FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 11, 2026
CONTACT: Kate Lochner, kate@haystack-mtn.org
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Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Opens 75th Season with Island Workshop Day

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 that is designed for individuals 18 and over, of all skill levels and backgrounds.

This year, support for Island Workshop Day participants came from the Deer Isle Artists Association (DIAA). “The Deer Isle Artists Association is pleased to underwrite Island Workshop Day and to make this beloved Haystack tradition completely free for all participants in 2026. As a community of more than 100 artists and patrons rooted in the belief that art belongs to everyone, DIAA is deeply aligned with Haystack's mission of connecting people through craft — providing the freedom to explore materials, art, and design in a supportive and inclusive community for the neighbors, friends, and families who call this island community home,” shares David McBeth, DIAA Board President. He continues, “Together in partnership we are engaging the creators, and nurturing the creative life of coastal Maine — one workshop, one shared table, one act of creativity, and one handmade piece of arts and craft at a time.”

Island Workshop Day was held on Saturday, May 2, and provided an opportunity for friends and neighbors to reconnect and learn alongside one another. Instructors included Jeff Toman of Somesville, ME (blacksmithing), Amy Tingle of Northport, ME (fiber), Chris Pinchbeck of Hope, ME (graphics), Shelby Goldsmith of Saco, ME (metals), Kristy Summers of Bernard, ME (sculpture), and Ned Merrick of Freeport, ME (wood).

Island Workshop Day is also 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
Download photos: https://adobe.ly/4fgqDxM

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Island Workshop Day instructors enjoy breakfast in the Haystack dining hall, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Haystack staff and representatives from the Deer Isle Artists Association check participants in for Island Workshop Day, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Left to right: Ethan Cohen (Stonington) and David McBeth (Brooksville) from the Deer Isle Artists Association help check participants in for Island Workshop Day, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Left to right: Healthy Island Project Executive Director René Colson and Haystack Executive Director Perry Price greet Island Workshop Day participants during orientation in the Gateway auditorium, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Island Workshop Day students enjoy a sewing circle in the Fiber studio during the workshop Embroidery as a Tool for Storytelling with Amy Tingle, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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An Island Workshop Day participant in the Metals studio working with a view during the workshop Chains! with Shelby Goldsmith, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Left to right: Ian Cust (Deer Isle) and David Lock (Brooksville) get their hands dirty for Alginate Mold Making with Kristy Summers in the Ceramics studio, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Priscilla Scott (Stonington) breaks open a mold in the Ceramics studio during Alginate Mold Making with Kristy Summers, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Left to right: Studio Assistant David Sprague (North Yarmouth, ME) lends a hand to Tiffany Shepard (Deer Isle) in the Wood studio during the workshop Box With a Handle, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Kate McGuire (Brooksville) and other participants use coal forges in the Haystack hotshop during Let’s Get Into Shape with Jeff Toman, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain SChool of Crafts.

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Jacob Simmons (Castine) stokes the coal forge in the Haystack hotshop during Let’s Get Into Shape with Jeff Toman, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Left to right: Instructor Jeff Toman assists Youssef Khallaf (Brooksville) in the blacksmithing workshop, Let’s Get Into Shape, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, Maine. For 75 years, Haystack has connected people through craft, providing the freedom to engage with materials and develop new ideas in a supportive and inclusive community. When Haystack was founded in 1950, it was truly an experiment in education and community, with no permanent faculty or full-time students—a School that awarded no certificates or degrees. Haystack serves an ever-changing group of makers and thinkers of all skill levels—we are dedicated to working and learning alongside one another, while exploring the intersections of craft, art, and design in wide-ranging and expansive ways. 

For three-quarters of a century, Haystack has offered intensive studio workshops and has functioned as a think-tank to explore craft in broad contexts. The School’s award-winning campus, designed by noted American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened in 1961 when the School relocated to Deer Isle from its original location in Montville, Maine. The buildings and secluded, natural setting have provided steadfast support for convening an intergenerational community of makers from around the world to share ideas, materials, and techniques, and make discoveries alongside one another in a creative and generative environment. While Haystack has grown in ways that could never have been imagined—offering residencies, programs for Maine youth and adults, conferences, publications, and more—the core of our work and the ideas we adhere to have stayed very much the same.

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