Island Journal

Island Institute at 40 — Community Authenticity Remains Our Focus

You’ve probably heard the term “elevator pitch,” right? It’s mostly used in business circles, capturing the idea that an entrepreneur needs to be able to explain a business concept in a timeframe equal to the average elevator ride. That journey provides the ultimate captive audience, and so a clever pitch in that short time might land an investor. Well, here at Island Institute, we sometimes crave an elevator trip up Burj Khalifa in Dubai, with its 163 floors, to give us time to explain where the organization has been and where it is going. SEE MORE

Maine Seacoast Mission’s Sunbeam docked in Northeast Harbor with the Planet Pan steel drum band.

Working Waterfront

Sunbeam heads south

At the end of July, Maine Seacoast Mission’s flagship vessel, the 74-foot Sunbeam, will host two open houses in the Falmouth-Portland and Boothbay Harbor regions. Both events are open to the public. Visitors can tour the boat and learn about the Mission’s continued commitment to Maine’s outer islands and the Downeast region. The first open… Read more » SEE MORE

Event

SHANE CHARLES: WAITING FOR THE SUN TO RISE

May 10 - 12, 2023 - As the culminating public component of his 2022-23 Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) Artist Residency, Maine-based artist Shane Charles will present his public art projection, Waiting for the Sun to Rise, on the facade of The Island Institute and Archipelago storefront in downtown Rockland for a period of three hours beginning at sunset on May… Read more » SEE MORE

The Machigonne II on its way to Peaks Island. FILE PHOTO: MICHELE STAPLETON

Working Waterfront

New ferries on the way for Maine

New ferries, the vital link between Maine islands and the mainland, are in the pipeline. In recent months, construction has started on ferries to serve Peaks Island in Casco Bay and Matinicus off Penobsot Bay, and funding has been earmarked for a vessel to serve Islesboro and for a second boat for Casco Bay. Here… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

A well-deserved poetic tribute

Wedmore brings these women alive with vivid descriptions of their experiences and their emotional underpinning. SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Island autumn and birds on the wing

The birds aren’t the only thing migrating these days. From shallower water the lobster traps start to either come ashore or get moved out to deeper water... SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

How to determine the degrees of ‘Away’

Away happens and it comes in many forms as does the process of making an accurate determination of whether one is from here, from here only to a degree, or from elsewhere. The means-testing that has emerged is quite sophisticated and, when applied carefully, reveals relative nativeness with uncanny accuracy. I was born in Massachusetts… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Ferry service studied, users surveyed

Maine plans to spend $1.8 billion on its state roads and bridges over the next three years, and so the Maine State Ferry Service’s annual operating budget of $12.5 million might be seen as a pittance. But for people living on the six islands served by the state ferry, that spending is of great interest.… Read more » SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Beaches conference: Future, past collide

More than 400 years after the Plymouth colony was established, historians are still unraveling what the New England coast looked like, before and after. One fresh understanding of that history, which came from examining the colonial impact on New Hampshire’s Great Bay, shed light on the region’s ecosystems today. The presentation was one of several… Read more » SEE MORE

Sam Vail

Sam is responsible for research, writing, editing, submission, and reporting of the Institute’s grant requests to private, corporate, and public foundations. As part of the Philanthropy Team, Sam works closely with program staff who facilitate the Island Institute’s major initiatives to help fund their work in the community. With his career spent running development departments… Read more » SEE MORE