Museums are often seen as keepers of local lore, but their impact can ripple far beyond their immediate communities. At CambridgeSeven, we’re inspired by institutions that use their collections and stories to spark global conversations. We’re spotlighting three current clients, Genesee Country Village & Museum, Kennebunk’s Brick Store Museum, and the Mark Twain House & Museum to explore how their local narratives resonate on a worldwide stage.

Genesee Country Village & Museum: Living History, Timeless Lessons

Nestled in New York’s Genesee Valley, Genesee Country Village & Museum, Mumford, NY, is the state’s largest living history museum. Its 600 acres and 68 historic buildings immerse visitors in the complexities of 19th-century rural American life. But what makes this museum globally relevant?

Through inventive, hands-on experiences the museum brings to life American society during a period of rapid transformation. Its exhibits explore how people navigated changing social landscapes, echoing broader global questions about adaptation, identity, and technological change. By preserving and interpreting the architecture, trades, and lifestyles of the Genesee Valley, the museum connects local history to worldwide patterns of migration, industrialization, and cultural exchange that shaped the modern era.

Where CambridgeSeven comes in:

• Recalibrating a 19th century setting to a 21st century visitor experience
• Crafting a new entry experience with clear wayfinding
• Augmenting guest amenities including food service and special events space
• Designing for enhanced accessibility

Brick Store Museum: Kennebunk’s Window to the World

The Brick Store Museum in Kennebunk, Maine, is housed in the town’s oldest commercial block, with buildings dating from 1810 to 1860. Its mission? To foster personal connections to history, art, and culture, and to inspire empathetic global citizens.

The museum’s 55,000 artifacts span centuries and include shipbuilding tools, 18th-century clothing, contemporary art, and personal mementos of local families. By highlighting Kennebunk’s maritime heritage and immigration stories, the museum illustrates how a small New England town participated in and was shaped by global currents of trade, war, and travels. Local stories framed within broader contexts position this quintessential New England town as both a unique place and a microcosm of international history.

Where CambridgeSeven comes in:

• Creating a unified visitor journey across 5 individual buildings
• Exploring opportunities for new galleries
• Improving collections storage

Mark Twain House & Museum: Local Roots, Global Reach

The Mark Twain House & Museum in Hartford, CT, preserves the legacy of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Deeply rooted in American themes, Twain’s works are celebrated for their incisive commentary on society, race, and morality. The museum preserves Twain’s legacy as a literary figure whose humor, criticism, and storytelling transcended national boundaries. Through exhibitions, educational programs, and literary events, the museum explores themes of freedom and justice, and narrative’s role, issues that remain relevant in today’s global conversations about human rights and cultural identity. Twain’s international travels and worldwide readership further underscore the house’s significance as a site where local history meets worldwide impact and the museum seeks to foster dialogue on issues that matter to people, universally.

Where CambridgeSeven comes in:

• Addressing deferred maintenance priorities
• Improving site accessibility
• Improving collections storage

While addressing these important functional issues, we’re also working with the Museum to realize their plans for enhanced visitor experiences like reconfigured galleries, a more direct path to the historic house and a site design that invites and serves the neighborhood in a manner consistent with their mission.

At CambridgeSeven, we believe that local museums are more than repositories of artifacts, they are catalysts for global understanding. By connecting regional histories to universal themes, these institutions encourage us to reflect on our place in the world and the shared threads that unite us all.