LEWISTON — Several men look serious and slightly out of place as they pose kneeling with their instruments in a field. Their muskets, stacked against a building in the background, hint at the probability that these men belonged to a local militia. The enlarged sepia photo captures a moment in 1885 and in the lives of a brass marching band from Lewiston, Maine.

Through wars, economic crises, disease and social upheaval, there has been a constant in our country. That constant is music and the power it has to connect people with each other and with their heritage.

Museum L-A has offered an intimate glimpse for the past few months into the lives of Americans and their music through a stunning collection of portrait panels and actual instruments dating back at least 250 years. Originally on loan to the local museum, the exhibit titled “The Power of Music” has become a permanent holding of Museum L-A, and its display has been extended through January.

“We were originally only supposed to have it for two months,” said Kate Griffith, program and events coordinator for Museum L-A. “We asked to have it longer because we got such a good response from people coming in. It’s not every day that we can offer this sort of artwork.”

Museum Executive Director Rachel Desgrosseilliers said she worked with Smith Kramer Fine Art Services to bring the Gardner collection to Lewiston for $7,500 for two months.

Griffith found out that it never hurts to ask. It just so happened that historian and musician Mark Lee Gardner, who compiled the collection over 25 years, was looking to donate his work. Griffith noted that Gardner collected images from all over the country, and that one happened to be from Lewiston.

“It connected with what we were doing locally,” Desgrosseilliers said. “Then we found that they wanted to give us the collection. We wanted to make sure there were no strings attached. We explained what we were doing and what we wanted to do. Then it was ours.”

Besides the looming portraits of men, women, children with their instruments from centuries past, the current exhibit includes actual instruments, mostly donated from local families.

An upright 1905 piano, rare because of construction features such as four pedals and a controlled fall board, sits near the museum’s front windows. Donated by Dick Courtemanche of Lewiston, the piano still carries a full sound when played. Resting on the piano is a book of sheet music, “The Home Circle,” copyrighted 1859, that comes from “The Collection of Uncle Jacque Clark” of Monmouth. Several other artifacts displayed in glass cases show the rich heritage of music in this area. Raymond St. Pierre, also of Lewiston, donated a gourd mandolin that belonged to Hubert St. Pierre, a former janitor at the Healey Asylum who lived from 1851 to 1917.

“The Power of Music,” is actually an ambitious three-year project for Museum L-A that will be feature several collections in phases. The next display, slated for viewing in February, features a traveling Smithsonian exhibit called “The Way We Worked” and highlights the textile industry.

“We cannot forget our roots,” Desgrosseilliers said. “We’re a museum of work and community. Music is part of how we got through our work and was such a huge industry itself. Music was a livelihood for many people and we want to show other connections to work, too.”

“The Way We Worked” will be displayed after “The Power of Music” Gardner collection comes down at the end of January. Some time in May, an exhibit spotlighting the Jazz Age will go up, followed by phases for The Big Band Era, Rock and Roll and Instrument Manufacturing, and capped off with Portraits and Voices in 2015.

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