The opening session of the 2023 Artists & Makers Conference.

Working Waterfront

When artists gather, sparks fly

The staff at the Island Institute’s Archipelago store and gallery again presented its Artists & Makers Conference this year after a pandemic pause, celebrating the theme “Together Again!” More than 100 attended to take in eight sessions, live music, Pecha Kucha-style storytelling presentations, and more. The vibe at the conference… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

‘Working the Sea’ is Marine Museum’s summer show

[caption id="attachment_36904" align="aligncenter" width="375"] A dipnet full of scup, or porgies, rests on the trap boat gunwale as Tony Coccoro repeats the endless task of repairing tears in the weir net. PHOTO: MILSON MOORE, NATIONAL FISHERMAN COLLECTION[/caption] The Penobscot Marine Museum’s 2023 exhibit “Working the Sea” will feature photographs from… SEE MORE
Book detail

Working Waterfront

The ‘solastalgia’ of pandemic life

Pete and Alice in Maine By Caitline Shetterly, HarperCollins (2023) REVIEW BY CARL LITTLE The pandemic interrupted the lives of many families, including the foursome that take center stage in Caitlin Shetterly’s first novel, Pete and Alice in Maine. The title’s couple and their daughters, Sophie, 11, and Iris, 5,… SEE MORE

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Island crime, battled with humor

Lobsters Without Borders (2022) Don’t Touch My Cocktail! (2023) By Carol Chen Carol Chen, a Camden resident, is debuting as a mystery writer with two books out now, Lobsters Without Borders and Don’t Touch My Cocktail. Both feature “Jane Roberts,” a novice public safety officer working in a small island… SEE MORE
Maine Seacoast Mission’s Sunbeam docked in Northeast Harbor with the Planet Pan steel drum band.

Working Waterfront

Sunbeam heads south

[caption id="attachment_36825" align="alignright" width="600"] Maine Seacoast Mission’s Sunbeam anchored in Cape Split Harbor.[/caption] At the end of July, Maine Seacoast Mission’s flagship vessel, the 74-foot Sunbeam, will host two open houses in the Falmouth-Portland and Boothbay Harbor regions. Both events are open to the public. Visitors can tour the boat… SEE MORE
A photo shot in December 1973 shows a fishing boat and Coast Guard vessel in peril at the mouth of Casco Bay. PHOTO: NATIONAL FISHERMAN COLLECTION, PENOBSCOT MARINE MUSEUM

Working Waterfront

When the helper gets in trouble

There is no shortage of drama in the National Fisherman photograph shown here, taken in December 1973. The dark figure of a man looms in the foreground surveying a scene of maritime mayhem. It’s foggy and snowing, and one can almost feel the elements. A rope leads the viewer’s eye… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Class clashes and conspiracy logic

Land of Cockaigne By Jeffrey Lewis, Haus Publishing Ltd. (2022) The central thing you need to know about the protagonist family in Jeffrey Lewis’s novel Land of Cockaigne is that they are from away. Walter and Catherine “Charley” Rath arrived in Sneeds Harbor, located somewhere along the rim of Mount… SEE MORE