Stow Wengenroth, “Low Tide,” August 1931, lithograph, edition of 51, 9 1/16 by 12 9/16 inches Edition of 51. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE TIDES INSTITUTE AND MUSEUM OF ART.

Working Waterfront

Stow Wengenroth: On the Eastport waterfront

In 1927, the Grand Central Art School started offering summer classes in Eastport. Founded in 1923 by painters John Singer Sargent, Walter Leighton Clark, and Edmund Greacan, the esteemed school located in New York City’s Grand Central Terminal decided to establish a chapter way Downeast. [caption id="attachment_38166" align="alignleft" width="450"] Keith… SEE MORE

Otter Cliffs in winter. PHOTO: COURTESY FRIENDS OF ACADIA

Working Waterfront

Mapping MDI’s climate future

Reflections is written by Island Institute Fellows, recent college grads who do community service work on Maine islands and in coastal communities through the Island Institute, publisher of The Working Waterfront. In the library, Tremont residents gather around flood maps. Disoriented at first, we find key landmarks—the school, Hansen’s Outpost,… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Take it or leave it

On Aug. 2 on Great Cranberry Island, the Ladies Aid Society held its 122nd annual fair. It featured, among other things, lunch, crafts, clothing, cookbooks, a garden table, face painting, and a silent auction. For many years the Church Club on Islesford hosted the same kind of fair, making sure… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

In praise of pruning

In the summer, with my days suddenly unstructured, I become an inveterate putterer. No shelf is left unorganized, no drawer unpurged. The yard gets the most attention. At some point every day, I find myself wandering from plant to plant, flowers and vegetables alike, touching leaves, saying hello (out loud!),… SEE MORE

A summer scene off Stonington. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

Stonington launches resilience strategy

The Hancock County town of Stonington is launching an economic resiliency strategy to complement its 2018 comprehensive plan and to proactively respond to current and future challenges and changes impacting the town’s ability to thrive as a year-round community. The analysis and action plan was commissioned in the spring of… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

An island’s hold on family

High Time TidePool Press (2023) As the state ferry approaches North Haven in the Fox Island Thorofare, my eye goes to the large, sprawling cottage-style mansions that line neighboring Vinalhaven’s cliffs to the south. The buildings, which in the offseason are shuttered, or at least without signs of life, date… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Vinalhaven takes action on housing

The Vinalhaven Housing Initiative (VHI) has been established to create year-round affordable, sustainable housing options for decent and safe housing that is affordable to lower- and middle-income individuals and families, senior citizens, and physically challenged people who would otherwise be unable to afford rental or homes due to rapidly escalating… SEE MORE

Working Waterfront

Portland to sell building to island group

An affordable housing advocacy group has unveiled renderings of a building with three apartments that it plans to have constructed and occupied by next June on Peaks Island. Home Start, a nonprofit dedicated to expanding the pool of affordable housing on Peaks, has entered into a purchase-and-sales agreement with the… SEE MORE

Participants at a Build Maine conference work at creating a hypothetical housing development following a zoning ordinance. PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

On the record with… GrowSmart Maine’s Nancy Smith

When Nancy Smith first came to Maine in 1981, she was thinking, professionally, about the growth of trees and forests. Today, her work focuses on ensuring that Maine communities retain their character and function. Or, in other words, that they grow smart. Smith grew up in Connecticut and went to… SEE MORE

A fishing boat hauls traps with Stonington in the background. FILE PHOTO: TOM GROENING

Working Waterfront

A curated coast—stories preserved and amplified

If you visit 44 North Coffee’s Stonington location through mid-October, you’ll notice something different about the beloved cafe. This year, 44 North is hosting an exhibit of photographs, audio stories, and a soundwalk by The First Coast, a collective of storytellers and documentarians that I helped curate. Founded in 2016… SEE MORE