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Haystack Mountain School of Crafts

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Coordinates: 44°11′18″N 68°35′03″W / 44.18820°N 68.58405°W / 44.18820; -68.58405
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Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is located in Maine
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is located in the United States
Haystack Mountain School of Crafts
Location89 Haystack School Dr
Deer Isle, Maine
Coordinates44°11′18″N 68°35′03″W / 44.18820°N 68.58405°W / 44.18820; -68.58405
Built1961
ArchitectEdward Larrabee Barnes
Architectural styleModernist
NRHP reference No.05001469
Added to NRHPDecember 23, 2005
Facilities Director Walter Kumiega, dressed for success on the Haystack campus in 2019.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, commonly called "Haystack," is a craft school located at 89 Haystack School Drive on the coast of Deer Isle, Maine.

History

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Haystack was founded in 1950 by a group of craft artists in the Belfast, Maine area, with support from Mary Beasom Bishop.[1] The first director of Haystack was Francis Sumner Merritt, whose wife Priscilla Merritt was also an administrator.[2] It took its name from its original location near Haystack Mountain, in Montville, Maine.[3] The school was located in Montville/Liberty, Maine through 1960, but when it became clear that it needed to move, Mary B. Bishop asked one of its trustees, artist William H. Muir to find a place to move to the Maine coast. Muir and his wife Emily found a property on Deer Isle, which Bishop purchased to facilitate building a permanent location.[4][5][6] In 1961 the school was moved to its current campus on Deer Isle.[7]

The campus and buildings were designed by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, and consists of 34 buildings clustered onto 8 acres (3.2 ha) of the more than 40-acre (16 ha) campus property, located on Stinson's Neck, an appendage extending southeast from the main part of the island of Deer Isle. The buildings were designed by Barnes to fit well within their environment, and to provide views of the surrounding land- and seascape.[8] In 1994, the school campus won the "Twenty-five Year Award" from the American Institute of Architects.[9] The award is given to a structure (or in this case, several structures) whose construction and original intent have withstood the test of time. The school was honored again in 2005 when the campus was added to the National Register of Historic Places.[10]

Since 2004, the school has published a quarterly newspaper, Haystack Gateway.[11] In 2016, Craft in America included Haystack in its list of significant craft places in America.[12]

In 2019, curators Rachael Arauz and Diana Greenwold organized In the Vanguard: Haystack Mountain School of Crafts 1950-1969, a major exhibition and scholarly catalogue addressing the school's early history.[13][14]

Also in 2019, Alana VanDerwerker, an independent scholar. Maine artist, art teacher, and student of the school in the 1970s, wrote a historical account of Haystack titled Haystack at Liberty. This book was based on numerous archival letters and personally conducted interviews with Francis Sumner Merritt and many of the earliest participants of Haystack, including Edward L, Barnes, Jack Lenor Larsen, and the sister of Mary Beasom Bishop. It tells why and how the school began and thrived and why and how it moved to Deer Isle.

About

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Haystack offers summer workshops of one to three weeks in blacksmithing, clay, fibers, glass, graphics, metals, and wood. The school has no permanent faculty; the workshops are taught by visiting professors and artists from around the United States. Since 2012, Haystack has operated an annual two-week artist residency (supported by funding from the Windgate Charitable Foundation) during which artists may move among studios and receive technical assistance.[15] Haystack does not award academic degrees, although credit for their workshops can be earned through Maine College of Art & Design and the University of Southern Maine.[16]

In addition to offering traditional tools and facilities for crafts, Haystack is a member of MIT's Fab Lab network.[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Steeves, Brenda Howitson. "Special Collections: Guide to the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Records". Raymond H. Folger Library, University of Maine. Archived from the original on 13 April 2015. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  2. ^ Finding aid from University of Maine Digital Commons, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts Records, 1950-2005, held by Special Collections, Raymond H. Fogler Library, University of Maine (2016) https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1270&context=findingaids
  3. ^ "About Haystack: Mission & History". Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Archived from the original on 24 March 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  4. ^ VanDerwerker, Alana (2019). Haystack at Liberty: From Insight to Mountain to Island (First ed.). Thomaston, Maine: Custom Museum Publishing. p. 245. ISBN 978-1-947758-26-1. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
  5. ^ Myers, Peg (Spring 2003). "Emily Muir's Lasting Legacy Includes Crockett Cove Woods" (PDF). Island Heritage Trust Newsletter. XIII (1). Deer Isle, Maine: The Conservation Land Trust of Deer Isle and Stonington, Maine and Surrounding Islands: 1, 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  6. ^ White, Maryline (September 24, 1974). "Crafts School Emphasizes Uniqueness". Biddeford, Maine: The Biddeford-Saco Journal. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2018 – via Newspaperarchive.com. Open access icon
  7. ^ a b Sarnacki, Aislinn (16 June 2011). "Traditional crafts meld with futuristic technology". Bangor Daily News. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  8. ^ "NRHP nomination for Haystack Mountain School of Crafts". National Park Service. Retrieved 2015-02-24.
  9. ^ "Twenty-five Year Award Recipients". American Institute of Architects. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  10. ^ "Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Deer Isle, 1959-2004". Maine Historic Preservation Commission. Retrieved 10 December 2012.
  11. ^ "Haystack Mountain School of Crafts – Gateway Newsletter | Annual Report". www.haystack-mtn.org. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  12. ^ "CRAFT IN AMERICA | Craft school programs". Craft in America. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  13. ^ admin (2018-06-20). "In the Vanguard". Portland Museum of Art. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  14. ^ Potter, Everett. "A Celebration Of Haystack, Coastal Maine's Visionary Crafts School". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-10-11.
  15. ^ "Haystack receives $2 million grant". Penobscot Bay Press. Retrieved 2018-07-11.
  16. ^ "FAQ". Haystack Mountain School of Crafts. Retrieved 2024-03-15.
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