for the Penobscot Bay region, which includes the Penobscot River watershed and the communities on the east and west sides of the bay.

The museum was founded in 1936, but just 8,000-10,000 people visit it annually. Parker believes the institution – and all historical societies and museums – must work to make its niche connect with contemporary life.

In recent years, the museum had summer exhibits themed around pirates – in conjunction with a similar exhibit at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland – and on all aspects of lobster fishing. The latter exhibit featured a giant lobster trap into which children could walk to viscerally understand its mechanics.

When the museum reopens in the spring, its new exhibit will highlight photography from the region, including many from the latter 20th century. The idea, Parker said, is to focus on a modern medium to illustrate the area’s history.

“What we do really well now is talk about 19th century sea captain stories,” he said. “We’ll always celebrate that,” but Parker hopes to see the past used to explain and inform the present and future in the Penobscot Bay area.

As an example of what he is thinking of, Parker notes that a busy cargo port at Mack Point is just a mile away from the museum.

“What can we do to re-engage with that?” he asked. “Route 1 bisects our thinking,” he continued; the museum must see itself differently, as a more vital part of the greater community.

And, although exhibits are closed for the season, the museum plans to offer several events to further connect with the community, such as concerts, book readings and signings, and lectures.

Plans also are in the works to use the Main Street store building “in a much more exciting, diverse way,” he said.

The museum will continue to collaborate with other area museums – such as the Farnsworth and the Maine Lighthouse Museum in Rockland and the Owls Head Transportation Museum – in marketing efforts and in seeking grants and other funding sources, Parker said, a trend in the museum world.

Other trends the museum will follow are the move to digitize photos and documents to make them accessible to people from their home computers, and to offer a MP3 narration one can download onto an iPod to enhance a tour of the museum.

“I think there’s great potential,” Parker said. “I think there is great opportunity here, with our campus, and being at the head of Penobscot Bay.”

For more information, visit: www.penobscotmarinemuseum.org