THE MURAL BARN: Perhaps one of the most interesting and unusual displays at the museum are these murals that provide a picture of a small town in the 1930's and 1940's. Executed during that period by noted local artist Alice Stallknecht Wight, the earliest paintings have as their theme Christ as living amongst us in the form of any ordinary member of the community. The tryptich at the end of the room, entitled  "Christ Preaching to the Multitude," that originally was in the entryway of the Chatham Congregational Church depicts Christ arriving on local shores in a dory of the period, while townspeople flanked on either side watch in fascination and wonder.

On one side wall the "Circle Supper" murals depict a church supper of the 1930's, with Christ in the middle of the table giving his blessing, again depicted as one of the local citizens. All of the people shown in the murals were residents of Chatham at the time and relatives of people still living in the town. One place at the table is empty as an invitation to anyone viewing the paintings to take his place at the table.

The other side wall, painted a bit later, is entitled "Every Man to his Trade," and depicts many of the occupations that were common to a town like Chatham at the time. Once again, all of the people represented were residents of Chatham when Alice Stallknacht painted them. The murals move from birth on the far left to death on the far right, represented by the image of a grief stricken women in a graveyard. There are stories attached to many of the other paintings as well.

Certainly these murals providing a portrait of a small Cape Cod town are unique and of compelling interest to all who see them.