Category: Arts

Working Waterfront

The pulsating kaleidoscope of Jill Hoy’s world

If we could see the Maine coast through Jill Hoy’s eyes, it might be like looking through a broken kaleidoscope. You’d still be able to make out the shapes of rock, tree, sea, headland, and boat, but their angular components would become saturated and vibrate with color. In a lively… SEE MORE
Steadfast cover

Working Waterfront

Children’s author brings worker rights champion to life

It was clothing and a tragedy that brought Jennifer Merz and Frances Perkins together. Merz, who recently retired to Phippsburg with her husband, is a collage artist and writer who has published three children’s books; the third, in September, is Steadfast: Frances Perkins, Champion of Workers’ Rights. Perkins (1880-1965) was… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Jane Crosen’s new, old Hancock County atlas

As far as I’m concerned, every map is a treasure map. In our first years in Maine, there were many Saturday mornings in which I’d pore over the Maine Atlas and Gazetteer, scoping out a minor road that might offer views of a bay or ocean. Later, I collected hand-drawn maps of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An affectionate history of Maine

However dimmed, deferred, or deleted by the coronavirus, Maine’s bicentennial marches on. The milestone is providing an opportunity to claim pride and/or acknowledge failings in our history, to draw lessons from our past, to highlight the ups and downs and in-betweens. For journalist-historian Earl Brechlin, the 200th birthday is also… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Stonington small business ramps up ‘Owl’ production

In 2009, Stonington fine furniture maker Geoffrey Warner began carving a comfortable wooden stool for himself. It had two prominent holes that looked like eyes, making the seat look like an owl head. Warner called it the Owl Stool and commissioned a 2013 analysis by U.S. Ergonomics, which showed that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Patricia Smith Ranzoni’s ‘folk art’ poetry

Bucksport’s poet laureate has lived there nearly all her life. And from her corner of Maine, she’s also one of the state’s best-known poets, with a plaque recognizing her accomplishments set in a step of the University of Maine’s Fogler Library, and invitations to read and talk about her poetry… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Lives and homes of the artistic and famous

While we wait for Maine’s art venues to re-open—and it will happen soon—museums, community art centers, and galleries are helping to fill the visual void with virtual tours, special talks, and Zoom gatherings. First Fridays are now online as are many openings, art courses, and art camps. In Belfast, Waterfall… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

History road trip—see how Maine became a state

On March 16, 1820, cannons boomed and a glamorous ball (attended by the state’s then-acting governor, William King) was held at Portland’s Union Hall to celebrate Maine finally—after more than 30 years of trying—becoming a state. The many celebrations that were planned this year to celebrate the bicentennial have largely… SEE MORE