Shaker Museum And Library

Exhibitions, tours, and workshops - shaker museum is in the process of renovating and building an expansive new facility designed by seldorf architects. The physical building will embody shaker values of inclusion, innovation, and equality to create a museum that showcases shaker museum's collection, hosts exhibitions, tells the shaker story, and is responsive to the needs of the community. While the museum is under construction, the collections are accessible online, through guided tours of the storage area, and in exhibitions at temporary "pop-up" locations. Programs and workshops also connect shaker museum with the public.

Historical site preservation and conservation - shaker museum stewards the north family historic site at mount lebanon. Founded in 1787, mount lebanon was the first official community organized by the shakers and was the leader in administrative and spiritual matters for all the shaker communities that emerged throughout new england and south and west into kentucky, ohio, and florida. Its community planning, architecture, commercial and industrial endeavors, as well as its spiritual practices, became models for the other shaker villages. At its peak in the mid-19th century, mount lebanon spanned over 6,000 acres and around 600 people lived and worked in hundreds of buildings. Within this central community the shakers developed their progressive ideas on gender equality, racial equality, pacifism, communal property, the value of labor, and sustainability. They also established the now famous shaker aesthetic of simplicity, expressed in their objects, furniture, buildings, and village planning. Today visitors to the north family encounter 10 original shaker buildings on 91 acres. Visitors are welcome year-round, weather permitting, to stroll the grounds, hike the north pasture trail, or have a picnic in the meadow.