Who says you can’t bring food into the museum? Three food-adjacent exhibits not to miss this spring.
The Tropics Next Door: A Look at Maine and the Caribbean
How Maine’s historical trade in molasses and rum shaped everything from New England’s food culture to slave trafficking. You can feel the trade breezes blowing in late Maine luminist Stephen Etnier’s Caribbean waterfront paintings. Through May 5. Maine Maritime Museum, 243 Washington St., Bath. 207-443-1316.
“I’ve visited Maine Maritime Museum since I was a kid. It’s the only museum I’ve ever arrived at by boat, which makes real that connection between Maine’s maritime past and present.”
— Guest Editor Sam Sifton
Big Rock Candy Mountain
Painter, illustrator, and installation artist Zach Horn’s fractal-like tomato slices, Magic Eye spaghetti noodles, and corncob mandalas (above) nod to the ritualistic aspects of mealtime. Through May 4. University of Maine Museum of Art, 40 Harlow St., Bangor. 207-581-3300.
wolankeyutomon: Take Care of Everything
A clay bowl etched with fish contains cigarette butts, bottle caps, and foil flecks: marine ecosystems take a lot of abuse, and this exhibit of works by indigenous artists looks at conservation in sacred Wabanaki waters. Throughout 2019. Abbe Museum, 26 Mt. Desert St., Bar Harbor. 207-288-3519.