COMMUNITY PROGRAMS
ISLAND WORKSHOP DAY
May 3, 2025
Haystack opens each season with Island Workshop Day, a special program for residents of Deer Isle, Stonington, and the greater Blue Hill Peninsula, and is designed for individuals 18 and over, of all skill levels and backgrounds. Presented in partnership with the Healthy Island Project.
Island Workshop Day is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May and provides an opportunity for friends and neighbors to reconnect and learn alongside one another. Given the interest in this program, Haystack accepts people based on a lottery system. We reserve slots for those who have not previously had the opportunity to participate in our other programs.
All participants must be at least 18 years old and a resident for more than 9 months of the year of one of the following: Blue Hill, Brooklin, Brooksville, Castine, Deer Isle, Little Deer, Isle au Haut, Orland, Penobscot, Sargentville, Sedgwick, Stonington, and Surry.
Important Dates for 2025:
April 2 | Application deadline
April 4 | Notification to applicants
April 11 | Payment deadline (if accepted)
2025 Workshops
BLACKSMITHING | Open Forge
Aaron Beck
Following an introduction to forging basics, participants will have the opportunity to pursue a small project of their own choosing. From hooks to utensils to fire pokers, instruction will be tailored to individual goals. Please note: Knife-making and edge tools will not be covered.
Aaron Beck (he/him) lives in Deer Isle and is a full-time blacksmith. Originally trained as a carpenter, he discovered forging as a powerful means to make both tools and hardware not available off the shelf. Currently, the bulk of his time is dedicated to custom architectural ironwork.
handwroughttools.com
@maineaxes
FIBER | Rug Hook a Landscape in Painterly Style
Judith Hotchkiss
Rug hooking originated in North America in the early 19th century out of necessity and has grown into an art form with many diverse styles. In this workshop, participants will learn the basics of rug hooking while creating a small landscape in a painterly style. After choosing a pattern pre-drawn on linen by the instructor (that may include meadow, shore, sky, clouds, trees, rocks, or sea), you will learn to pull loops using recycled and hand-dyed wool fabric strips and yarn. Basic techniques and equipment will be covered, as well as some history. Tools are available for loan during the workshop and for purchase afterward if desired. All levels welcome.
Judith Hotchkiss (she/her) grew up in a rug-hooking household and watched her mother and older sister create beautiful rugs. As a young girl, her mother often let her choose colors and practice punching on her big floor frame. Now, Judith is an Advanced Oxford certified instructor, as well as McGown certified to teach traditional rug hooking, and she loves to share the art with others. She produces her own line of hand-dyed wool and yarn, specializing in multi-value swatches as well as one-of-a-kind spot-dyed wool. She lives in Deer Isle, where she is constantly inspired by the colors and beauty of Downeast Maine.
GRAPHICS | Printing Discard and the Natural
Sara Inácio
This workshop will focus on making impressions out of what can be found in our immediate surroundings. Using print techniques such as collagraph, relief, and monotype, participants will be challenged to find their matrices out in the world, push the boundaries of the printmaking medium, and develop an eye for what is printable. Through the making process, we will be thinking together about our relationship to place, other life forms, and the environment.
Sara Inácio (they/them) is a Brazilian artist based in Providence, Rhode Island. They received a BFA in Printmaking and Public Engagement from Maine College of Art in 2017 and an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design in 2024. Through various forms of printmaking, from mezzotints to prints made directly from roadkill remains, zines, sculpture, and installations, they reflect on organisms, ecosystems, and communities that adapt and thrive despite human-built environments and societal structures pushing against their existence.
METALS | Jumping Jacks: A Metal Smithing Primer
Sarah Doremus
Working with metal can seem to be a tool and equipment-heavy medium, but there is much you can do with a modest investment in tools and some basic techniques. In this workshop, participants will make a kinetic toy of their own design while learning metalsmithing basics. We will saw, file, cold connect (rivets and screws), and solder our way to understanding metal processes that you can use at home with minimal equipment, plus you come away with a cool statement piece that moves.
Sarah Doremus’s (she/her) work runs the gambit from simple jewelry to kinetic sculpture. Using anything from precious metals to dump finds, and applying traditional metalsmithing and woodworking techniques, she makes visual homages poking fun at our collective angst or calling the emperor out for being naked. Until recently, along with her studio work, she both taught and was taught by children from Sedgwick Elementary School.
MOVEMENT + WORD | Embodying My Body
Brian J. Evans
Embodying My Body is a movement-centered dialogue space that explores embodiment through interdisciplinary expression—moving, speaking, vocalizing, witnessing, drawing, and writing. Rooted in community care and individual awareness, this workshop invites participants to engage deeply with their bodies as instruments of creativity and perception. Inspired by your interdisciplinary practice, we envision a workshop that integrates movement, poetry, song, and meta-cognitive expression within the Haystack environment, fostering a space for reflection, connection, and collective exploration.
Brian J. Evans (he/him) is a Citizen Artist reimagining art-making through interdisciplinary practice and social engagement. Blending disciplines, professions, and identities, he explores “moments of suspension” in the spaces between, believing the arts must reconnect us to our shared humanity. Rooted in courageous vulnerability and intentional equity, he honors the mentors and ancestors who paved the way, striving to give back and uplift communities through transformative artistic expression.
WOOD | Gathering Tension: Broom-making Basics and Beyond
Robert Sheckler
This beginner’s workshop introduces participants to the basic tools, techniques, and materials used to create American brooms. Short, guided demonstrations will prepare participants to create their own functional and decorative brooms from traditional fibers and cordage. Students will have the opportunity to explore color with dyed fibers and cordage, and they will learn techniques to adapt and elaborate the traditional forms to create truly unique pieces.
Robert Sheckler (he/him) of Redmond Philbert Handwork is an enthusiastic learner, teacher, and crafter living and working in the Portland, Maine, area. Beyond the visceral joy of broom-making, Robert is interested in elevating natural materials over synthetic alternatives and loves to incorporate color into his work, making an everyday object and an everyday activity feel special, vibrant, and even fun.