New Special Exhibit 

Did you know that the scientific name for whales, "cetacean," means monster?

​In Fall 2024, the museum will be hosting a 2-year exhibition exploring nautical myths and legends, and their ties to social and environmental concerns today. We invite you to discover the ocean's influence on how cultures were shaped and continue to shape us.

Highlights 

• See maps, prints, scrimshaw, and ephemera highlighting the folklore of sea serpents, mermaids, dragons, and other diverse global legends
• Consider what makes a monster a monster
• Discover how sailors used myths to help explain nature, and how legends continue to inspire human creativity today
• Explore how human interest in mermaids is timeless, from cave paintings to fashion trends to Starbucks coffee cups 
• Try your hand at sketching sea creatures based on historical descriptions

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Related Programming

The museum will offer special community programming themed to this exhibition. Stay tuned!

Events Calendar

Monsters & Mermaids: Exhibit Opening Events

Collaborating Artist

Cindy Pease Roe, an artist based in Greenport, NY and founder of UpSculpt, will create a dramatic kraken/giant squid sculpture for this exhibition fashioned out of plastic debris collected from Long Island beaches.

​Her sculpture will encourage wonder reflection on how our environmental impacts are changing the ocean's stories. 

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UpSculpt Installation

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We are thankful this exhibition was made possible in part by:

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   Wonderful museum. The children enjoy being able to handle things in the section of the museum where there is a replica of a general store, historical costumes to try on and even the lower bunk of a ship bed to lie down. Lovely staff too."
Laura D. ​​