Abbe Museum Welcomes New Trustees

The Abbe Museum has added two new members to its Board of Trustees, bringing the total number of Trustees to 16. The new appointees, Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy, and Sarah Sockbeson, Penobscot, assumed their new roles on June 2, 2017. Abbe Trustees Jeff Dalrymple and Richard Cleary were elected to a third term.

"We are honored to have Gabe and Sarah join the Abbe’s board,” said Abbe Museum Board Chair Ann Cox Halkett. “Both bring talents and new perspectives that will complement and strengthen our energetic and engaged board. Their leadership will be especially important as the Abbe continues its commitment to decolonization and launches the first annual Abbe Museum Indian Market in Bar Harbor in May 2018.”

Gabriel Frey is a Passamaquoddy artist who learned to make brown ash baskets from his grandfather. His baskets can be seen in museums and galleries across Maine, and his work was recently featured in museum exhibits in Maine and Connecticut. Gabe was a recipient of a Native Arts New England grant from the New England Foundation for the Arts in 2008, and he teaches basketmaking to apprentice Wabanaki basketmakers.

Image courtesy Eager Eye Photography

Sarah Sockbeson is a Penobscot artist, raised in Brooklin, Maine. Her great-grandmother made Penobscot baskets in the early 1900s on Indian Island. In 2004 Sarah apprenticed with Jennifer Neptune where she learned the history, techniques, and art that has become modern native basketry. She was soon being recognized by museums and collectors across the country from Maine to Arizona. Her unique style incorporates many different elements of traditional Wabanaki technique, however, she combines the tradition with innovative colors and patterns to create a fresh, new approach to a timeless and beautiful art form.

The Abbe Museum Trustees also include: Ann Cox Halkett (Chair), Joseph F. Cistone (Vice Chair), Curtis Simard (Secretary), Jeff Dalrymple (Treasurer), Richard Cleary, William Haviland, Abbe Levin, Jamie Bissonette Lewey, Margo Lukens, Roger Milliken, Jennifer Neptune, Patricia DiIanni Selig, Douglas Sharpe, Chris Sockalexis, and Honorary Trustees Alice Wellman and Darren J. Ranco. 
 

Abbe Museum Welcomes New Trustees

The Abbe Museum has added two new members to its Board of Trustees, bringing the total number of Trustees to 20. The new appointees, Mary Herman and Roger Milliken, assumed their new roles on October 21, 2016. Abbe Trustee William Haviland was elected to a third term earlier this year.

“Both Roger and Mary offer a state-wide perspective that we are always looking to add to boardroom conversations,” said Abbe President/CEO Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko. “We really see ourselves as a state-wide educational resource and their experiences and connections will certainly help us deepen our purpose. And, for the past few years, we’ve made great strides in our efforts, adding board members from the tribal communities and from across New England.” 

Mary J. Herman serves on the University of New England Board and is a former member of the Maine Women’s Lobby and Safe Passage boards. After graduating college in the Midwest, she moved east, first to teach in Washington, DC, then to attend graduate school in Boston. In 1973, Herman moved to Calais (and then Perry) Maine where she worked in the Passamaquoddy basket store and was a teacher aide on Peter Dana Point. During this time she taught prenatal classes and eventually directed the family planning program for Downeast Health Services.

In 1981, Herman began work for The Maine Women’s Lobby. Following two years at the Lobby, she joined what was to become Cohen-Herman Associates and eventually Mary J Herman Associates, a public policy consulting lobbying and association management firm. She is married to Angus King and lives in Brunswick, Maine.

Roger Milliken is President and CEO of the Baskahegan Company, which owns and manages 120,000 acres of family forestland in eastern Maine. Baskahegan is a recognized leader in Maine’s forest products industry, known for its commitment to managing for timber while respecting the dynamics of natural systems. Baskahegan’s forest has been green-certified by the Forest Stewardship Council since 2004.

Milliken is a Director of Milliken & Co, and a Trustee of the Northern Forest Center. He and his wife Margot serve on the Advisory Board of the American Indian Institute. Roger served on the (global) Board of Directors of the Nature Conservancy from 2000-2011, chairing the board for the last three years of his term. He previously chaired the Maine Chapter of the Conservancy and the Advisory Board of the Manomet Forest Conservation Program.

The Abbe Museum Trustees also include: Ann Cox Halkett (Chair), Richard Cleary (Vice Chair), Curtis Simard (Secretary) Jeff Dalrymple (Treasurer), David Moses Bridges (Passamaquoddy), Joseph F. Cistone, Linda K. Dunn, William Haviland, Abbe Levin, Jamie Bissonette Lewey (Abenaki), Margo Lukens, Jennifer Neptune (Penobscot), Patricia DiIanni Selig, Douglas Sharpe, Chris Sockalexis (Penobscot), Sandra K. Wilcox, and Honorary Trustees Alice Wellman and Darren J. Ranco (Penobscot).

Abbe Museum Welcomes New Trustees

The Abbe Museum has added four new Trustees to its Board of Directors, bringing the total number of Trustees to 19. The new appointees – Abbe Levin, Margo Lukens, Patti Selig, and Chris Sockalexis – assumed their new roles on August 12, 2015.

“We are excited to welcome our incoming class,” said Abbe Museum President/CEO, Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko. “Our new members bring talents and new perspectives that will complement and strengthen our already impressive Board. We have spent time building a Board that is reflective of our community, our organizational needs, and our mission, and that care and commitment has certainly paid off. It is a pleasure to work alongside the Abbe Trustees as we strengthen the Abbe Museum’s presence locally and statewide.”

Abbe Levin is a cultural development consultant, and has served as the Cultural Tourism Coordinator for the Maine Office of Tourism since 2007. In addition, Levin works with a wide range of organizations and projects to assist with the preservation and promotion of cultural resources. She currently serves on the Maine Development Foundation’s Maine Downtown Center Advisory Council and the Sheepscot Valley Children’s House Board of Directors. Levin lives in Boothbay with her husband, and has two sons.

Margo Lukens is a professor in the University of Maine Department of English, and presently serves as chair of the Department of New Media and director of academic programs in Innovation Engineering. Her research interests include Wabanaki literary and storytelling history, Native American and First Nations plays and playwrights, innovation, and making whiteness visible to white people. Her work has included producing and directing Native American plays on campus and in the region, and generally participating in as much theater as possible.

Patti Selig’s first exposure to the Abbe was in the 1980s as she and her family discovered the Museum while visiting Sieur de Monts. She and her family lived in Ocean City, Maryland for 40 years where her husband owned a large construction company and she worked as a psychologist. She spent 20 years as a faculty member and department chair with the University of Maryland system, and when she retired from her career in higher education in 2005, she and her husband purchased the Cranberry Hill Inn in Southwest Harbor. She has been active as a volunteer for the Abbe for many years, serving on the Gala Committee, the Culinary Arts committee, and working at the front desk as a greeter.

Chris Sockalexis, Penobscot, is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the Penobscot Nation, and has served on the Abbe Museum Native Advisory Council since 2012. He has a BA in Anthropology from the University of Maine with his primary focus being on Maine Archaeology. He is currently conducting research for his Masters of Science degree at the University of Maine Climate Change Institute. Sockalexis is also a flintkapper with knowledge of the ancient art and technique of stone and bone tool production. Sockalexis is also an avid canoe/kayak paddler who loves being out in the Maine woods and on the waterways that his ancestors have traveled for thousands of years. He lives with his wife Jill and her daughter Taylor in Winterport, and is the proud father of Shannon, Willow, and Em.

The Abbe Museum Trustees also include: Ann Cox Halkett (Chair), Richard Cleary (Vice Chair), Katherine Stroud Bucklin (Secretary), Jeff Dalrymple (Treasurer), David Moses Bridges, Joseph F. Cistone, Linda K. Dunn, William Haviland, Jamie Bissonette Lewey, Barbara E. McLeod, Jennifer Neptune, Douglas Sharpe, Curtis Simard, Steve Wessler, Sandra K. Wilcox, and Honorary Trustees Alice Wellman and Darren J. Ranco.