(Now showing) From The Cradle To The Grave: Mining The Ed Coffin Collection

Currently on display at the H. Allen and Sally Fernald Art Gallery here at the UMaine Hutchinson Center…

From the Cradle to the Grave: Mining the Ed Coffin Collection showcases 28 of the more than 2,500 photographs Ed Coffin collected throughout his lifetime. There are many themes to explore in the Coffin collection, but two that stand out as crowd-pleasers are ship launches and shipwrecks. The “birth” and “death” of ships have long held the public’s fascination. Most of Maine’s Midcoast towns have been involved in building boats, ships and schooners. Watching the culmination of a year or more of construction and investment has been a spectacle not to be missed. On the flip side, the wreck of a ship evokes entirely different feelings, but the pull to see the tragic scene and to learn the grim story can be just as strong.

Our thanks to community partner the Penobscot Marine Museum for the loan of these beautiful photographs! Learn more about the Penobscot Marine Museum (and how to schedule a tour of their incredible campus) on their website.