Mariposa Museum
26 Main Street
Peterborough, NH
A world cultures museum where you are invited to touch, try on, and play the collection, folk art, instruments, and costumes from around the globe, all inside an old New England church.
The Mariposa Museum is a small museum with a big idea: that the folk art of the world is best understood by handling it. Housed in a historic former church on Peterborough's Main Street, it fills its rooms with masks, puppets, costumes, textiles, instruments, and toys gathered from cultures across the globe, and instead of putting them behind glass it invites visitors to pick them up, try them on, and play them.
The name comes from the Spanish word for butterfly, and the spirit of the place is exactly that light and inviting. It is a museum built around curiosity and cross-cultural understanding rather than a hushed march past display cases, which makes it a favorite with families and a distinctive stop in a region already known for its arts.
What Guests Love
- A hands-on collection you are actually encouraged to touch, wear, and play
- Folk art, costumes, masks, and instruments from cultures around the world
- A welcoming, unhurried scale that is great for families and curious adults alike
- The charm of a global folk-art collection housed in a historic wooden church
Worth Knowing
- Hours are limited and seasonal, so check before you go
- It is a small, intimate museum, an hour or so rather than a half-day
- The hands-on approach makes it especially good for children
- It pairs naturally with a walk around Peterborough's walkable downtown
Details
Peterborough, NH
Learn about Mariposa Museum
A museum you touch
Most museums ask you to keep your hands off. The Mariposa does the opposite. Its collection of international folk art is meant to be experienced directly: you can put on a costume from another country, play a drum or a stringed instrument, work a puppet, or examine a carved mask up close. The idea is that understanding a culture begins with engaging with the things people actually made and used.
That hands-on philosophy makes the museum especially welcoming to children, who can move through the rooms at their own pace, but it works on adults too, offering a tactile, playful way into the art and daily life of far-flung places.
The collection
The holdings span continents and traditions: folk art, dolls and puppets, musical instruments, textiles, ceremonial masks, and everyday objects from Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Europe. Rotating exhibits and programs highlight particular cultures or themes, and hands-on workshops and performances bring in music, dance, and craft.
Because it is a folk-art museum rather than a fine-art one, the emphasis is on the creativity of ordinary people and communities, the toys, tools, and celebrations of daily life, which gives the collection warmth and immediacy.
The building and the town
The museum occupies a historic wooden church on Main Street, and the old sanctuary makes an atmospheric, light-filled home for a global collection. Peterborough itself is one of the cultural anchors of the Monadnock region, a walkable downtown of bookshops, galleries, cafes, and a historic theater.
Peterborough is also home to MacDowell, one of the oldest artist colonies in the country, which has hosted composers, writers, and artists for more than a century and gives the town its deep creative streak. Thornton Wilder is often said to have drawn on Peterborough in writing his play Our Town.
Season by season
Summer and early fall are the liveliest times to visit, with the fullest schedule of programs and the surrounding region at its busiest.
Fall brings Monadnock's famous foliage to the town's doorstep, an ideal time to pair the museum with a hike or a scenic drive.
Winter quiets Peterborough to a cozy arts-town pace, when an indoor, hands-on museum is a welcome refuge.
Spring reawakens the downtown and the region's trails, a good shoulder season for a relaxed visit.
Closest Boutels
The closest Boutel™ stays, so you can turn this stop into an overnight. Each is an independently owned, editorially selected place to stay.
Things to Do Near Peterborough
Mount Monadnock
About 12 miles, a 25 minute drive
One of the most-climbed mountains in the world, with a bald summit and long views, reached by trails from Jaffrey.
MacDowell
About 2 miles, a 5 minute drive
One of the oldest artist colonies in the United States, whose grounds host an annual open day and whose presence shapes Peterborough's creative life.
Harrisville Historic District
About 12 miles, a 25 minute drive
A remarkably intact brick mill village and National Historic Landmark, mirrored in its own millpond.