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philanthropy
Situated along the beautiful Miles River and St. Michaels Harbor, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum’s waterfront campus includes a floating fleet of historic vessels, 12 exhibition buildings, special exhibitions, and its own working Shipyard. Learn more at cbmm.org. Photo by Shore Studios.
Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum works to improve the lives of guests, community members
Transformative Educational Programming
The Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum is dedicated to preserving and exploring the history, environment, and culture of the entire Chesapeake Bay region, and making this resource available to all.
Children and adults alike are invited to explore the Bay with CBMM through virtual learning, specialized tours, hands-on programs, on-the-water experiences, and corresponding curriculum units. CBMM has also sought to address inequities through Rising Tide, a free after-school program for local youth, and a bus scholarship program to benefit PK-12 student field trips. In its Shipyard, CBMM’s shipwrights are engaged in the transference of traditional skills through a certified Shipwright Apprentice Program, another way of keeping the area’s heritage alive and thriving.
How does one organization tackle such aspirational goals while also hosting more than 80,000 annual guests? CBMM’s approach to realizing this vision has led to its recognition as both a world-class institution and a leader in its local community. Engaging Guest Experiences With a waterfront campus in St. Michaels, Md., a visit to CBMM is an experience like no other. CBMM’s campus includes a floating fleet of historic vessels, 12 exhibition buildings, special exhibitions, and its own working Shipyard. Guests can try something different on every visit, from taking in the views from the 1879 Hooper Strait Lighthouse, to watching the construction of tall ships and traditional Bay watercraft, to cruising the Miles River with volunteer docents.
First and foremost, CBMM is an educational organization. Its collection boasts more than 70,000 objects and its year-round programming is designed to inspire and educate current and future stewards of the Bay, and to share its heritage, ecology, and culture.
A Vital Community Partner With the goal of being a valuable resource for the community, CBMM works closely with its neighbors daily, and seeks to be a leader in economic growth for the region.
An economic impact study completed last year showed just how much of a contributor CBMM is to the area. In 2019, visitors traveling to visit CBMM from more than 50 miles generated $11.6 million in visitor spending for Talbot County – $11 million of which was spent in St. Michaels on travel-related goods and services. The study also showed that spending by out-of-state visitors who traveled to St. Michaels to visit CBMM generated $6.5 million in net economic impact for Maryland. Beyond economics, CBMM’s employees are involved with more than 100 community organizations through public service or volunteering, all to enhance the watershed where they, and its guests, live, work and play. To support these efforts, please consider donating to CBMM’s Annual Fund today at cbmm.org/donate.
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Enhancing the Watershed
These experiences aren’t limited to on-campus guests. CBMM also offers digital access to all the best parts of the CBMM experience through a full slate of virtual programming and an online portal offering its members access to pre-recorded content on-demand.
With a vision of providing engaging guest experiences and transformative educational programming, and of being a vital community partner, the Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum in St. Michael, Md., is working hard to enhance the watershed where its guests live, work and play. To support these efforts, visit cbmm.org/donate.
whatsupmag.com | May 2022 | What’s Up? Eastern Shore
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