First published in 1984, Island Journal, Island Institute’s annual print and digital publication, tells stories of life in Maine’s island and coastal communities, the character and livelihoods of the people who call the state of Maine their home, the history of how we got here, and the interactions between humans and nature.

  • 2021

Henri, Bellows, and Luks: The Ashcan School in Maine

Painters found in our waters the realism they’d seen in cities
Storm Tide, Robert Henri, 1903. Oil on canvas, 26 x 32 inches Whitney Museum of American Art At the end of the 19th century, something of a battle began in American art, between the academicians and a group of independent artists. The former, represented by the National Academy of Design in New York City, encouraged a rather genteel approach to…
BY Carl Little
  • 2021

Building Boats in the Heart of Maine’s Boating Waters

Brooklin Boat Yard has earned a reputation for classic craftsmanship matched with modern technique
Photos by Jack Sullivan “It’s a pretty small club, wooden boatbuilders. Maine is one of the hot spots,” said Steve White, a celebrated member of the club who presides over…
BY Laurie Schreiber
  • 2021

Boosting our Small Businesses

Island Institute’s Tom Glenn Community Impact Fund helped entrepreneurs survive pandemic
When the pandemic shut down the state in March of last year, the impact on small businesses was immediate. The Island Institute knew it had to offer expanded support. For…
BY Stephanie Bouchard
  • 2021

Penobscot Bay—Churning Waters, Changing Tide

Abundance and exploitation, culturally divided, and rich with opportunity
It’s the largest estuary on Maine’s 3,500-mile-long coast, lying at the mouth of the storied river and watershed that bear its name, which in turn was taken from the native…
BY Tom Groening
Quahog fishermen at work
  • 2021

Changing Fisheries on Narragansett Bay

Cleaner waters, but fishing culture and fish species in flux
Quahoggers rake in their catch while fishing in Narragansett Bay near Warwick, R.I. Photo: David Wells / Alamy Stock There’s a small-state joke in northern Rhode Island that goes like…
BY Ari Snider
two geese take flight near an island
  • 2021

All eyes on the Chesapeake

Estuary’s recovery faces political and legal challenges
The Chesapeake Bay’s past is the stuff of legend: Pocahontas and Capt. John Smith (well, actually John Rolfe), the rockets’ red glare and the anthem it inspired, the Monitor and…
BY Jeremy Cox
  • 2020

Betsy James Wyeth

The late wife of Maine’s famous painter helped put the Island Institute on firm footing
The publication you are reading was inspired by Betsy Wyeth. When Betsy, whom I first met when I was eight years old, bought 450-acre Allen Island, six miles off Port…
BY Peter Ralston
  • 2020

Remembering Hoddy

Institute founder recalls Horace ‘Hoddy’ Hildreth’s essential Maine qualities
Photo by Peter Ralston When I think of the essential qualities a Maine person ought to have, at the top of the list is an instinctual recognition—a gut sense—of right…
BY Philip Conkling
cropped long exposure photograph by photographer Jim Nickelson
  • 2020

Alchemy of the Night Sky

Photographer Jim Nickelson uses the stars and moon as his palette
The moon’s an arrant thief, And her pale fire she snatches from the sun —Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare I was the shadow of the waxwing slain By the false…
sunrise over grant's cove
  • 2020

Islands of the Dawnland

Native people relied on the coast for food and supplies
When Gluscabe was young, he watched his grandmother Woodchuck fish to feed the two of them, and saw she had a hard time catching fish. He decided to help her.…
BY Rebecca Pritchard

About Island Journal

Life in Maine’s Island and Coastal Communities

Island Journal was first published in 1984 by Island Institute founder Philip Conkling, a writer, and co-founder Peter Ralston, a photojournalist. An early and key supporter, the late Betsy Wyeth, urged the two to produce a publication that stood out from the field of nonprofit reports and newsletters. More than 40 years later, Island Journal continues to meet that standard, gathering stories, photographs, and art that illuminate the rich culture of life on Maine islands and in its coastal communities.

The annual publication features the stories of those who live and work on the coast and islands, and reflects our history, the lessons learned, and continually looks toward our shared future. Today, many Mainers and Island Institute supporters keep a bookshelf in their home for their Island Journal archives, which collectively, contain the larger story of the beautiful, rugged, independent, and precious way of life in our island and coastal communities.

“It is, at the very least, bad manners to care about any aspect of an island and its phenomena, without caring also about its people—past, present, and future.” – George Putz, editor Island Journal (1984-1991)

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Browse each digital issue of Island Journal, dating back to the first issue published in 1984.

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