Category: Arts

Baseless

Working Waterfront

The truth is out there… or not

Baseless: My Search for Secrets in the Ruins of the Freedom of Information Act By Nicholson Baker; Penguin Press, 2020  One of my many unproven cultural theories that hasn’t changed much for decades goes like this: In 1914 the world went insane. It showed no signs of recovering until the… SEE MORE
Eastport's famed mermaid statue.

Working Waterfront

My Downeast adventure has a surprise ending

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. When my father and I crossed from Quebec into Maine, the border agent raised an eyebrow as he looked at our… SEE MORE
Rockport Opera House

Working Waterfront

Days and nights at the opera house

After the Civil War, small towns across the United States began constructing and opening opera houses, including across Maine’s interior and coast. As the days of traveling entertainers wound down, and cars allowed more people to travel to larger cities for their entertainment, opera houses began shuttering. Some were torn… SEE MORE
Students rehearsing the play D&D. PHOTO: ALICE GREENWAY

Working Waterfront

It’s play time on North Haven

Spring is taking a particularly “playful” form on North Haven. Twenty playwrights, tapping at their laptops over the winter, have submitted manuscripts. Seven directors are taking time away from boatyards, school, and gardens. And 38 actors of all ages are striding the boards, which this year includes the fields at… SEE MORE
News from the front

Working Waterfront

What World War II meant to Monhegan

The Second World War had a dramatic impact on the everyday lives of people across the country, and while far from the fighting, the residents of Maine’s remote offshore islands also were profoundly affected by the war overseas. The multimedia online exhibition World War II: On-Island and Abroad incorporates oral… SEE MORE
Danielle Rose Byrd

Working Waterfront

Carving her way from surgery to art

Carving from green wood is a whole different beast from dry-wood carving, says Danielle Rose Byrd, a Bar Harbor-based wood carver and sculptor. “It’s wet wood. It behaves differently when it dries. It wants to crack and people are super scared of that. And so I’m like … Why is that bad?” In Byrd’s new book, the self-taught carver presents step-by-step wood carving instruction, with some soul-carving instruction threaded in. SEE MORE