Enter to win a Gabriel Frey Basket

To celebrate the 25th year of the Native American Festival, we will be raffling off this beautiful Gabriel Frey Market Basket. 

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.

If you have always wanted to own a Gabriel Frey piece, now is your chance! We will be raffling off this basket from now until July 8, 2018. Tickets are available in the shop, online, and at the Native American Festival on July 7 – 1 for $2.00, 3 for $5.00, 7 for $10.00. You won’t want to miss out on adding this piece to your personal collection. The winner will be announced on July 8, so grab your tickets today and support the Abbe as we change lives through learning!

THE RAFFLE IS NOW CLOSED. Thank you to everyone who participated!

Wabanaki Artists Win Top Ribbons at Santa Fe Indian Market

Three Wabanaki artists from Maine won a total of four ribbons at the Santa Fe Indian Market in New Mexico on August 18, 2017. For more than six years, Wabanaki artists have won top spots at the prestigious market.  

Sarah Sockbeson, Penobscot, took first in Division B: Non-Southwest Basketry in the contemporary category. 2017 Abbe Museum Fellow Geo Neptune, Passamaquoddy, placed second in the same division. 

Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy, won first and honorable mention in Division B: Non-Southwest Basketry in the twined/wicker category. This was the second time in attendance for Frey, and he added to his honorable mention ribbon from last year. 

“I feel so honored and humbled by the reception my work got out west,” Frey said. “It's a pretty incredible experience, and I’m so fortunate to have been able to be there.” 

Abbe Museum President and CEO Cinnamon Catlin-Legutko and Abbe Museum Indian Market Producer Dawn Spears, Narragansett/Choctaw, attended the Market to meet with artists about the Abbe Museum Indian Market coming up in May 2018.

“Artists were enthusiastic about our market plans for Bar Harbor,” Catlin-Legutko said. “We were excited to share that applications are now available for the juried process and the deadline is September 15, 2017.”

For the past 96 years, Santa Fe Indian Market has been bringing together the most talented Native American artists from around the US. As the largest Native arts fair in the world, the market spans an entire plaza and surrounding streets and consists of a myriad of events — galas, art openings, music and experiences, fashion shows, and the much anticipated juried art show. Of the more than 1,000 artists who participated this year, seven were Wabanaki artists from the state of Maine.

Other Wabanaki artists accepted to attend the market included 2017 Abbe Museum Fellows Jeremy Frey, Passamaquoddy and Donna Brown, Penobscot, as well as Jason Brown, Penobscot, and Ganessa Frey, Penobscot.

The inaugural Abbe Museum Indian Market will be held May 18-20, 2018 in downtown Bar Harbor. More details on the Market can be found at www.abbemuseum.org/indianmarket. 
 

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. 
 

Children's Mandala Workshop with Twisted Path III Artist Gabriel Frey

Saturday May 3, Noon - 3:00 PM


Mandala’s are found in cultures across the globe, and typically feature a circular motif that is filled with symbolism meant to invoke specific imagery during meditation. In this workshop, Gabriel Frey, Passamaquoddy, will not only speak about the mandala he created using Wabanaki symbolism for the Twisted Path III: Questions of Balance exhibit, but guide students through the process of creating their own mandala.

Free and open to the public, registration required. All ages welcome, but priority is given to children. Contact Museum Educator George Neptune to make a reservation, george@abbemuseum.org or (207)288-3519.
Location: Abbe Museum Downtown