Some of the early members of Maine Coast Artists

Working Waterfront

Maine rocks the arts, the arts rock Maine

In 2012, according to the U.S. Federal Bureau of Economic Analysis, arts and culture production accounted for $698 billion, or 4.32 percent of the nation’s economy. Surprise: that’s more than construction, transportation or tourism. In Maine, by 2014, there were 3,262 arts-related businesses sustaining 10,667 jobs. In other words, the arts account for… SEE MORE

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Downeast leaders draw on region’s lessons

By Katherine Cassidy Washington County Leadership Institute, begun in 1997 as one of Maine’s first professional leadership programs, has just completed its 20th year. More than 300 employees, supported by their employers, plus additional artisans and assorted self-employed folks, have taken part in the nine-session course offered every spring, dodging snow days and… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

It all depends… and repeat

One summer from June into September, I baked two cheese cakes every seven to ten days. It was one of two or three dessert choices on the dinner menu of the bed and breakfast inn where I worked. I learned a lot about cheesecake that summer, though not as much… SEE MORE

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A year of teaching social justice

Life on North Haven can have an insular, sheltered feeling to it. This can be blissful—children roam free, parents confident in their safety, rides are freely asked for and given, and babysitters are abundant and trustworthy. The downside to our little Mayberry is that awareness of social injustice can be… SEE MORE

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June as a junk drawer

When a knee issue went from sporadic to constant in February, my doctor suggested physical therapy. One-hour appointments two days a week don’t sound unreasonable, but scheduling them when you live across the water is one of the banes of island living. My PT appointments were on Mount Desert Island, so… SEE MORE

The cover art for the 2016 edition of The Island Reader was created by Islesboro student Cheyenne Houle.

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The Island Reader celebrates homegrown art, literature

There is a side to island life that might be eclipsed by fishermen’s working lobster boats and pickup trucks, and tourists walking off ferries. Art and literature are alive and well in island communities, and the Maine Seacoast Mission believes they are worth celebrating and sharing. To that end, the… SEE MORE

Jamie Rooney with student Gianna Cilley.

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A survivor’s story: From poverty and abuse to police department chronicled in Black to Blue

Deep into her memoir Black to Blue, Jamie Rooney recounts the steady sexual abuse she endured from her 16-year-old stepbrother. At this point in the book, it’s not the first such violation she’s had to endure. “I can’t believe no one ever picked up on this,” she writes 20-plus years… SEE MORE

Suzette McAvoy in a hallway at the new Center for Maine Contemporary Art.

Working Waterfront

High visibility for contemporary art in Rockland

The idea behind the new Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) building on Winter Street just off Main Street in Rockland is to “turn a traditional museum inside out,” says executive director Suzette McAvoy. The building, which has been under construction and visible to much of Rockland’s downtown over the… SEE MORE

Near the old Portland Public Library on Congress Street.

Working Waterfront

Home: Portland in the 1960s

Note: This is the first in a three-part series recollecting the look and feel of Portland in the 1960s, '70s and '80s by a Maine writer who spent his youth there. About 5 a.m. around the first of December 1977, I was standing in streetlight shadows on the corner of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Millennial generation key to Maine’s future

They’re the young generation and they’ve got something to say. And if Maine policy makers are smart, they’ll listen. After decades of dominating the economy, politics and culture, the baby boom generation has been eclipsed by millennials, those born in the 1980 to 1998 period. Since 2006, millennials outnumber boomers,… SEE MORE