Plan Your Summer Retreat at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Unplug, unwind, and get your hands dirty (in the best way) on Maine’s magical Deer Isle this summer. Registration is open now for summer classes and new, four-day workshops.
Plan Your Summer Retreat at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
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As winter gives way in Maine, mud season sets in, caking everything in a hardy mix of melting snow and thawing earth. That hasn’t stopped the staff at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts from digging deep into summer planning.
Set amid pine forest, coastline, and a seemingly endless sky, Haystack Mountain School’s location in Deer Isle, a small town on an eponymous island off Maine’s Atlantic coast, makes it feel like a nature retreat—a perfect environment in which to slow down and get immersed in the world of craftsmanship.
Since its founding in 1950, Haystack has drawn visiting artists and scholars from around the world. The Deer Isle campus, which opened in 1961, was designed by noted architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and blends into the natural surroundings, fostering community interactions through connecting walkways. Summer is definitely the School’s season of plenty, drawing the largest number of participants. An impressive array of options awaits those who dive into the summer catalog, with courses available in a wide range of subjects from furniture-building to monotype printmaking, and much more.
Workshops fill up quickly, but Haystack now offers another chance at enrollment to those who may have missed the first deadline: Open Call. This second application cycle is up and running for workshops with available spaces—although those are likely to go quickly as well, especially since Haystack received a grant allowing it to waive all application fees this year.
Something else is eye-catching this year at Haystack: Instead of committing to a standard one- or two-week session, students can dabble in a four-day course with a new programming option called Square ONE. Square ONE is perfect for beginning artisans, and these shorter workshops might also appeal to an experienced weaver who would like to try their hand at blacksmithing, for example, or screen-printed ‘zine making, with support from a welcoming instructor.
Right now, there are still spots available in a number of intriguing workshops, including a July metalworking session called “Charmed” that guides beginners through the process of making and sharing small metal charms. Instructors Corey Ackelmire and Nathan Dube are experienced artisans who have retained their sense of fun.
“Nathan and I agree that play and community-building are both central ideas for us,” Ackelmire says, noting that the course is perfect for newcomers.
Another workshop that pops off the page begins in early June, and offers participants the opportunity to play around with metalworking, digital fabrication, and wearable art, all under the skilled guidance of instructor, author, professor, and practicing artisan Kerianne Quick. There’s even a creative writing workshop built around the jazz concept of “the blue note,” with poet and educator Ciona Rouse.
Mud season in Maine may seem never-ending, but the golden days of summer are right around the corner. Now is the perfect time to put dreams into action by grabbing a spot in one of Haystack’s sought-after workshops or new Square ONE sessions, and make your plans for a peaceful, creative summer retreat in historic and beautiful Deer Isle.
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Craftsmanship Magazine focuses on master artisans and innovators whose work informs our quest: to create a world built to last. In addition to our Substack offerings, you’ll find a rich archive of stories, podcasts, photo essays, and documentary shorts on our free website—along with community resources like our Artisans’ Directory, our guide to U.S.-based craft & folk schools, and much more.