Fireworks lit up the sky over Vineyard Haven Harbor Saturday night as a finale to the Evening of Discovery gala at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum.

After nearly a decade of planning, two years of construction, over $30 million raised, and the restoration of exactly 1,008 refractors on the Fresnel lens, the Martha’s Vineyard Museum is open to the public in Vineyard Haven.

The $31 million Martha’s Vineyard Museum restoration project is weeks away from becoming a reality.

Construction is set to finish in September on the new museum campus , the former 19th century marine hospital in Vineyard Haven.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum has entered the home stretch of a major capital campaign to relocate to the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven.

How do you go about fixing a whaling logbook damaged centuries ago by water? It sounds odd, but among the first things an expert might do is soak the afflicted pages in yet more water.

When Lois Mailou Jones began painting in the 1920s, she did so in near anonymity, a sign of the endemic racism and sexism of the time. But 92 years after her first exhibition, Ms. Jones is now the focus of a new exhibit at the Martha’s Vineyard Museum, running from June 12 to August 23 this summer. Nearly 17 years after she died, Ms. Jones is once again on display in the Vineyard.

The Martha's Vineyard Museum has received a $500,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant. “Sometimes you ask for the moon, and you get it,” said museum executive director David Nathans.

Martha’s Vineyard Museum has received a $293,900 grant to make detailed descriptions of its collections searchable online, museum officials announced this week. The grant is the largest in the museum’s 90 year history, and builds on preservation work that has been supported by Community Preservation grants from five Island towns.

The Martha’s Vineyard Museum expects to sign within days a purchase and sales agreement to buy the former Marine Hospital in Vineyard Haven for an undisclosed price.

The purchase of the historic property, perched on a hill above the harbor, would mark a major step in the museum’s long quest to find a new home for its historical collections outside of Edgartown.

Museum executive director David Nathans said yesterday morning he hoped to have a deal completed by week’s end.