Island Journal

Painting Islands: Uniting Community with Art

Painting Islands: Uniting Community with Art Islanders choose and light subject By HOWIE MOTENKO My project explores participatory art using the photographic technique known as “light painting.” My goal is to bring this public art work to all 15 of Maine’s unbridged, year-round island communities. For each island, the collaboration… SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

‘Halfway to Where Somebody’s in Trouble’

‘Halfway to Where Somebody’s in Trouble’ Cell phones proliferate, but radios are the go-to communication tool on islands. By Stephanie Bouchard It is practically a cliché to call Matinicus Island isolated, but it is. The closest mainland city (and U.S. Coast Guard station) is in Rockland at about 23 miles… SEE MORE

Communities

old color photo of dock with cable spools

Island Journal

The DIY Approach That Linked Isle au Haut to the Grid

The DIY Approach That Linked Isle au Haut to the Grid Cable has far outlived its life expectancy, thanks to Parker Waite’s problem solving. By TOM GROENING Parker Waite moved to Isle au Haut in 1976 “to get off the grid.” Though the phrase may have had as much figurative… SEE MORE

Communities

Island Journal

Island Golf Courses

Island Golf Courses Rougher Roughs, Tidal Hazards and Gin and Tonics By SELBY FRAME PHOTOS BY GABE SOUZA AND SETH MACY The sixth hole of the Great Chebeague Golf Club’s course, a 110-yard par 3, is ranked the easiest of its nine holes. That is, unless you fail to admire… SEE MORE

Business

Island Journal

Smiles, Hugs, and Hospitality

Smiles, Hugs, and Hospitality Island matriarch marks 66 years on island. STORY AND PHOTOS By SCOTT SELL A confession: I never learned to hula hoop. Not enough to keep it from hitting the floor, anyway. It’s a late November afternoon and quiet on Islesford—also known as Little Cranberry, one of… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Coldwater Coast

Coldwater Coast By Jon Keller The seagull hangs lifeless and gaunt from a rope. The wind is hard out of the east, leaping over the riprap causeway and flipping the water into neat lines of black and silver. The dead seagull twists in the wind, spins, its eyes now as… SEE MORE

Lifestyle

old photo of hurricane damage shot from above

Island Journal

Is Maine Still Hurricane-Proof?

Is Maine Still Hurricane-Proof? By NANCY GRIFFIN The role weather plays in Maine life is as important as the sun rising–and far more likely to be talked about. On the coast, and especially on islands where life revolves around boats and ferries, knowing the weather in advance and preparing for… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Vision Shared: The Painter and the Lobsterman

Vision Shared: The Painter and the Lobsterman ‘Seeing’ and ‘looking’ are two different things, explains Connie Hayes. By MELISSA WATERMAN PHOTOS BY GEORGE TERRIEN My eyes are brown. The eyes of my two brothers are pale blue. I see the world differently than they do, but that is a matter… SEE MORE

Art

Island Journal

Arctic Observations

Arctic Observations By Peter Ralston Last summer, photographer and Island Institute co-founder Peter Ralston boarded a friend’s yacht just above the Arctic Circle on the west coast of Greenland to explore that area, as well as the heart of the high Canadian Arctic archipelago. It was the trip of a… SEE MORE

Island Journal

Making It Here: The Island Educator

Making It Here: The Island Educator Monhegan’s one-room school teacher turned her back on New York City. By Kathy Westra The first time Monhegan Island’s teacher, Mandy Metrano, laid eyes on the island she now calls home, she was not impressed. In 1995, as an 18-year-old high school student on… SEE MORE

Profiles