October 25, 2023
Memorial and Archive

As our local history and culture museum, we believe it is important to preserve the community’s response to the tragic mass shooting that occurred in Lewiston on October 25, 2023. We are leading the cultural response to help memorialize the victims and honor the community, as we all seek to help people heal and become stronger together.

We worked with the City of Lewiston, the Lewiston-Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and artist Tanja Hollander to collect memorial items (such as candles, Lewiston Strong signage, posters, hearts, love letters to family and friends) that were left outside of the shooting sites, Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengee’s Bar and Grille, as well as on Lisbon Street and around the city. Maine MILL has documented and archived all of these objects, which are now housed in the museum’s collection. We continue to receive and archive memorial objects.

The museum has since created a memorial room within the existing galleries and is committed to having rotating objects on display within that room. Maine MILL is also taking oral histories of those that were directly impacted and of our community leaders. The one-year commemoration exhibit was created by two local artists, Tanja Hollander and Miia Zellner, using all 261 plastic flower sleeves saved from Just-in-Time Recreation and Schemengee’s Bar and Grille. The work was on view October 16, 2024 – September 13, 2025 . Through the medium of reclaimed plastic flower sleeves, the work explored loss, the role of impermanent expressions, and the impetus behind shared community recovery from the effects of mass violence.

2-Year Commemoration Exhibit: “Familiar Faces” opens October 21

This installation is created by artist Ian Trask in the museum’s gallery timed for the 2-year commemoration using bowling balls and pool balls that were left at the sites. These objects bore witness to the tragedy, and by way of their abandonment in the panic of the moment now carry the dark shadows of that trauma. Transformed through a combination of drilling, suspending, shattering, repairing, and painting, these material remains transcend their past and are now the silent occupants of a sacred space for reverence, remembrance, and healing. 

Join us at the public opening reception on October 21, 2025 from 5-7pm.

Photos courtesy of Tanja Hollander, Russ Dillingham, and Bret Woodard.