Written by David Blair, Mariposa Museum

The Mariposa Museum in Peterborough, NH houses a collection of folk art from around the world.  My wife, Linda Marsella, and I opened Mariposa on July 1, 2002 as a resource and gathering place for our community and region. We were pulling together many threads of our life: work and travels in other countries, especially in Asia; Linda’s flair for finding beautiful textiles and artifacts that tell the stories of other cultures; our experience as teachers with audiences of all ages.

Linda and I trained as teachers in Head Start and the public schools.  After ten years in rural, white southwestern New Hampshire, we decided it was time to travel and show our two children (born in 1976 and 1979) and ourselves more of the world.  We first traveled to Asia in 1984, and in 1985 we spent six months studying and traveling in China.  A second graduate program in language teaching prepared us for work at the Philippine Refugee Processing Center in Bataan.  From 1987 to 1989, we and our Filipino and American colleagues created a primary school for refugee children from Southeast Asia modeled on the schools they would enter in the US, after their six month stay at the PRPC.  From 1991 to 1993, Linda and I directed the rural development program of the American Friends Service Committee in Vietnam.  We lived in Hanoi and traveled to villages in two Northern provinces, Son La and Thanh Hoa.  We worked not only with the majority Kinh people but with many ethnic minority peoples.

Whenever we returned from these trips, we did public programs about our experiences.  After Vietnam, we put on three exhibits at the Corner Gallery, a small gallery in the school district offices. These exhibits, on Vietnam, Japan and Africa, drew from the collections and knowledge of many people in our community. We used the gallery as the focal point for school trips from this district and beyond, wrote curriculum and trained docents.

It was exciting work and prepared the ground for Mariposa. The museum was born from the ashes of a fire that destroyed the New England Marionette Theater and Linda’s fair trade store, Joseph’s Coat, the two tenants of the historic Baptist Church building, on New Year’s Day, 1999.  Linda named it Mariposa, the Spanish word for butterfly.  The museum that she imagined and saw to reality emerged from the cocoon of a building almost ruined by fire and encased for some months in ice from the firemen’s hoses.

  On June 20, 2007, as Kerry MacDonald wrote so beautifully in our local paper, “a butterfly took flight.” Linda’s death just before Mariposa reached its fifth birthday marks a transition in the museum’s life. Mariposa has grown thanks to Linda’s vision and determination. She believed that “when children are raised with respect and curiosity toward other cultures, the world will know more peace and less war.” She imagined a museum that would celebrate the diversity and common humanity of all peoples: a collection and a gathering place that invite all in the community to learn about each other, to feel our connection to our own roots and to peoples around the world. She enlisted many others to help her dream come true.

            In these five years 6,000 school children have enjoyed our programs; 30,000 visitors have come through our doors from all over the US and the world; performers have entertained audiences almost every Sunday afternoon. Tibetan monks from the Drepung Gomang monastery in southern India created a sand mandala during our first fall.  Singers, storytellers and dancers have shared performance from around the world.  We celebrate holidays from the traditions of many different cultures, with the participation of the increasingly diverse community in this corner of New England.

Mariposa is a beautiful space and gathering place. It is home to an inspiring vision and to a unique collection that makes the unusual invitation, “Please Touch!”  The ground floor houses our library, workshop, gift shop and exhibits.  Visitors climb a beautiful winding staircase to a large open area surrounded by exhibit cases, with puppet and dress up areas in the back and performance space in the center.  Another flight of stairs leads to a loft with further exhibits, a small art gallery and a wonderful collection of musical instruments from around the world - all there to play! 

When students come to Mariposa, they may be learning about a particular country and culture or exploring a theme that crosses cultures, such as childhood in different societies.   We offer programs for K children up to high school students.  We are expanding the area we serve, visiting staff meetings and teachers, and offering outreach programs for those who can’t visit us.   Teachers will come to the museum for in-service training this year.  In October we launch a lecture program for seniors.  We are organizing and interpreting our collection to invite repeat visits. 

Our theme from mid-October through January 6 (the Epiphany and Three Kings Day) will be Latin America: our rotating exhibit areas, gallery and public programs will reflect this theme.  Asia will take the stage from February 1 through May, spanning the period from Chinese/Vietnamese New Year through Children’s Day in Japan. Mariposa plays an important role in the cultural and educational life of the Monadnock Region and beyond. We invite you to visit us online at www.mariposamuseum.org, and if you are traveling in New England, please come see us in person! We welcome contact with other museums and people who share our passion for celebrating the richness and diversity of our human family. If you would like to receive our online newsletter, or have any questions, please e-mail us at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .