Three permanent exhibits trace the Bay from 1640 to today. Two rotating galleries host new work three times a year. A library upstairs open to researchers, a teacher portal stocked with primary sources, and a Family Hall the kids will refuse to leave.
"The River, 1640 → Now"
"Working Hands" · 24 artists
Hands-on · ages 4–12
9 rooms · 230k items · open Thu till 9
◇ The museum · 1962 → 2026
Founded by a teachers' collective in 1962 in a converted wharfside shipping office. Still small enough to walk in an afternoon. Three permanent exhibits trace the region from 1640 to today. Two rotating galleries host new work three times a year. The library upstairs is open by appointment to researchers and students.
Founders' chronicle
1962
Founded by 11 teachers
1971
Moved to Light Street
1988
Library opened
2004
Teacher portal launched
2018
Family Hall added
2024
New rotating wing
◇ Galleries · permanent + rotating
3,200 sq ft · All ages
A walkable timeline of the Bay from 1640 to today — Powhatan trade routes, the 1812 blockade, the oyster boom, the chemical years, the rebuild.
Free Thursdays
Curator notes →
1,800 sq ft · Thru Aug 31
Twenty-four regional artisans across six trades — boatbuilders, weavers, blacksmiths, oyster shuckers, sailmakers, lighthouse keepers. Photography permitted.
Included w/ admission
Curator notes →
2,400 sq ft · Ages 4–12
A hands-on hall for the kids that the kids will refuse to leave. A working tide table, a sailcloth fort, a tide-pool tank, and storytime every Saturday at 11.
Free for members
Curator notes →◇ Calendar · first Friday speaker series
First Friday of every month — a historian, a witness, a poet, or a craftsperson. Free with admission, free outright on Thursdays. Coffee & pie in the lobby beforehand.
Full calendar (iCal) →Sept
05
Fri
Speaker series · 1st Friday
Sixty years of harbor-seal counts and what they say about the Bay we have now.
Sept
12
Fri
Family hall · storytime
A read-aloud + sing-along for ages 4–9. Coffee for the grown-ups.
Sept
19
Sat
Curator walk · Working Hands
Forty-five minutes with curator R. Vance. Limited to 14 — RSVP required.
Oct
03
Fri
Speaker series · 1st Friday
Two voices on the rebuild — what the harbor remembers and what it forgets.
◇ Membership · for the people who keep coming back
01 · for one
Individual
$50/ year
Free admission for one + invite to openings.
02 · most chosen
Family
$90/ year
Two adults + all kids under 18. Plus storytime.
03 · supports acquisitions
Patron
$500/ year
Supports new acquisitions + the teacher portal.
Mon
Closed
Tue
10 – 5
Wed
10 – 5
Thu
10 – 9
Free · all
Fri
10 – 5
Sat
9 – 6
Sun
12 – 5
For teachers · K → 12 · login required
220 primary sources, 38 field-trip plans pegged to state standards, six audio walks any sub teacher can run cold. Built with the County Board of Education over six years. Free for any public-school teacher in the region.
220
primary sources
38
field-trip plans
6
audio walks
2,400
teachers signed in
◇ In the galleries · 2024 season
◇ From the field
“My fourth graders learned more here in a morning than they had all semester. The teacher portal is gold.”
— M. Diallo · Elementary teacher · Pulaski Co.
◇ Visit · 320 Light Street
Address
320 Light Street Baltimore, MD 21202
Phone
+1 410 555 0162
General
hello@westshoremuseum.example
Teachers
teachers@westshoremuseum.example
Press
press@westshoremuseum.example
Group rates
groups@westshoremuseum.example