Ways of the Woods Feature

After criss-crossing the Northern Forest for more than three full seasons and serving 130,000 visitors, The Center’s mobile museum about regional heritage will take a new approach to telling its story. Ways of the Woods, which first toured in August 2006, will now partner with colleges, museums and other institutions for longer-term installations—allowing the exhibition’s host to incorporate Ways of the Woods into its own programming.

“Ways of the Woods will help our learners of all ages understand their community in the context of the broader Northern Forest region,” says Katharine Eneguess, president of White Mountains Community College, which is hosting the exhibit this fall. “It will help them understand that the education they receive here is applicable to so many issues and opportunities in the region.”

The exhibition, which features multi-media displays, outdoor kiosks, artifacts and children’s activities packaged in a 53-foot tractor-trailer, has been popular with people of all backgrounds.

“So many of the college’s credit and non-credit course offerings—from geographic information technology and environmental science, to surveying and working with logging equipment in our mobile equipment technology labs—overlap with the story Ways of the Woods is telling,” says Katharine, who also serves on The Center’s board of directors. “It’s a great tool for grounding the college’s course work in the heritage and culture of the region.

“The longer installations will provide opportunities for people to engage with exhibit themes in a deeper way than they could at a county fair or weekend event,” she continues. “One idea is to offer discussions about relevant books that speak to the heritage of the region and the current issues that we face. Our campus is very excited to partner with our greater community to bring this program opportunity to our College.”