FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 5, 2025
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Opens 2025 Season with Island Workshop Day, Presented in Partnership with the Healthy Island Project
Deer Isle, Maine – Haystack opens each season with Island Workshop Day, a special program for residents of Deer Isle, Stonington and the greater Blue Hill Peninsula, and is designed for individuals 18 and over, of all skill levels and backgrounds.
Island Workshop Day was held on Saturday, May 3, and provided an opportunity for friends and neighbors to reconnect and learn alongside one another. Instructors included Aaron Beck of Deer Isle (blacksmithing), Sarah Doremus of Deer Isle (metals), Brian J. Evans of Lewiston (movement + word), Judith Hotchkiss of Deer Isle (fiber), Sara Inácio of Providence, RI (graphics), and Robert Sheckler of Portland, ME (wood).
Island Workshop Day is supported in part by Haystack’s Program Endowment with additional funding provided by individual donors and granting agencies. Presented in partnership with the Healthy Island Project.
Image list and caption info:
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Alison Rudel (Orland) uses cordage and fiber to create American brooms in the workshop, Gathering Tension: Broom-making Basics and Beyond, in the Wood Studio.
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Bobbie Wallace (Stonington), instructor Robert Sheckler (Portland, ME), and Will Robinson (Deer Isle) use cordage and fiber to create American brooms in the workshop, Gathering Tension: Broom-making Basics and Beyond, in the Wood Studio.
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Janelle Delicata (Blue Hill) and Amy Chase (Brooklin) admire a sea urchin in the workshop, Jumping Jacks: A Metal Smithing Primer, in the Metals Studio.
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Jill McDonald (Deer Isle) solders a fish in the workshop, Jumping Jacks: A Metal Smithing Primer, in the Metals Studio during Island Workshop Day.
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Hilary Tobin (Brooklin) examines a work in progress in the workshop, Jumping Jacks: A Metal Smithing Primer, in the Metals Studio during Island Workshop Day.
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Laurie Coleman (Sargentville) pulls loops of fiber through linen to create a seascape in the workshop, Rug Hook a Landscape in Painterly Style, led by Judith Hotchkiss (Deer Isle) in the Fiber Studio.
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Studio Assistant Holley Mead (Deer Isle) and Jaye Koontz (Sunset) concentrate on rug hooking in the workshop, Rug Hook a Landscape in Painterly Style, in the Fiber Studio during Island Workshop Day.
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Island Workshop Day students use lap frames in the workshop, Rug Hook a Landscape in Painterly Style, in the Fiber Studio.
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Grace Upham (Deer Isle) and Penny Plumb (Deer Isle) preparing materials for a print in the screenprinting workshop, Printing Discard and the Natural, in the Graphics Studio during Island Workshop Day.
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Island Workshop Day students along with their materials in the screenprinting workshop, Printing Discard and the Natural, held in the Graphics Studio.
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Josh Worthington (Deer Isle) consults blacksmithing instructor Aaron Beck (Deer Isle) in the hotshop during the workshop, Open Forge.
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Sara Alt (Deer Isle) proudly shows off her power hammer skills in the workshop, Open Forge, led by Aaron Beck (Deer Isle) during Island Workshop Day.
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Claire Malina (Harborside) and Kirstin Tobiasson (Brooklin) use anvils in the workshop, Open Forge, led by Aaron Beck (Deer Isle) during Island Workshop Day.
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Students take a break during the workshop, Embodying My Body, led by Brian J. Evans. Left to right: Connie Carroll (Deer Isle), Adina Salmonsohn (Orland), Ruthie Ellis (Brooksville), instructor Brian J. Evans, and Iana Cranewing (Stonington).
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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