Articles
“Surprise!” Peaks Island Room Transformed for “Reality” Decorating Show
Last August, Peaks Island resident Lynne Richard taped an episode of TLC’s “While You Were Out” at her home. The show, which featured a “pretty flamboyant” redo of her dining room, aired Friday, Oct. 10. For those who don’t know the show, “While You Were Out” operates on the element of surprise. While one homeowner
After the Blasting: Vinalhaven’s Windfall Festival Heals a community’s Nerves
All the best traditions come in the fall – apple pressing, pumpkin carving, the giving of thanks, the giving of gifts. On Nov. 1, the Vinalhaven community celebrated what islanders hope will become another fall tradition, the Windfall Festival. That afternoon, islanders were invited to Lydia Sparrow’s farm for a “family-style country fair to celebrate
History In the Making: Vinalhaven Teacher Recalls a Great Civil Rights March
Each January, around the time of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, students across the country learn about King’s “I Have a Dream” speech, given on Aug. 28, 1963 in Washington, D.C. Few teachers, however, have the perspective Vinalhaven history teacher Karol Kucinski has, for he was there 40 years ago, and heard the speech
Artists find creative refuge on Swan’s Island
Fog. Many of Maine’s island communities spent much of the summer surrounded by it, immersed in it, generally overtaken by it. While most people can tolerate a little fog, almost nobody escapes unaffected by straight weeks of it. It’s no wonder, then, that Swan’s Island artists Ralph Hagopian and Iver Lofving have turned to fog
Pony Camp
If you’re a kid, summer is a time for camp. Day camp, baseball camp, Y camp, basketball camp, scout camp, 4-H camp – you name it, it’s out there. But if you’re an island kid summer camps are often less plentiful and more inaccessible than for those on the mainland. This summer, Vinalhaven kids had
Cranberry, Islesboro artists find Maine a supportive place to work
Anyone who has spent time on a Maine island knows the extraordinary effect these islands can have on a person. Island life brings out one’s creativity, one’s fervor. It gets under your skin and in your heart and you can never get it out. Wini Smart has painted on Great Cranberry Island for 20 years,
Casco Bay’s island artists support one another
Long Island jeweler Martha Whitener spoke for many island artists when she said, “summer is a great boost.” It is the time when “people are here to buy what we’ve been making in the winter,” said Peaks Islander Kathy Newell, a decorative painter. One might think that with Portland so close by, Casco Bay artists
Monhegan: where an artist can’t not paint
Perhaps more than any other Maine island, Monhegan has a history of being an artists’ colony, a place where artists flock in the summertime to make and sell art. Rockwell Kent, Jay Connaway and Andrew Wyeth established this reputation decades ago, and today’s artists are both enjoying the benefits of that reputation and carrying on
Vinalhaven, North Haven artists respond to seasons’ changes
The Fox Islands come alive in the summer. Thirteen miles off the coast in Penobscot Bay, the population explodes on North Haven and Vinalhaven; roads become congested, harbor activity increases, community organizations become more active, and as a caterpillar emerges from its cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, the artists emerge from their studios with a
Island residents speak their minds on war
Though we islanders may be isolated from much of the rest of the world, we are not immune to the politics and controversies that affect our nation. Lately this means differing opinions on the impending war with Iraq. Here on Vinalhaven, residents have had no trouble making their opinions known. Each Saturday since Feb. 15,