The Museum of Beadwork is a new museum established on Forest Avenue in Portland, Maine. In the fall of 2019, the Museum of Beadwork filed its Articles of Incorporation and was shortly after granted non-profit 501c3 status and now functions with a 3-person governing Board of Directors. Currently we are entering the first stage of buildout which includes increasing accessibility and security by replacing interior and exterior doors. We are seeking $1,000 from the Awesome Foundation for replacement of the interior single door to a fire rated double door.
We have received an award-winning piece of sculptural art from Jan Huling, a well known bead artist. Her piece The Gown: Affinity has been on exhibition at the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, the Montclair Art Museum in Montclair, NJ, the Pen & Brush Gallery in NYC, and SOFA Chicago and was the category winner for sculptural works from Excellence in Fibers IV. Affinity measures roughly 4 feet wide and is too large to move into the museum gallery space without installing a new double door. A fire rated door is necessary to bring the space up to code as well as add security to the overall museum.
Once this first phase is completed we will then be able to move to larger renovations of the space such as new floors, lighting, HVAC, etc. In addition to fitting larger pieces of artwork and installations, the new double door will also allow us to bring gallery cases, displays, and other renovation supplies into the space which makes addressing this renovation first key. Once open, we anticipate serving a community of roughly 10,000 people per year from Maine and New England, but also visitors from across the US and internationally.