CROSSROADS

SMITHSONIAN EXHIBITION ON RURAL AMERICA MAKES FINAL MARYLAND TOUR STOP ON THE UPPER EASTERN SHORE

Crossroads concludes its tour of the state through Maryland Humanities’ Museum on Main Street program with Kent County

Crossroads: Change in Rural America, a traveling Smithsonian Institution exhibition, opens at Kent Cultural Alliance’s new Vincent & Leslie Prince Raimond Cultural Center on April 22. The Raimond Center serves as the final venue of a five-stop tour of the state, presented through Maryland Humanities’ Museum on Main Street program. Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area partners with Maryland Humanities for the tour’s final Maryland stop. Maryland Humanities, Stories of the Chesapeake, and the Kent Cultural Alliance host an opening reception at the Raimond Cultural Center held on April 27 at 4:00 pm.

Each Crossroads partner creates its own exhibit to complement the Smithsonian’s exhibition. Chesterville Graveyard: Revelations, also on view at the Raimond Center, is an art and poetry exhibit created by community members.  The exhibit pairs pen and ink drawings by Stu Crawley with poems by Robert Earl Price and aims to bring attention to one of the “lost” cemeteries in the region.  Whether paved over by highway development or left to the forces of nature, one of the changes in rural communities this last century includes cemeteries covered over in brambles and trees. 

Stories of the Chesapeake collaborated with a wide variety of other Upper Eastern Shore partners who will showcase other exhibits and innovative programming for visitors of all ages. Visitors can learn about the various ways people have lived and worked in these rural communities along with stories of change and resilience.  Eight small museums will display their own companion exhibits on view at the and a Small Museums of Kent Driving Tour. Other programming from Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area’s partners also includes historic tours of Crow Vineyard, previously a historic dairy; an antique airplane fly at the Massey Air Museum; and a documentary highlighting title local stories being shown on MPT as part of Bay Week.

“The Stories of the Chesapeake is thrilled to bring this thought-provoking program to the Eastern Shore.” says Gail Owings, the Executive Director of Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area.  “The new Raimond Building in Chestertown is an ideal location for the exhibition.  Our partnership with Maryland Humanities, Kent Cultural Alliance, Washington College, Main Street Chestertown, and the Small Museums of Kent, which are all planning companion programing and exhibits, will have a long-lasting impact in the community.” 

Crossroads is the eighth Museum on Main Street project that Maryland Humanities has brought to small communities throughout the state. Each site hosts the exhibition for five to six weeks and develops a complementary exhibit highlighting their community’s heritage and histories.

“We are looking forward to the next iteration of Museums on Main Street, an invaluable tool for Maryland organizations,” says Lindsey Baker, executive director of Maryland Humanities. “We are so thankful to bring another tour around the state, because the program has a wide-reaching and long-lasting impact on the partner organizations and their communities.”

Crossroads programming is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the State of Maryland, and BGE. Maryland Public Television is the tour’s Media Sponsor. Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area’s partners include the African-American Schoolhouse Museum, Bettertown Heritage Museum, the Eastern Neck Island Wildlife Refuge Lodge, Historical Society of Kent County, the Kent County Museum, the Massey Air Museum, Sumner Hall, and the Watermen’s Museum.

Crossroads runs at Kent Cultural Alliance April 22–May 27. The venue is located at 101 Spring Avenue in Chestertown. The exhibition will be on view Wednesdays through Saturdays, 11:00 a.m.– 4:00 p.m.

Learn more at https://storiesofthechesapeake.org.  Contact info@storiesofthechesapeake.org. or call 410-778-1460 for further information. 

Tour Schedule:

• September 8, 2022–October 14, 2022 Farm Heritage Conservancy at Serenity Farm, Benedict, Charles County
• October 29, 2022–December 16, 2022 Oxford Museum at St. Paul’s Church, Oxford, Talbot County 
• January 7, 2023–February 17, 2023 Western Maryland Heritage Association at Allegany Museum, Cumberland, Allegany County
• March 4, 2023–April 14, 2023 Rose Hill Manor Park and Museums, Frederick, Frederick County
• April 22, 2023–May 27, 2023 Stories of the Chesapeake Heritage Area at Kent Cultural Alliance, Chestertown, Kent County