In our region, colleges and universities are common. We take for granted that every institution of higher learning looks after the artistic, intellectual, and recreational needs of its students. But many of those same amenities are open to the rest of us, often for free or at a low cost. It’s almost as if they are hiding in plain sight. Here are 10 smart things to do this winter and spring at a college near you. You don’t even have to take notes.
Hudson Museum, University of Maine at Orono
A recent renovation netted more display space for the collection of more than 8,000 ethnographic and archeological objects ranging from Precolumbian ceramics to Navajo weavings to Southeast Asian musical instruments. Exhibits in the World Cultures Gallery draw on objects to explore everyday life, rituals, and beliefs across cultures. The museum also devotes an entire gallery to Maine’s Native American tribes. A birchbark canoe and a hide-covered wigwam (constructed in the gallery over a three-day period) will probably be of most interest to children. The museum also works with the Maine Indian Basketmakers Alliance to preserve and advance traditional basketry. Through April you can see the work of five of the most skilled contemporary basketmakers in the exhibition “Transcending Traditions.’’
