FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Issued: October 22, 2024

CONTACT: Kate Lochner, kate@haystack-mtn.org

Download Media: https://adobe.ly/404cxZ1 

2024 Open Door Program Brings Mainers Across the State to Haystack

Deer Isle, Maine – This fall, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts hosted the annual Open Door program from Thursday, October 11–Monday, October 14, 2024. Developed for the Maine community, it serves as an important way to close our season of national and international programming. This year, seventy-nine participants attended from twelve counties across the state.

The program is designed for Maine residents, ages 18 and over, of all skill levels and backgrounds. Workshops are offered in blacksmithing, ceramics, digital fabrication, fiber, graphics, metals, woodworking, and writing, and are led by distinguished artists from the US. The program offers uninterrupted time for participants to explore materials and techniques while being in a creative community with other Mainers. 

Open Door workshops for 2024 included:

BLACKSMITHING
Warren Holzman (he/him) – Blacksmithing for Inside the Home

CERAMICS
Erica Hood (she/her) – The Art of Sculpting an Animal Head

FAB LAB
Elliot Clapp (he/him) – Sonic Landscapes/Hidden Frequencies

FIBER
Rachel Alexandrou (she/her) – Re-contextualizing Wreath Making in the Modern Landscape aka Wild Foraged Wreaths

GRAPHICS
Melanie Mowinski (she/her) – Making as Consolation: A Dive into Dailyness

METALS
Erica Bello (she/they) – Spoons & Other Utensils

WOOD 
Eric McIntyre (he/him) – Fundamentals of Greenwood Spoon Carving

WRITING
melissa christine goodrum (she/her) – Crafting Authenticity in Poetry

Open Door 2024 is supported in part by Haystack’s Program Endowment, with additional operational support from the Maine Arts Commission and the Windgate Foundation.

Image list and caption info:

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Left to right
Instructor Melanie Mowinski (Williamstown, Massachusetts) advises Jennifer Schmitt (South Portland) on how to create shadow books in the workshop, Making as Consolation: A Dive into Dailyness, in the Graphics Studio.

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Jean Gresham (Deer Isle) makes a wreath in the workshop, Re-contextualizing Wreath Making in the Modern Landscape aka Wild Foraged Wreaths, in the Fiber Studio.

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Left to right
Sal Bubolz (Lincolnville) and Meg Quinn (Portland) create metal flatware in the workshop, Spoons & Other Utensils, in the Metals Studio.

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Guiellermo Diaz (Deer Isle) carves a toucan head in the workshop, The Art of Sculpting an Animal Head, in the Ceramics Studio.

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Left to right
Kirsti Sandoy (Topsham) and Carisa Salerno (New Harbor) work on shaving horses in the workshop, Fundamentals of Greenwood Spoon Carving, in the Wood Studio.

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Left to right
Cheryl Nelson (Castine), instructor Elliot Clapp (Providence, Rhode Island), Pamela Davis (Cumberland Center), and Mark Anderson (Farmingdale) explore sound in the workshop, Sonic Landscapes/Hidden Frequencies, in the Fab Lab.

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Left to right
Richard Vokey (Portland) and instructor Warren Holzman (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) work on the power hammer in the workshop, Blacksmithing for Inside the Home, in the Hotshop.

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Catherine Cyr (Bath) works on shaping metal in the workshop, Blacksmithing for Inside the Home, in the Hotshop.

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Participants in the writing workshop, Crafting Authenticity in Poetry, pose for a group photo with instructor melissa christine goodrum (Brooklyn, New York) in the Haystack library.

About Haystack Mountain School of Crafts | haystack-mtn.org

Haystack connects people through craft. Haystack provides the freedom to engage with materials and develop new ideas in a supportive and inclusive community. Serving an ever-changing group of makers and thinkers, we are dedicated to working and learning alongside one another, while exploring the intersections of craft, art, and design in broad and expansive ways. Founded in 1950 as a research and studio program in the arts, Haystack is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, Maine, offering one and two-week studio workshops to participants of all skill levels as well as the two-week Open Studio Residency program, tours, auctions, artist presentations, and shorter workshops for Maine residents and high school students. The award-winning campus was designed by noted American architect, Edward Larrabee Barnes, and opened in 1961 when the School relocated to Deer Isle from its original location in Montville, Maine.

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