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.
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.
Support for Island Workshop Day participants comes from the Deer Isle Artists Association (DIAA), a nonprofit dedicated to the idea that art belongs to everyone. Through exhibitions, education, and community conversation, DIAA nurtures the creative life of coastal Maine. Learn more at deerisleartists.com.
Thanks to the support from DIAA, Island Workshop Day is FREE for all participants in 2026.
Island Workshop Day is presented in partnership with Healthy Island Project (HIP). Learn more about HIP at healthyislandproject.org.
How to Apply
All applications for Island Workshop Day are submitted through StarRez, Haystack’s new application portal. For information on how to use the new system, please see the Frequently Asked Questions page.
Thanks to the support from DIAA, Island Workshop Day is FREE for all participants in 2026.
Important Dates
Application Closed
Notifications to Applicants: March, 27, 2026
2026 Workshops
BLACKSMITHING | Let’s Get Into Shape
Jeff Toman
In this one-day workshop, we will demonstrate and use basic forging techniques to create pieces of work with function and shape that pleases the eye. Participants should be prepared to bring ideas, get dirty, and have fun! Please wear cotton or wool clothing and sturdy footwear; no open-toe shoes or Crocs. Cotton or leather apron is optional. All levels welcome.
Jeff Toman(he/him)started forging in 2002 and has led and assisted in numerous Haystack workshops. He and his wife live in Somesville, Maine.
FIBER | Embroidery as a Tool for Storytelling
Amy Tingle
In this narrative embroidery workshop, participants will learn ways to translate experiences into stitches. Together, we will create a simple embroidery journal and an eternal book. We will explore our unique sensory experiences, mine our text messages, email subject lines, family anecdotes, or other memories, and translate them into meaningful marks. We will begin learning how to use embroidery as a narrative tool to tell our own unique stories. No prior drawing or stitching experience is needed, only a willingness to explore and play! All levels welcome.
Amy Tingle (she/her) is the Program Director for Waterfall Arts and Creative Director of the small press Toad Hall Editions. She is a practicing fine artist, a curator, writer, editor, and a mother. She is also a lover of words, magic, and kindness.
GRAPHICS | Making Your Own Pinhole Camera
Chris Pinchbeck
This is a day of fun, discovery, magic, and awe, bringing photography back to its simplest roots. Design and build your own pinhole camera and learn how to make paper negative images. See the magic of a silver print come alive in the darkroom tray from your very own camera, be inspired, and tap back into your inner child. All levels welcome.
Chris Pinchbeck (he/him) is a career photographer, self-proclaimed tinkerer, child at heart, and addicted to awe. These ingredients led him to be audacious enough to build and create very large images in a pinhole camera made using a box trailer he towed around the country. Although the trailer is long rusted, he still finds joy in building unique pinhole cameras and sharing the excitement such a simple craft can bring.
METALS | Chains!
Shelby Goldsmith
Learn how to hand-make your own chain necklace, bracelet, or earrings! Participants will learn how to solder, shape, texture, and finish their own unique links. Everyone will design and make at least one finished wearable jewelry piece. Various gauges of round copper and brass wire will be provided, and limited quantities of silver wire will be available for purchase. No soldering experience required, but must be comfortable handling a torch. All levels welcome.
Shelby Goldsmith (she/her) is a metalsmith and jewelry artist based in Saco, Maine. She received a BFA in Metalsmithing & Jewelry from Maine College of Art in 2014. In 2017, she was awarded the Belvedere Fund, a professional development grant that helped equip her home studio. Shelby participated in the 2020 Maine Craft Apprentice Program to develop her business. In 2021, she underwent death doula training and currently practices both deathwork and metalwork, often combining the two.
SCULPTURE | Alginate Mold Making
Kristy Summers
Alginate mold workshops offer hands-on training in creating highly detailed, temporary molds using skin-safe seaweed derivatives, ideal for life casting, faces, or objects. Participants will learn to mix, apply, and cast materials like plaster or wax into molds, creating one-of-a-kind castings. All levels welcome.
Kristy Summers (she/her) lives and works between Maine and Alaska. She received a BFA from the University of Kansas and an MFA from Alfred University. Kristy worked as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Sculpture at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, later joining the faculty of the University of Alaska Anchorage as an Assistant Professor of Art. Kristy has exhibited her work across the country, including several sculpture parks, city outdoor sculpture programs, universities, and galleries.
WOOD | Box With a Handle
Ned Merrick
Whether you are carrying tools for woodworking, gardening, cooking, blacksmithing, or other odds and ends...you will need a box to put them in. This is a classic project, but one of practicality, and a perfect way to get into woodworking. Participants will craft a box with a round handle (feel free to bring in your own handle) and use tools such as the table saw, bandsaw, hammers, drill press, and more. No experience necessary; if you're a seasoned woodworker and would like to put your own flair on a simple project, please join us. All levels welcome.
Ned Merrick (he/him) grew up in Freeport, Maine, where he did woodworking projects as a kid with his father, and snuck into the woodshop to make gifts for friends and family unsupervised at a young age. After four years at Skidmore College and many hours spent in the sculpture studio, Ned traveled the world on boats. His love of Maine brought him back, and in 2005, he started a custom cabinetmaking business, building cabinets and furniture from Boston to Bar Harbor. In 2016, he purchased and ran Day's Hardwood in Freeport, then sold it to spend more time with family while teaming up with a friend to run a larger cabinet shop, McIntosh and Company Cabinetmakers. He is also the owner of Winterstick Snowboards, based in Maine. Woodworking and creativity spark his life force, and Haystack is his favorite place on earth.