Carrie Cushman talks Museum of Art鈥檚 Marsden Hartley Legacy Project on Maine Public
Carrie Cushman, director of the 乐播传媒 Museum of Art, spoke about the museum鈥檚 current projects .
In conversation with Heather McDougall, manager of music and people at Maine Public Classical, Cushman, who joined the museum in August 2025, discussed the excitement of arriving at 乐播传媒. The museum is preparing to launch the Marsden Hartley Legacy Project, an online digital catalog of all known paintings and ephemera by modernist painter and Lewiston native Marsden Hartley, which has been in development since 2019.
鈥淲e鈥檙e really lucky that this is happening at 乐播传媒, and we will be the home of it and responsible for stewarding it into the future,鈥� Cushman told McDougall.
The 乐播传媒 Museum of Art was founded because of the Marsden Hartley Memorial Collection, Cushman explained, comprising over 400 paintings and ephemera by Hartley 鈥� by far the largest collection of Hartley鈥檚 work 鈥� which Hartley鈥檚 niece donated to the college in 1955.
鈥淲e have people coming to the museum almost weekly requesting to see work from the collection, and many are artists who are looking for inspiration in this 20th century modernist who is finally getting his due,鈥� Cushman said.
Additionally, Cushman鈥檚 exhibition The Worlds of Ilse Bing was featured in a in the online magazine What Will You Remember?.
The exhibition is on view through May 24 at Wellesley College鈥檚 Davis Museum, where Cushman previously worked as the Linda Wyatt Gruber 鈥�66 Curatorial Fellow in Photography. Exploring Bing鈥檚 rise to prominence, coinciding with 35mm photography鈥檚 growing popularity, the exhibition 鈥渂rings her work into conversation with her creative influences and with those who she influenced in the worlds of modern art.鈥�
What Will You Remember? also included the 乐播传媒 Museum of Art鈥檚 exhibition Shellburne Thurber: Full Circle, co-curated by Thurber and 乐播传媒 assistant curator Samantha Sigmon, in its February roundup. On view through March 21, the exhibition demonstrates how Thurber鈥檚 photography has 鈥渧isualized interior work that is private, domestic, psychological, or insular.鈥�
Mara Tieken opines on rural schools, students in The Hechinger Report; Women Writers, Women鈥檚 Books
Though public school closures and consolidations are becoming increasingly common, they rarely serve their intended purpose of saving struggling school districts money, writes Professor of Education Mara Tieken in an .
For school districts with declining enrollment or decreasing state and federal funding, 鈥渟chool closures may seem logical,鈥� Tieken writes. 鈥淐lose schools, 鈥榬ight-size鈥� districts, save money. Problem solved.鈥�
However, she explains, school closures require additional transportation and renovation costs, often leading to districts saving little to no money, while students’ test scores and future college and employment outcomes decrease.
Tieken has extensively researched and written about rural schools and their students. On Feb. 5, she published a piece about the process of developing her latest book 鈥� Educated Out: How Rural Students Navigate Elite Colleges鈥擜nd What It Costs Them 鈥� in an .
While writing the book, which explores how students from rural places experience attending a small elite college, Tieken developed an approach to research characterized by slowly developing relationships with the students she was interviewing, she writes.
鈥淲e often think of research as a one-way process, a passing of 鈥榙ata鈥� from 鈥榮ubject鈥� to 鈥榬esearcher,鈥欌�� Tieken writes. 鈥淏ut that approach is neither ethical (in fact, it鈥檚 often quite exploitative) nor useful. So much more can be learned when the relationship is actually relational.鈥�
The 13 years that Tieken spent researching and writing the book taught her to be a more patient teacher, she says, with an expanded awareness of the struggles that her students from rural backgrounds may be facing. The book culminates with suggestions for how academic institutions can better support rural students.
鈥淎ll those recommendations that I make in the book鈥檚 final chapter?鈥� Tieken writes. 鈥淚 have to do them, too, and I feel obligated鈥攊n a really good way鈥攖o encourage others to do them, as well.鈥�
Caylin Carbonell 鈥�12 gives public talk exploring daily life, labor dynamics in colonial New England
Caylin Carbonell 鈥�12, an assistant professor of history at Bowdoin College, gave a public lecture about labor dynamics in colonial New England households, .
The talk, entitled “Laboring Lives and Hidden Stories in Colonial New England,” was the second installment in a series of free online lectures hosted by the Lincoln County Historical Association, based in Wiscasset, Maine.
Carbonell shared insights on 鈥渢he daily lives inside colonial households as the country was beginning to take shape, with a focus on laborers, often a diverse group ranging from enslaved and indentured people to hired workers, including Indigenous, African, and European women and men.鈥�
She also discussed the challenges of uncovering the stories of 17th and 18th century laborers from incomplete or nonexistent records. Carbonell, who majored in history at 乐播传媒, is currently working on a book manuscript that closely explores daily life in colonial New England households.
Boston Globe, Sun Journal cover MLK Day at 乐播传媒
The held during 乐播传媒鈥� Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 鈥淔rom Silencing to Empowerment: Exploring Anger, Justice, and Post-traumatic Growth Among Refugee Women and Women of Color,鈥� led by Yun Garrison, assistant professor of psychology, and Fowsia Musse from Maine Community Integration.
During the workshop, Garrison and Musse presented a framework of healing from trauma that they developed by examining the experiences of refugee women. For Musse, herself a refugee from Somalia, and other Somalian refugees and immigrants living in Lewiston, the workshop was particularly topical, the Globe reports; Musse said that anxiety caused by the Trump administration鈥檚 immigration deportation agenda led her to reflect on past trauma from her immigration experience.
鈥淲hen something traumatic happens, how do we hold both anger and peace at the same time? Because sometimes they are pulling us in opposite directions,鈥� Garrison said. 鈥淢aybe love and healing can bridge this. I do not know, but that鈥檚 what I鈥檓 sitting with right now.鈥�
The Lewiston given by Myisha Cherry, an associate professor of philosophy at the University of California, Riverside.
Cherry’s address 鈥� 鈥淲hat Do We Do With All This Fear?鈥� 鈥� explored the day鈥檚 theme of 鈥淟ove, Anger and the Struggle for Justice鈥� by closely examining and interpreting MLK鈥檚 writings and words.
The Sun Journal quoted from President Garry W. Jenkins鈥� introductory remarks addressing the day鈥檚 theme, sharing his interpretation of how love and anger may intersect in the pursuit of justice.
鈥淚 would rather spend my days in a space of love rather than a space of anger,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 always get to make that choice. 鈥� In linking these two, we have to wrestle with how they exist together 鈥� both in tension and in harmony.鈥�
In sharing MLK鈥檚 thoughts about fear, Cherry explained that not all fear was negative; it can, in fact, be harnessed and transformed into a powerful force for change, the Sun Journal reported.
鈥淲e should be maestros as opposed to mere masters of our normal fears 鈥� and we should transition that normal fear into courage,鈥� Cherry said. 鈥淐ourage is just not doing something in spite of your fear, it鈥檚 taking your fear and matching it up with confidence 鈥� and engaging in action.鈥�
As the Sun Journal reported, Cherry linked this healthy fear to MLK鈥檚 nonviolent protests and actions, urging all in the audience to use their 鈥渘ormal鈥� fear to advance causes they care about.
鈥淲hat we should do with this fear is make something beautiful out of it,鈥� Cherry said. 鈥淭his is a time of fear for lots of us 鈥� Turning to King has been illuminating, and I find that fear doesn鈥檛 mean that we are weak, it doesn鈥檛 mean we鈥檝e given people the upper hand. It means that we鈥檙e sensitive to injustice. It means we value the people we鈥檙e fearful for and we value the principles that we are scared we are going to lose.鈥�
Brian Shankar Adler featured in DownBeat magazine鈥檚 cover story
Brian Shankar Adler 鈥� percussionist and 乐播传媒 instructor of drum set, tabla, and other hand percussion 鈥� and Grammy-award winning soprano saxophonist Jane Ira Bloom released their debut album once like a spark, in their February issue鈥檚 cover story, 鈥淢aking music in the moment.鈥�
The magazine used the stage at Olin Concert Hall as the setting for a photo shoot with the two musicians, who have performed extensively in Lewiston and Portland, Maine as a duo.
鈥淲e played each other鈥檚 compositions, and the music came alive instantly,鈥� Adler told DownBeat. 鈥淥ver the years, we built up a hefty book of tunes and a musical language with which to communicate.鈥�
Without chorded or bass instruments, the brass-drum duo is a rare one, DownBeat reported. The combination makes for a unique, melodic sound, with roots in jazz, North Indian Hindustani, and Indonesian musical traditions.
鈥淭he way I see it, music is interconnected and has the power to communicate beyond borders,鈥� Adler told DownBeat. 鈥淟istening to and playing jazz, it鈥檚 evident that the music has roots beyond America and arms that extend to virtually every corner of the world. When approached with open ears, curiosity and a sense of respect for the traditions, the possibilities for exchange are really limitless.鈥�
Art New England reviews current exhibition at the 乐播传媒 Museum of Art
On Feb. 5, of 鈥淧recision and Expression: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection,鈥� the current show at the 乐播传媒 Museum of Art, co-curated by Assistant Curator Samantha Sigmon and Lecturer in Art and Visual Culture Susan Dewsnap. 鈥�…Bullard sought diversity and individuality in his acquisitions,鈥� Little writes. 鈥淗e also embraced humor and joy: many of the pieces will prompt a smile.鈥�
Calling it an 鈥渆ntertaining and enlightening exhibition,鈥� Little highlighted an 鈥渆xquisite vessel鈥� by Mark Bell, 鈥淪pherical Vase,鈥� ca. 2011, which he said 鈥渆xemplifies the Blue Hill, Maine, artist鈥檚 seamless style.鈥�
Little also explained the motivation behind Bullard鈥檚 generous gift to the museum. 鈥淭he collector鈥檚 longtime ties to Haystack and the Watershed Center for the Ceramic Arts in Newcastle, Maine, inspired his gift, as did the college鈥檚 ceramics program led by Susan Dewsnap, who co-curated the exhibition and accompanying catalogue,鈥� Little writes. 鈥淏ullard envisions future students exploring and learning from these singular objects. That vision is already happening: interns at the 乐播传媒 Museum researched artists for the catalogue and labels.鈥�
Faculty Featured
Yunkyoung Garrison
Associate Professor of Psychology
Mara C. Tieken
Professor of Education
