The whaling museum will fabricate, install, and evaluate a 2-year special exhibition that explores ocean-inspired myths and monsters and their contemporary connections

The Whaling Museum Society Inc., doing business as The Whaling Museum and Education Center, received a $150,025 Project Grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) under the Museums for America program (CFDA 45.301). The grant award supports the museum's fabrication, installation, and evaluation of a 2-year special exhibition that explores ocean-inspired myths and monsters and their contemporary connections. The project includes developing an array of onsite and offsite learning opportunities such as school group tours, workshops, and lectures to complement the exhibition. Additionally, the museum will commission a local artist to create a Kraken sculpture made from plastic debris collected from local shore cleanups to convey the fragility of our oceans. The exhibition aims to prompt visitors to think about the ocean's influence on how cultures were shaped and continue to shape us, as well as our impacts on the ocean today. The grant-funded project period runs from September 1, 2024, to August 31, 2026.

The museum will develop an array of onsite and offsite learning opportunities including school group tours, workshops, and lectures to complement the exhibition. The project will support staff, exhibit and programming supplies and materials, and marketing. To convey the fragility of our oceans, the museum will commission a local artist to create a kraken sculpture made from plastic debris collected from local shore cleanups. The stories and messages in the exhibition will be gateways to launch wider discussions about the cultural roots of hate and negative stereotypes. By exploring nautical mythologies, visitors will be prompted to think about the ocean's influence on how cultures were shaped and continue to shape US, and our impacts on the ocean today.