Deer Isle, Maine – The Haystack Mountain School of Crafts has just released a video documenting their work in response to the pandemic. Beginning in 2020 and continuing over an eighteen-month period, the Haystack Fab Lab produced 6,000 individual items of personal protective equipment (PPE) which were donated to over 100 organizations in Hancock County and the surrounding region. This project began in response to the pandemic and sought to bring local resources and expertise to the shortage of available PPE in our community.

During this period of time, when Haystack had suspended all in-person programming, the Fab Lab was able to reinvent itself and shift from a program component of the School to a tool for community outreach and support. This was made possible thanks to partnerships with community members and local organizations and through the remarkable leadership of Haystack’s Technology Director, James Rutter.

As a community, we were working together to address a very, very serious problem, unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. It was so satisfying to see how an organization like Haystack, rather than just retreating and completely shutting down, asked, “How can we make a difference? What can we do to help?”

  - Rene Colson Hudson, Executive Director, Healthy Island Project

Working with a group of paid interns including Ian Cust, Rylee Eaton, and McHenna Martin —local high school students who had previously trained in the Haystack Fab Lab—Haystack produced medical face shields and surgical-mask-strap “ear savers” for medical facilities, government agencies, first responders, schools, community organizations, local businesses, and other essential workers. This project served as an exemplary model of how Fab Labs can provide alternative educational experiences outside of traditional classroom settings. The work of the high school interns was grounded in a real-world scenario, which proved to be a powerful motivator for problem-solving and learning about digital design, manufacturing, and production processes. 

In August 2021, Galen Koch, Founder + Lead Producer of The First Coast, and Greta Rybus, Photojournalist, were hired by Haystack to tell the story of this project. To view the video and learn more about Haystack’s Fab Lab programs, visit the School’s Fab Lab page on the website.

This project will forever change how we think about the Fab Lab, and how Haystack can help solve local problems. It has allowed us to imagine new ways of connecting people through craft, and how Haystack can play a role in solving emerging problems. I am so grateful we had the right people in place, and that we could respond so quickly. We could never have done this without the interns, and it was remarkable to see what they accomplished day in and day out.

-      Paul Sacaridiz, Executive Director, Haystack

ABOUT HAYSTACK

Founded in 1950, Haystack has welcomed people from diverse backgrounds to explore the intersections of craft, art, and design in broad and expansive ways. Though most people spend only short periods of time at Haystack, the experience of being at the School has influenced generations of artists and helped to define a broader field. The School offers one and two-week workshops, as well as artist residencies, public lectures, tours, and dedicated programming for Maine residents. Haystack also functions as a think-tank, publishing annual monographs and organizing a variety of conferences and symposia for the field of craft. Many of these have been presented in collaboration with other institutions such as the MIT Center for Bits and Atoms, The Center for Craft, The Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Smithsonian Institution, and Indigo Arts Alliance. The award-winning campus was designed by noted American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and opened in 1961 when the School relocated to Deer Isle.

MISSION

Haystack connects people through craft. Located on the coast of Maine, 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.

Follow us online: haystack-mtn.org | @haystack_school