Colby Museum of Art
Town: Waterville
Region: The Kennebec Valley
Activities: Art museum
Admission: free
Hours: Tuesday-Saturday: 10 am-5 pm Sunday: Noon-5 pm
The Colby Museum of Art is considered one of the best academic museums in the country, with a focus on American and contemporary art. The museum’s vast collection of more than 10,000 pieces showcases important works by Mary Cassatt, Georgia O’Keefe, Winslow Homer, John Singleton Copley, Marsden Hartley, Alex Katz, Maya Lin, Elizabeth Murray, Richard Serra, Kiki Smith, James McNeill Whistler, and Terry Winters.
You can spend an entire day enjoying the museum’s many permanent collections, including the Lunder Collection, which has more than 500 works of American art from the 19th to 21st centuries. The Bernard Langlais Collection, with 187 works, traces the remarkable trajectory of Langlais’ career from his student days at the Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture to his late years in Cushing, Maine.
To learn more about the artwork, join an in-person tour of the new summer exhibitions, offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m. throughout the summer.
Current Exhibitions
Inside Out: The Prints of Mary Cassatt
Mary Cassatt is well known for her impressionist paintings. She focused on the domestic lives, social rituals, and leisure activities of affluent women in 19th-century Paris. This exhibition focuses on her lesser-known print work.
Bob Thompson: This House Is Mine
This exhibition offers a rich reconsideration of a visionary African American painter. Born in Louisville, Kentucky, Bob Thompson (1937-1966) earned critical acclaim in the late 1950s for his paintings of figurative complexity and chromatic intensity.
Once you’ve worked up an appetite, head to downtown Waterville for a bite to eat. Front & Main is the newest option, serving lunch and dinner every day, with a focus on local foods. For lighter fare, enjoy a coffee or bubble tea at Selah Tea Cafe. They also have pizza, salads and tasty sandwiches to choose from. Mainely Brews has plenty of beers on tap and a wide variety of menu items for lunch and dinner.
Driving Distance:
From Ellsworth: 80 miles
From Bangor: 55 miles
From Lewiston/Auburn: 55 miles
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