Working Waterfront

Vulnerability is both scary and empowering

Reflections is written by Island Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in remote coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront By Tarah Waters Picture this: nine girls age 11 to 14, three adult leaders in their 20s, and tents pitched… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Andrew Wyeth’s Rockland: Boats, planes and trains

When Edward Hopper (1882-1967) visited Rockland in 1926, he referred to it as “a very fine old place with lots of good-looking houses but not much shipping.” His watercolors from that stay represent a sampling from his repertoire, including a sea captain’s residence, a haunted house, and some waterfront studies of… SEE MORE

Fisherman George Curtis and retired fisherman William Leaman talk fishing (of course) outside of Leaman’s fish house in Owls Head in 1957.

Working Waterfront

Penobscot Marine Museum brings Kosti home

COURTESY PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM In the summer of 1951, Ruohomaa received a call from his friend Andrew Wyeth inviting him to join in fetching an antique hearse from Loud’s Island. Ruohomaa documented the infamous trip from start to finish. In this view, sawmill operator, Ralph Cline, ro “Kosti Comes Home,”… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Two views of what Europeans did to Native New England

Reviewed By Tom Walsh Engraved in granite near the Pennsylvania Avenue entrance to The National Archives in Washington D.C. is this enduring insight: What is Past is Prologue. It’s a thought first penned by William Shakespeare in The Tempest. Written in 1611, it remains a phrase that reminds us that… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Anthology asks: Who are we, and where are we?

3 Nations 3 Nations Anthology: Native, Canadian & New England Writers Valerie Lawson, ed. Resolute Bear Press, Robbinston, Maine, 2017; 176 pages, paperback, $19.95. One phrase to describe what underlies the harrowing political and social divisions in the U.S. these days is “identity crisis.” If I remember right, this term… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Monhegan Museum wins $1 million Wyeth Foundation grant

The Monhegan Museum of Art & History has received a $1 million challenge grant from the Wyeth Foundation. The museum has up to three years to match this gift, the largest in the museum’s history. The grant will support the museum’s campaign to raise $4 million toward an endowment,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Art, a lawnmower, and the pursuit of fulfillment

Buying a painting is like buying a new lawnmower. Or at least that’s what John Ames once told me. When it comes to explaining art, John is one of the most articulate people I’ve ever met. Back in the mid-1980s through mid-1990s, he ran Gallery 68 in Belfast. The gallery… SEE MORE

Karen E. Smith is the new executive director of the Penobscot Marine Museum in Searsport.

Working Waterfront

New director at Penobscot Marine Museum hails from Iowa

The Penobscot Marine Museum, a history and arts museum with nationally-recognized collections, has named Karen E. Smith, as executive director, effective April 19. Smith joins the museum from the Cedar Falls Historical Society, where she served as executive director for six years. “After a thorough and deliberate national search process,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Wet feet in problematic places

The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World By Jeff Goodell Reviewed by David Platt We live on a tidal river in southern Maine, on the western side of the Gulf of Maine. We rebuilt our dock a decade ago, raising it a few… SEE MORE

Richard Howard examining his photos of Vinalhaven residents.

Working Waterfront

‘Heartfelt’ portrait project to feature islanders

Photographer Richard Howard has travelled all over the U.S. and the world photographing people and places for publications such as Smithsonian and National Geographic. Now the long-time Vinalhaven summer visitor wants to use his 45 years of experience to document the island community. Howard plans to spend two years making… SEE MORE