In The News

Maine is known around the world for the iconic lobster boats that dot the coast and are the primary vehicle for the state's renowned fishing industry. Portland-based photographer Mark Fleming has developed a new perspective on these boats by using a drone to capture them in an innovative, yet classic fashion. The Island Institute is celebrating Fleming’s extraordinary visual record of these working vessels by featuring his work on the covers of the new edition of the Island Journal, the Institute’s annual magazine. The covers not only offer striking images, but also a new look at the boats that are so economically, culturally and historically important to the coast of Maine.

Archipelago, the Island Institute’s store and gallery will host an opening reception for its summer gallery show from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4, at 386 Main St. during Rockland’s First Friday Art Walk. Attendees can see new pieces and meet some of the artists. The show, which will highlight the work of painters Wendy Newcomb and Gary Hoyle, as well as Appleton wood turner Richard Dunham, will run Aug. 4 through Oct. 29. Newcomb is a representational painter whose primary mediums include oil, gouache and acrylic.

Maine island communities pay some of the highest energy costs in the nation, but they are also leading the way in transitioning to clean energy systems. Learn more during the talk, "Island Energy: Transitioning to a Cleaner Future," August 9.

If you've ever dreamed of moving to an idyllic vacation spot, Maine's coastal islands offer a cautionary tale. Jobs are limited to lobstering, boatbuilding and caretaking of summer residences. And lousy Internet service makes telecommuting difficult to impossible. But now some Maine lobstermen and would-be telecommuters are banding together to pay for costly infrastructure they hope will help preserve a threatened way of life.

On Wednesday, August 2 at 10:30 a.m., the Island Institute will host a panel discussion on women’s views and voices in Maine’s island communities. The talk, “Making it Here: Women’s Views, Women’s Voices,” will be led by island residents and writers, Barbara Fernald, Courtney Naliboff, and Sandy Oliver, and moderated by Tom Groening, editor of The Working Waterfront.

The Island Institute's Island Fellows Program was recently recognized as the 2017 Outstanding Program by the Community Development Society, a national professional society for practitioners of community development. The annual award is presented in recognition of superior programming that exemplifies and positively influences community development practice. It was one of nine awards presented at the organization's Annual International Conference which took place in Big Sky, Montana, in June.

Maine is the most rural state in the nation and, also, one with some of the poorest internet access. Out on the coastal islands, internet service ranges from lousy to nonexistent. Residents of the Cranberry Isles, from lobstermen to telecommuters, are banding together to pay for costly new infrastructure they hope will help preserve a threatened way of life.

Historian and author John R. Gillis will speak on human movement and its importance to evolution on the coasts of Maine and elsewhere during the Island Institute’s Summer Lecture Series Wednesday, July 19, at 10:30 a.m. The talk, “Our Unsettled Shores; Why Coasts and Coastal People are Different,” will look at the history of human movement by land and water and the role it has played in human evolution along our coasts. The event will take place in the fourth floor conference room at the Island Institute, 386 Main S., and is free and open to the public.

Midcoast Leadership Academy and the University of Maine Hutchinson Center have announced completion of the academy’s seventh program year and the July 2 graduation of 18 current and prospective community leaders. Graduates this year were Alyssa Ames, practice manager at Waldo County General Hospital; Penson Bartlett, North Region manager, Jobs for Maine Graduates; Maggi Blue, freelance artist and designer/marketer; and Megan Brackett, finance director, Town of Rockport.

The Island Institute recently awarded scholarships to 71 island students pursuing post-secondary education at colleges, universities and technical schools across the United States and Canada. The scholarships, made possible by the Island Education Fund, totaled $55,300. Students from 12 of the 15 year-round, unbridged islands received awards, which are renewable for up to four years of post-secondary education. Of these students, eight island students received special named awards: