Immerse yourself in a Maine neighborhood at “kid scale.”
Our Neighborhood is a place where children can play different roles and learn about some of the many lifeways that make Maine a special place to live, including: an Amtrak Downeaster plane, a jet and air traffic control tower, a fire truck, a healthcare clinic, and a lobster boat.
In addition, Lighthouse Cove provides toddlers and infants with sheltered space and activities that are designed specifically for them, such as a giant sand castle, a lighthouse, and bernoulli blower.
Firetruck
Back by popular demand! Slide down a brass fire station pole and become a firefighter in a life-sized fire truck! Try on some gear, climb into the driver's seat and race to the scene - don't forget to turn on the authentic fire engine lights and sirens! This is a great place to reinforce the importance of fire safety.
Made possible by a generous gift from Libra Foundation
Melissa’s Seaside Cottage
Cozy up in our seaside cottage. This intimate space allows you to read and rest. Choose from a collection of books in many languages and read alone or with each other in a room with a view.
Made possible by a generous gift from Michael Bourque
In memory of Melissa Rector Bourque
Train
All aboard; here comes the train! This modern train features a passenger car as well as a freight car. Ride in the passenger car, load up the freight car with luggage or be the conductor and drive the train yourself! Don’t forget to visit the train station, where you can dress up and give customers tickets through a ticket window.
Generously Sponsored by Amtrak Downeaster
Bear Care Center
This health center is a perfect place to learn the importance of health while getting familiar and comfortable with being in a doctor’s office! Dress up in medical attire to examine a teddy bear with real tools and measurements. This exhibit offers a chance to care for others and to practice empathy.
Generously Sponsored by Maine Health
Jetport
Fly through the world! Journey over to this mini airport and fly along with the real planes, visible just outside the window from this little two-seat plane. Head into the control tower, where you can listen to real time live feed of the actual control tower across the river! Don’t forget to put your luggage onto the conveyor belt and send it down to the plane.
Generously Sponsored by City of Portland, Portland International Jetport
Lobster Shack & Fish Market
Where the service is always great and the lobster is always fresh: cook with fresh seafood straight off the boat. Prepare fish chowder, scoop ice cream, or go all out and cook a traditional Maine shore dinner. Experiment with food combinations and explore your creativity in the kitchen.
Generously Sponsored by Hood
Lobster Boat “Peachy”
Navigate the deep blue in a lobster boat! Learn about Maine's working waterfronts, practice knot-tying, and get your vessel sea-worthy before you set out. Climb aboard, bait and haul the traps, and navigate your way back to the harbor.
Made possible by a generous gift from Chip & Annie Williams
In honor of Jean Gannett Williams
Lighthouse Cove
Feel safe and sheltered in this fenced off seaside cove designed for children 2 and under and for those with sensory integration needs. Learn to crawl and walk up cushioned steps at the interactive sand castle. Explore nooks and crannies, textured panels, a mirror with a pull-up bar, and age appropriate books. Float scarves and balls high in the air over a Bernoulli blower. Enter the infant zone to explore squishy, engaging floor mats and other sensory elements.
Lighthouse made possible by a generous gift from Joel and Joanna Pond
Bernoulli Blower made possible by a generous gift from Steve and Mimi Barber
Disability Access made possible by a generous gift from Shaw Brothers Construction, Inc.
Patrick Corrigan Illustrations made possible by a generous gift from AlGar Foundation
Where?
Second Floor
Access Info
Melissa's Seaside Cottage
• Braille books are available;
• The cottage is wheelchair accessible;
• Books are stored and displayed at a variety of heights.
Train
• The train floor is designed as transfer platform;
• The train is “driven” with a lever and is operable with a closed or open fist.
Bear Care Center
• Wheelchair users can enter and turnaround inside the Care Center.
Jetport
• The ground-level luggage conveyor belt is operated by a wheel. The wheel has a universal steering knob.
• The Control Tower is a small step up but is designed as a transfer platform.
Lobster Shack & Fish Market
• The kitchen is wheelchair accessible.
Lobster Boat
• The boat and steering wheel are wheelchair accessible.
Lighthouse Cove
• Lighthouse Cove (both toddler and infant zones) are fully wheelchair accessible;
• Soft padding covers much of the exhibit and sensory toys are available;
• The exhibit is designed for children 2 and under. We know that many children with developmental disabilities enjoy this space; please ask staff about times when we welcome all ages in Lighthouse Cove.
Murals and Painted Signs by Patrick Corrigan
Patrick Corrigan paints one of the murals that he designed at the Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine
Patrick Corrigan has been painting over two dozen exhibit elements in the galleries of the new Children’s Museum & Theatre of Maine. Corrigan, who earned a BFA in illustration at Massachusetts College of Art in 1993 and was named One of Maine’s 10 Most Intriguing People by Portland Monthly in 2017, is an illustrator, painter, comic artist, muralist, and sign writer who lives and works in Portland, Maine. His editorial work has appeared in many magazines and newspapers, including The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, The Chicago Tribune and The Detroit Free Press among others. His murals can be spotted throughout Maine at Local 188, LFK, Salvage BBQ, Sonny’s, 33 Elmwood, Blyth & Burrows, Mayo Street Arts, Speedwell Gallery, and in The Bollard. At the Museum & Theatre’s new facility, the scope of his work ranges from medical instrument illustrations in the Care Bear Clinic to wall murals to exhibit signs and detailing on a firetruck and train.
Patrick’s relationships to the Museum & Theatre has spanned many years as he completed a lot of painting in the Free Street building. However, that work was accomplished over a large period of time, whereas the illustration and painting in the Thompson’s Point building is occurring all at once. While he was painting a mural, we encouraged him to talk about where it all started.
“My grandfather was a big influence on me. He was a comic book illustrator during the Golden Age of Comics in NYC before joining the U.S. Army when WWII started. He returned to art after the war and moved from New York to Rhode Island where he started a family with his wife, Grethe.
“My grandparents were a constant and welcome presence for me throughout my entire childhood. We lived in a duplex, and my grandpa's art studio was just above my bedroom and in a spare attic room. I was around his supplies and art a lot. ‘I want to do what Grandpa does,’ I decided early on.
“I first started doing work with the children’s museum in the early 2000’s. As an illustrator, you can’t ask for a better place to direct one's efforts. The creative staff at the Museum & Theatre have always been a joy to work with and they have given me a lot of freedom to try new ideas. When I first saw the new building at Thompson’s Point and started working onsite there, I couldn’t believe how beautiful the location and orientation of the space was. I feel very lucky to be working with the team at the Museum & Theatre again on this fantastic project. I hope that folks will love going there with their kids. I enjoy doing this work for the museum. I think it’s nice for children to be around handmade things rather than machine made things.”
When Patrick isn’t finishing up his work at the Museum & Theatre, he is tending to his work at the show Persephone in the Late Anthropocene at the University of New England’s Biddeford Campus Art Gallery. This show is a response by three visual artists–Patrick Corrigan, Megan Grumbling, Denis Nye, and Hannah Secord Wade– to a poetry volume of the same name by Megan Grumbling, which presents a sequel to the Persephone myth and sets it in the age of climate crisis. Poet and artists reflect on the imagery and experience of climate crisis, and explore how as a community we might understand our roles in this era through a diversity of modes – through art, poetics, performance, narrative, the sciences – the better to meet its challenges together. Patrick has eight mixed media on canvas on display. The show ends May 14, 2021.
Additionally, Patrick performs as a musician and co-curates the arts and music calendar at The Apohadion Theater in Portland.
