FARMINGTON — A photographic exhibit tracing the history and significance of the Maine Grange, or Patrons of Husbandry, will open at the University of Maine Farmington Art Gallery with a public reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10.

The exhibit, titled “Ritual and Community: The Maine Grange,” includes more than 150 photographic images by Rose Marasco, an assistant professor of art at the University of Southern Maine.

Marasco visited Grange halls throughout the state to take photographs and interview members. The resulting exhibit, through Oct. 22, includes images of Grange hall interiors and exteriors, ritual and historical documents, and pictures of contemporary Grange activities.

The show originated at the Farnsworth Museum in Rockland, and will travel to University of Maine campuses in Presque Isle, Farmington, Machias, Gorham and Orono, through spring 1993.

In addition to Marasco and social historian Elspeth Brown, other contributors to the project include Dr. Stanley Howe, director of the Bethel Historical Society; architectural historian Thomas Hubka, author of “Big House, Little House, Back House, Barn”; and state Grangemaster Clyde Berry. Major funding for the project has been provided by the Maine Humanities Council.

The Maine Grange was founded in 1874 as part of a national move toward organizing by farmers which culminated in the Populist movement of the 1890s. At the its height in the 1920s, the Maine Grange, a secret fraternal organization open to men and women, had more than 60,000 members throughout the state.

Early Grange members looked to the organization for opportunities in cooperative buying and selling of farm supplies and products. By the 1880s, more and more Maine residents joined the organization for its social and educational benefits.

By the early part of this century, the Grange hall had become an essential symbol of rural community in small towns throughout Maine. Grange membership is Maine today hovers at nearly 12,500. As the close of another century draws near, the Maine Grange is recognized as a source of knowledge about the ways in which rural Americans have created and maintained community in the face of explosive change.

The UMF Art Gallery is open from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The gallery will be closed Oct. 11 and 12. Admission is free.