About Haystack

Haystack's new year-round administrative offices and Center for Community Programs is now operating from Deer Isle Village. A bequest from the estate of Charlie Gailis provided for the purchase of the property, with additional funding for renovations donated by Eleanor and Sam Rosenfeld.

Eddie Dominguez mural honoring Charlie Gailis installed

Charlie Gailis, longtime Haystack trustee who passed away in the winter of 2005, provided for Haystack in many ways.  Our vision to establish year-round administrative offices and an exhibition/workshop space in the village for the community, our Center for Community Programs, was made possible because of a bequest from his estate.

Eddie Dominguez stands in front of the mural mid-way through the installation process.

As mentioned in our Fall 2008 Gateway newsletter, Haystack wanted to recognize Charlie’s incredible generosity by creating artwork that would be in his memory. Eddie Dominguez, a former trustee and frequent faculty member, ceramist and professor of ceramics, was commissioned to create a mosaic mural at the new facility.  Eddie had completed three other mural projects on the Island and Charlie was touched by the idea, and asked that we had people who knew him contribute to the content. Last Fall Eddie came to Haystack to begin work on the mosaic, using our visiting artist’s studio at the campus as his working space. Earlier, to honor Charlie’s request, we had asked people close to him to share their memories, and Eddie began work to incorporate their sentiments into the piece. The emotional consensus was that Charlie was a man who worked behind the scenes to support those things that he cared about, and didn’t call attention to himself. Eddie began his preliminary drawings with this in mind. At the same time, he was taken with the large granite boulders—the glacial erratics— that stand nearby the studio, and the way that the spruce trees grow around and against them, and the ferns, lichen, and moss gradually cover the tops. He was combining, in a sense, Charlie’s life with the landscape Charlie loved. Eddie invited people to help him, and many came by the artist’s studio and placed the tile shards to help create the image, which is now a 6’x 8’ landscape that was installed in the entryway of our administrative offices in Deer Isle village this past February. The mural is now the first thing you see upon entering the administrative offices that Charlie helped establish. Eddie’s well considered and finely crafted work is a fitting tribute, illustrating how deeply intertwined Charlie’s life was with Haystack but also conveying the high regard in which Charlie is held by so many.

Eddie placing tiles.

Eddie applying and cleaning grout.

Details of the mural (below) show the intricate placement of tiles and vibrant color - depicting the natural environment of the campus combined with the dynamic energy of Charlie and Haystack.

Construction Progress

After spending the late summer and early fall of 2007 converting the former home into office space, the staff moved into their offices in October. Construction continues however, with further renovations that will allow us to connect the office to the barn, provide much needed storage space, and build a handicapped-accessible bathroom. 

Winter 2008: The construction crew has worked tirelessly throughout the winter months, keeping this project on schedule.

Winter 2008:The storage building and connecting walkway have been added and the roof and exterior walls shingled.

Fall 2007: Equipment reaches over the existing buildings to access the work area out back in order to pour cement for the foundation of the new addition.

Fall 2007: The new administrative offices and Center for Community Programs are located on Church Street (Route 15) in Deer Isle village.