Maine has been a haven to artists for hundreds of years. The dramatic rocky coastline, working harbors, stunning mountain ranges and rich culture was and remains a perfect canvas for artists to explore their craft.
Take a journey through Maine with The Maine Art Museum Trail to enjoy the full experience of Maine art.
What Is the Maine Art Museum Trail?
The Maine Art Museum Trail is a journey through some of the state’s best art museums that you can turn into a whole vacation.
It consists of nine museums containing a total of about 80,000 different works of art, including pieces by some of America’s most renowned creators such as Winslow Homer, the Wyeth family, Georgia O’Keeffe, and Fitz Hugh Lane, as well as works by other world-famous masters such as Renoir and Picasso.
The trail stretches out along 350 miles of the most scenic roadways in Maine and takes you into the heart of some of the state’s best places to eat, shop, and enjoy life. It has the power to both simplify and sophisticate your next trip to Maine.
Maine Art Museum Trail Destinations
Below are the art museums that the Maine Art Museum Trail comprises, along with some useful information about each destination.
- Ogunquit Museum of American Art
- Portland Museum of Art
- Bowdoin College Museum of Art
- Monhegan Museum of Art and History
- Farnsworth Art Museum
- Bates College Museum of Art
- Colby College Museum of Art
- University of Maine Museum of Art
- Abbe Museum
Ogunquit Museum of American Art
Ogunquit is an amazing destination unto itself, but it’s an even better one for fans of all things American art. The Ogunquit Museum of American Art’s collection includes over 3,000 works and a constantly rotating selection of incredible exhibitions for you to enjoy, and the setting in which you’ll be able to take it all in is absolutely breathtaking.
Portland Museum of Art
Located in the middle of Maine’s most populous (and popular) city, the Portland Museum of Art is renowned not only throughout the state but throughout the world. It was founded back in 1882, so as you might imagine, it’s loaded not only with historical works of art but also with a history of its own.
Bowdoin College Museum of Art
Along the Maine Art Museum Trail, you’ll get to check out four of Maine’s top colleges, including historic Bowdoin College in Brunswick. It’s been around longer than Maine has been a state, and so has its famed art museum. What started as a collection of 70 paintings and 141 drawings now stands at over 20,000 pieces.
Monhegan Museum of Art and History
You’re not taking in all of Maine unless you board at least one boat and travel to at least one remote location bedecked with a lighthouse. Fortunately, the Maine Art Museum Trail includes exactly that. Travel to beautiful Monhegan Island and learn about its history through the Monhegan Museum’s 1,300 piece art collection.
Farnsworth Art Museum
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland boasts one of the most impressive art collections on the entire Maine Art Museum Trail: 15,000 pieces in a beautiful 20,000 square foot building. It’s most notable for the Wyeth Center, which contains work from all three generations of the famed family of American artists.
Bates College Museum of Art
Bates College is another of Maine’s most historic learning institutions. The beautiful campus alone is worth the trip, but the Museum of Art makes it even more so. It hosts a collection of thousands of works in various mediums from all over the globe.
Colby College Museum of Art
Colby College in Waterville is another school that’s older than Maine itself. Its art museum hasn’t been around nearly as long, having been established in 1959, but its collection contains pieces of American art dating back to the 18th century.
University of Maine Museum of Art
You don’t have to be an art aficionado to recognize some of the names of the artists whose pieces are on display at the University of Maine Museum of Art in Bangor.
It contains works by some of Maine’s most famed artists, such as Winslow Homer and Andrew Wyeth, and it also has pieces by some of the world’s most renowned creators, including Picasso and Warhol.
Abbe Museum
The final museum on the Maine Art Museum Trail celebrates the pre-colonial history of Maine through the works of the Wabanaki Confederacy. It offers a tremendous collection of Native American art of all kinds, with a major focus on being “inclusive, collaborative, and mindful” of the cultural history of the Wabanaki people and their art.
9 Museums • 80,000 Works Of Art • 350 Scenic Miles • Infinite Possibilities. For more information, visit maineartmuseums.org.
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