From June 7-13, we are recognizing the importance of Atlantic Canadian museums during International Museums Week. Our network of museums help improve access to education for all ages and accessibility needs, and their unique shops are always great supporters of Atlantic Canadian craft. Show your support for a local museum by visiting them in-person, where possible, taking a virtual exhibition tour, donating, or shopping from their boutique. Below is a gallery of custom work and museum displays showing Atlantic Canadian artisans.
International Museums Week
Celebrating Atlantic Canadian Museums
The following Atlantic Canadian museums are operating in a variety of capacities, with some museum shops setup for online ordering. View each website for more details on their current visiting guidelines and services available.
Nova Scotia
Alexander Graham Bell Museum
Cape Sable Historical Society
Barrington, Nova Scotia
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» Shop Online: Souvenirs, Tartan, period reproductions, gourmet foods, pottery, textiles and lots of other tax-free locally produced goods!
The Cape Sable Historical Society operates the Barrington Museum Complex, which includes four separate museums within a two minute walk of each other in one Historic District. These Museums are: the Old Meeting House; Barrington Woolen Mill, Seal Island Light Museum, Western Counties Military Museum as well as our Archives and Research Centre located in the Old Court House.
Cole Harbour Heritage Farm Museum
Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia
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» Shop Online: Food, apparel, books, bath & body, gifts & more. Curbside pickup available.
Dartmouth Heritage Museum
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
»Visit Website
Currently accepting visitors by appointment only
Shop Online: We offer a unique collection of items touting Dartmouth connections.
DesBrisay Museum
Bridgewater, Nova Scotia
»Visit Website
Shop: Trinkets & Treasures Gift Shop (no online shopping option)
Judge Mather Byles DesBrisay was a great collector of trinkets and treasures. When he passed away in 1900, his wife sold most of his vast collection to the Town of Bridgewater. We are proud to be one of Canada’s oldest historical community museums and trust your ‘trinket’ or ‘treasure’ will be a pleasant reminder of your visit to DesBrisay Museum.
Museum currently closed to public
Fisheries Museum of the Atlantic
Lunenburg, Nova Scotia
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Shop: Salt Store Gift Shop
The Salt Store Gift Shop reflects the nautical nature of the Museum, with a wide assortment of items to satisfy the most discerning shoppers and travelers of all ages. (no online shopping option)
Fundy Geological Musem
Parrsboro, Nova Scotia
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Temporarily closed to public – no online shopping currently available
Glace Bay Heritage Museum
Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
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Shop: The Isabelle Harris Gift Shop (no online shopping currently available)
An integral part of the Heritage Museum is the Isabelle Harris Gift Shop located in the former Town Clerk’s office. Celebrating the creative spirit of local artisans who offer unique, handmade treasures, jewelery, toys, games, wood-crafts, pottery, and paintings. As well the Shop also features a collection of Old Town Hall memorabilia and an interesting selection of Maritime literature, including many books written by Cape Breton authors.
Highland Village Museum
Iona, Nova Scotia
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Take an interactive tour of the village: https://highlandvillage.novascotia.ca/what-see-do/tour-village
Membertou Heritage Park
Membertou, Nova Scotia
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Shop: Petroglyphs Gift Shop: Petroglyphs Gift Shop specializes in Aboriginal arts and crafts from across Canada. We also carry a wide arrangement of traditional and contemporary Mi’kmaq arts and crafts made locally in Atlantic Canada. Petroglyphs Gift Shop has many products that are ideal for gifts or souvenirs.
Museum of Natural History
Halifax, Nova Scotia
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Gift Shop: The shop at the Museum of Natural History is a great way to celebrate the natural wonders of Nova Scotia. Whether you’re a nature lover, a regular visitor or a tourist visiting for the first time, the shop has something for everyone. There is a great selection of educational toys and books, hard to find items like telescopes and microscopes and a great collection of locally-crafted products that make great gifts.
Museum of Industry
Stellarton, Nova Scotia
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Gift Shop: The Museum Shop offers a wide variety of local and unique items that reflect the industrial nature of the Museum of Industry. Browse our selection of books with a strong local flavor. Find that one of a kind piece of jewelry or giftware to treasure and make your very own. Whether you are purchasing a souvenir of your visit or looking for the perfect “Made in Nova Scotia” gift for someone special, the Museum Shop has something for everyone.
Northumberland Fisheries Museum
Pictou, Nova Scotia
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Yarmouth County Museum
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
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Shop online – Mast Head Gift Shop: Shop for craft products including Nova Scotia Tartan apparel & accessories, pottery, pewter, books and more. Curbside pickup available.
Randall House Museum
Wolfville, Nova Scotia
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Ross Farm Museum
New Ross, Nova Scotia
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The Pedlar’s Shop: The Pedlar’s Shop has a wonderfully diverse range of goods, with a strong emphasis on quality Nova Scotian products. We have a varied selection of museum-inspired gifts such as hand crafted wooden, coopered, and blacksmith items, as well as the essentials like postcards, snacks and souvenirs. Whatever the occasion the Ross Farm Museum Shop has something different to offer! The Ross Farm Shop is open regular museum hours. (No online option currently available)
Shelburne Museum Complex
Shelburne, Nova Scotia
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Shop – Museums by the Sea Gift Shop: The Shelburne’s Museums by the Sea Gift Shop carries a wide variety of gifts and souvenirs, many made locally. A partial listing of our products and their prices are found online; please contact the shop to place an order.
Prince Edward Island
Anne of Green Gables Museum
Park Corner, Prince Edward Island
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Shop the Anne Store: Enjoy the largest online selection of Anne of Green Gables books, collectibles and other treasures from Prince Edward Island.
PEI Museum & Heritage Foundation
Prince Edward Island
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The PEI Museum and Heritage Foundation is an integral part of the Prince Edward Island community. We operate seven provincial museums and heritage sites across Prince Edward Island, providing Islanders and visitors alike with an opportunity to discover our province’s heritage and culture.
Explore the Online Collections: https://collections.peimuseum.ca/
Eptek Art & Cultural Centre
Summerside, Prince Edward Island
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Acadian Museum of PEI
Miscouche, Prince Edward Island
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Since April 1, 1996, the Acadian Museum has been one of the seven sites of the Prince Edward Island Museum and Heritage Foundation, the province’s museum network. The Museum and Heritage Foundation of Prince Edward Island operates seven provincial museums and heritage sites, providing Islanders and visitors with the opportunity to discover our Island’s heritage and culture.
Its purpose is to “study, collect, preserve, interpret and protect the human and natural heritage of Prince Edward Island for the use, benefit and enjoyment of the people of the province.”
West Point Lighthouse Museum
West Point, Prince Edward Island
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Craft Shop: Take home a one-of-a kind Island keepsake from The Point Craft Shop. In 1983, the members of the West Point Lighthouse Craft Guild opened a retail outlet to bring their locally made crafts to the public. Today, The Point Craft Shop adjacent to the West Point Harbourside Centre offers distinctive crafts and souvenirs of PEI with its hand stitched quilts, wall hangings, preserves, jewelry, artisan crafted soap, paintings, and other handmade items. (No online shopping available)
Confederation Centre of the Arts
Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
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Contemporary and historical art exhibitions as well as special events, talks and educational programs.
Bideford Parsonage Museum
Bideford, Prince Edward Island
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The Bideford Parsonage Museum is set in Prince Edward Island’s beautiful pastoral countryside. Visit the room with a view where the famous author of Anne of Green Gables, Lucy Maud Montgomery, was inspired to write.
Cape Bear Lighthouse Museum
Cape Bear, Prince Edward Island
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Located 25 km from the Woods Island Ferry, the Cape Bear Lighthouse stands on Prince Edward Island’s southeast coast. Built in 1881, this 3 story square tower has guided fishermen and sailors along PEI’s Northumberland Strait. The view from the lighthouse reveals small secluded beaches, rugged sandstone cliffs and much marine life such as seals and porpoises. Visitors can take a tour of the lighthouse and Marconi museum, visit their gift shop and take in the fabulous views of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton Island.
International Fox Museum / Armory
Summerside, Prince Edward Island
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Arrive at the International Fox Museum and Hall of Fame with curiosity and an inquiring mind! Find out how our tribute to this fascinating industry of fox ranching, which had its international headquarters in Summerside, presents the legacy of a rare and amazing animal, the Silver Black Fox.
Bishops Machine Shop Museum
Summerside, Prince Edward Island
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Bishop’s Machine Shop is an intact old-fashioned machine shop that boasts an amazing collection of lathes and machining tools and gadgets of unending fascination to machinists and ‘do-it-yourself folk’ of all ages. The building and its contents serve as a rare tangible reminder of early industrial Summerside, a significant slice of our service-based history.
Keir Memorial Museum
Malpeque Bay, Prince Edward Island
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Housed in the former Keir Memorial Presbyterian Church, the museum displays artifacts depicting the cultural life of Malpeque and surrounding districts. These include memorabilia and furnishings from local homesteads, farming, blacksmithing, oyster fishing implements, a working mud digger on site and an 1887 horse-drawn hearse.
Garden of the Gulf Museum
Montague, Prince Edward Island
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Gift Shop: The Garden of the Gulf Museum gift shop carries a selection of books by local PEI authors, along with souvenir postcards, key chains and other items.
New Brunswick
Moncton Museum
Moncton, New Brunswick
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The Station Gift Shop has a great selection of souvenirs, trinkets, accessories, and more!
Ross memorial museum
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
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Village Historique Acadien
New Brunswick
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More than a simple open-air museum, the Village historique acadien is a tourism complex built around a 2.2 km circuit bordered with historic buildings, all inhabited by fully bilingual (French and English) interpretive guides who portray the daily lives of the Acadian people from 1770 to 1949.
New Brunswick Museum
Saint John, New Brunswick
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The New Brunswick Museum’s Boutique features quality work from more than 50 talented New Brunswick and Maritime craftspeople, reflecting the rich culture and history of the region. Take the opportunity to visit us and discover unique items that you will find nowhere else. Do you want to learn more about New Brunswick’s history? The Boutique offers a large selection of local interest books with subjects ranging from culture and history to nature, people and art. Our collection is here to complement what the Museum has to offer. More interested in a souvenir? Take home a local memory with jewellery, fine craft, or home décor items.
Sunbury Shores Art & Nature Centre
St. Andrews, New Brunswick
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Sunbury Shores Art & Nature Centre offers workshops and education to support their local community and region’s schools. Sunbury Shores has two beautiful, recently renovated, gallery spaces. The Water Street Gallery is the larger gallery in the front and opens onto Water Street in St. Andrews making it a highly visible exhibition space. It has natural light from large storefront windows as well as modern track lighting. The Harbour View Gallery is the second gallery in the back. This gallery enjoys light from large windows and glass doors that overlook the deck, the garden, and a wonderful water view. The space in the wide hallway that connects the two galleries may also be used as an extra exhibition space.
Click Here to visit their online store
Albert County Museum
Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick
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Keillor House Museum
Dorchester, New Brunswick
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The Keillor House Museum contains an important collection of period furniture, antique china, kitchen-utensils and other artifacts, as well as the Graydon Milton Library and Genalogy Centre. The adjacent ‘coach house’ is host to the Dorchester Penitentiary Collection, Canada’s first prison museum, as well as a small collection of nineteenth century carriages, household items and farm implements.
Atlantic Salmon Museum
Doaktown, New Brunswick
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Riverside Treasures Gift Shop: Most of the products available in this shop were produced in the Doaktown area or in New Brunswick and include T shirts, jackets, hoodies, jewelry, artwork, and prints (framed or unframed) by artists such as John Swan, Arthur Taylor and Kim Stubbs. They also have a book shop which features works by Wayne Curtis, Gerry Parker, George Frederick Clarke, and many more. Click here to visit their gift shop!
150th Anniversary Heritage Room Museum
Madawaska, New Brunswick
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Located in the lower level of Saint-François-de-Madawaska’s majestic church, this museum is a legacy of the parish’s 150th anniversary festivities. It was left to the community in 2009 with an aim of keeping the region’s heritage alive for generations to come. The collection of artifacts, religious objects and belongings from pioneers and their descendants present the community’s rich history.
Founding Cultures Museum
Grand-Anse, New Brunswick
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The Roman Catholic faith being closely linked to the Acadian people, this museum demonstrates the rich spiritual and artistic heritage of the religion. The exhibits on display will provide an overview of the history of the papacy and considerable artistic works associated with it.
Madawaska Museum and Galerie Colline
Edmundston, New Brunswick
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Located in the city of Edmundston, the Madawaska Museum is also home to Galerie Colline, a centre for contemporary art. The museum features i conic objects, artifacts and antiques, including an impressive permanent- antique collection, which houses hundreds of fascinating collectables.In addition to the permanent exhibits, the gallery showcases a variety of special-themed exhibitions from local and regional artists. The exhibitions change regularly. Throughout the year, the museum offers many different lectures, courses, workshops and special events that will inform, entertain and stimulate your imagination and interest in history.
King's Landing
Fredericton, New Brusnwick
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Don’t just imagine what life was like 200 years ago, step back and live it! With over 70,000 artefacts, Kings Landing has one of the largest collections in Atlantic Canada. The history told here reflects daily life in 19th-century rural New Brunswick through many costumed interpreters and a few educational exhibits.
Newfoundland & Labrador
Wooden Boat Museum
Winterton, Newfoundland and Labrador
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Avondale Railway Museum
Avondale, Newfoundland & Labrador
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Road to Yesterday Museum
Bay Roberts, Newfoundland & Labrador
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The Road to Yesterday Museum depicting turn of the 20th century commercial development and lifestyle, military exhibit, as well as the Western Union Story. Archeological artifacts relate to 16th century.
Labrador Heritage Museum
North West River, Newfoundland & Labrador
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Craft Shop: The Heritage Craft Shop has a beautiful selection of Labrador arts and crafts. These traditional items include carvings, slippers, mittens, socks, moccasins, sweaters, and Innu Tea-Dolls. There is also a great selection of souvenirs distinctive to this region. Most items available in the shop have been created by local artisans from the communities of Rigolet, Sheshatshiu, North West River, Goose Bay, and
Mud Lake in Labrador.
Corner Brook Museum and Archives
Corner Brook, Newfoundland & Labrador
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Enjoy a walk through one of Corner Brook’s oldest buildings. Built in 1925 that includes the Court Room, Post Office, Customs and Telegraph office. This museum is home to a collection of natural, cultural and social histories.
The Rooms
St. Johns, Newfoundland
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The Rooms is Newfoundland and Labrador’s largest public cultural space. It represents and showcases our province to itself and to the world. Both a destination and a journey, The Rooms is where the province’s most extensive collection of artefacts, art and historical records come together to create meaningful and memorable visitor experiences that share who we are and how we came to be.
Online Gift Shop: The Rooms Gift Shop offers a wide selection of unique local & Canadian made products, exhibit-inspired gifts, stuffed animals, puzzles, jewellery, books, craft kits, jams & treats, and so much more.
Twillingate Museum & Craft Shop
Twillingate, Newfoundland & Labrador
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Twillingate Museum and Craft Shop promotes traditional arts and crafts through the sale of locally made handicrafts and through participation in provincial arts initiatives. Many of the items found in the Craft Shop have been hand-made by crafts persons from Twillingate or other regions in Newfoundland and Labrador.
» Craft Shop
Railway Coastal Museum
St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador
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The Railway Coastal Museum tells the fascinating story of the great initiative, courage, and sacrifice involved in building and operating the Newfoundland Railway and Coastal Boat services. Theses services helped overcome isolation and opened up the vast resources of the island of Newfoundland.
Beothuk Interpretation Centre Provincial Historic Site
Boyd’s Cove, Newfoundland & Labrador
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300 years ago, this site near Boyd’s Cove on Notre Dame Bay was a Beothuk village. Tour the interpretation centre where exhibits and artifacts foster an appreciation for this unique culture. Then follow the 1.5 km groomed walking trail to the village site where today outlines of housepits is the only evidence of the people who once lived here.
Botwood Heritage Park, Museum and Archive
Botwood, Newfoundland & Labrador
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St. Michaels Print Shop
St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador
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St. Michael’s Printshop is an artist-run print studio which provides professional fine art printmaking facilities for both established and emerging artists. The Printshop is used as a space to attract visual artists who wish to explore printmaking for the first time through workshops with both local and visiting printmakers. They hold an “Open House” on the first Saturday of each month, inviting individuals of all ages to come to the studio, work with an artist, and try a new technique. In addition to services for artists, the printshop gallery has the province’s largest collection of print works on display and available for purchase.
Johnson Geo Centre
St. Johns, Newfoundland & Labrador
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The Johnson Geo Centre is a geological interpretation centre located on Signal Hill in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. It is a not-for-profit organization, and a registered charity. The Geo Centre’s mission is to educate and inform the public on the importance of Newfoundland and Labrador’s geology, and to foster curiosity in science and the world around them.
Craft Alliance Atlantic Association is proud to work with Atlantic Canadian museums by running programs that aim to improve product development and retail sales in the museum retail sector. We work to facilitate relationships between retail buyers and makers of fine handcrafted products that fit perfectly in museum shops. Pictured below are some exchange programs facilitated between our craft producers and museum retailers from the Museum Stores Association (USA).
Craft East Virtual Forum Session: Museums and Artists – A Working Partnership
In this engaging talk, Ellen Bragalone from the Museum of Fine Art Boston presents best practices for working with museums to develop products that will work best in their shops, including: How to connect with museum retailers, details of product development, the development process, pricing, and various factors that inform buying decisions at museums. How to sell to museums and important product highlights. We will also touch on the various ways to get in front of museum retailers and some alternative venues through which they do product research Highlight how to standout in the store and to make it easy for the retailer to properly merchandise your products.