MISSION STATEMENT
The Umbrella Cover Museum is dedicated to the appreciation of the mundane in everyday life. It is about finding wonder and beauty in the simplest of things, and about knowing that there is always a story behind the cover.
The World's First and Only Umbrella Cover Museum opened with firecrackers and cupcakes on Peaks Island off the coast of Maine during the summer of 1996. The brainchild of U.C.M. Director and Curator, Nancy 3. Hoffman (yes, Three), the Museum exhibited close to eighty umbrella covers (also known as "sheaths" or "pockets").
Each cover has its provenance and story posted along with the actual cover. When asked what inspired her to open such an unusual museum, Nancy 3. replied, "I was cleaning out my house one day, and discovered that I still had all of the covers from all of the umbrellas I'd ever bought (seven or so). That got me thinking. Then one day, around 1992, I was in a dime store and I stole a cover off of an umbrella . . . just the cover. Then I knew I was hooked. After that I started planning the Museum and soliciting donations for the exhibits."
After 6 years, the Umbrella Cover Museum outgrew its place in Nancy 3's kitchen and is normally housed at 62-B Island Avenue, Peaks Island, Maine. During the summer of 2020, call or E-MAIL for hours and directions to the new pop-up museum from Portland, Maine. It's a lovely 20 minute ferry ride from Portland and a five minute walk from the landing on Peaks.
Board of
Troublemakers
Michael Beebe, Creative Entrepreneur
Lavinia Demos, Librarian, historian
Monica Dominak, LSID, Former Commissioner PI
Samuel A. Eliot, Educator
Stephanie A. Eliot, Creative Consultant
George Fontana, Sailing On
Sanchit Gupta, Healer
Lynn Heinemann, Musical Theater expert
Karen Michel, Public Radio Journalist, educator
Michael G. Moore, Artist, bon vivant
Thomas Dexter Morse IV, Cmdr. Ret.
Snow Philip, Writer, globetrotter
Greg Porter, Kabul, Afghanistan
Bill Zimmerman, Activist
SPECIAL CURATORS
Lauretta E. Grau, Ph.D
Jo Israelson
INTERNATIONAL ADVISORS
Miranda and David Vinograd
Marisa MacIsaac
TRUSTEE ANGELS
Susan Bergier
Señor Lobo