Visit the A River Lost and Found: The Androscoggin in Time and Place website comprising photographs, writings, oral histories, maps and more.

This interactive installation will highlight the cross-disciplinary research of two faculty members at the College, one an environmental historian and the other a photographer. Until recently, the Androscoggin River was labeled as one of the ten most polluted rivers in the country. By constellating texts, photographs, and oral histories, Professors Matthew Klingle and Michael Kolster pose important questions about the shifting cultural and economic status of waterways such as this one. Once devastated by contamination and now partially restored, the Androscoggin has entered a new phase of life and this project captures the complexity of both its legacy and its potential. 

At the center of this exhibition are photographs of the present-day river and its environs. These images are produced through a variety of techniques including 19th-century wet-plate processes that emerged roughly contemporaneous with the Androscoggin's industrialization. Also incorporated are oral histories collected on an ongoing basis from members of the Maine community. Visitors to the gallery will be invited to contribute their own memories to the project.

Reflecting upon Maine's historical identity as both seat of industrial production and vacationland, and looking closely at a river whose very headwaters are in the Rangeley Lakes, A River Lost & Found makes for a compelling companion to William Wegman: Hello Nature.

Reception Celebrating the Summer Exhibitions Saturday, July 14, 2012 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Bowdoin College Museum of Art Open to the Public