YORK-When the Watermen’s Museum reopens on April 1, guests can expect several new exhibits and programs to enjoy.
Thanks in part to a grant from Dominion Energy, five new educational kiosks have been installed outside. Four of the stations will teach visitors about sailmaking, rope making, ship carpentry, and pottery for shipping. The fifth kiosk, located next to the Yorktown Windmill, will focus on comparative energy.
Thomas Nelson Community College also helped create the museum’s new traveling exhibit Bay to Belly, which showcases the history, people, and process of the Foodways of the Chesapeake Bay.
Watermen’s Museum is also working with Peninsula Master Naturalists to create a garden with native-species trees, shrubs, and other plants and flowers.
“These plants will be the basis for a major expansion in our environmental education programs, which highlight how native plant species support native bees, butterflies, insects, songbirds, and small mammals,” said Steve Ormsby, president of Watermen’s Museum.
Other upcoming exhibits include an outdoor exhibit on the life cycle of oysters as well as a gallery exhibit focusing on black watermen who have worked on the Chesapeake Bay since before the American Revolution.