Bangor, Maine - Cultural Institutions

Cultural Institutions

The Bangor Public Library, founded in 1883, traces its beginnings to 1830 and seven books in a footlocker. It now has a collection of over 500,000 volumes, and regularly records one of the highest circulation rates in the country.

The University of Maine Museum of Art, located in Norumbega Hall in downtown Bangor, has a permanent collection of more than 6,500 pieces, including works by Berenice Abbott, Marsden Hartley, Winslow Homer, John Marin, Carl Sprinchorn, and Andrew Wyeth. The Maine Discovery Museum, a major children's museum founded in 2001 in the former Freese's Department Store. The Bangor Museum and Center for History, in addition to its exhibit space, maintains the historic Thomas A. Hill House. The Bangor Police Department boasts a police museum with some items dating to the 18th century. There is a Fire Museum at the former State Street Fire Station.

There are several performing arts venues and groups in the Bangor area. The Bangor Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1896, is the oldest continually operating symphony orchestra in the United States. The Bangor Band, founded in 1859 and performing continually since then, gives free weekly concerts in the city's parks during the summer, and counts among its past conductors noted march composer Robert B. Hall. The Penobscot Theatre Company, founded in 1973, is a professional theater company based in the historic Bangor Opera House. The Collins Center for the Arts, located at the nearby University of Maine, hosts a wide variety of touring performing artists and events. River City Cinema hosts a free outdoor summer film festival in downtown Bangor.

The University of Maine, the flagship campus of the University of Maine System is located nine miles from Bangor in the town of Orono, and adds significantly to the city's cultural life. There is also a vocationally oriented University College of Bangor, associated with the University of Maine at Augusta. Bangor's Husson University, founded in 1898, enrolls about 3,500 students a year in a variety of undergraduate and graduate programs. Beal College, also in Bangor, is a small institution oriented toward career training. The Bangor Theological Seminary, founded in 1814, is the only accredited graduate school of religion in northern New England.

Bangor has a sister city relationship with nearby Saint John, New Brunswick.