Haystack in Print

Recent news and articles about the Haystack school, Haystack people, exhibitions, etc.

Summer 2010

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is one of the featured craft schools in Etsy's July 12 blog by Sabrina Gschwandtner, Summer School, It's Not Too Late.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts hosted the Venerable Losang Samten, a Tibetan Scholar, for a week-long residency in early June. Losang Samten is the spiritual director of Tibetan Buddhist Center of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Chenrezig Tibetan Buddhist Center of Middletown, Connecticut; and Chenrezig Himalayan Cultural Center of El Paso, Texas. While at Haystack, he gave a public talk and created a Wheel of Life sand mandala at the school's Center for Community Programs - this also included a ritual dismantling ceremony. Local media, including The Ellsworth American, Penobscot Bay Press; and Bangor Daily News, covered the residency.

AmericanStyle Magazine's Summer 2010 issue features Back to Basics, an article profiling eight art schools in the US, including Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, chosen for "their ideal locales, strong educational reputations and impressive list of alumni." The spread starts on page 82.

Spring 2010

Haystack's Director, Stuart Kestenbaum, contributed his poem Open Window to the June 2010 issue of maine. The Magazine, page 55.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was selected as a "Best of New England" Editors' Choice in Yankee Magazine's 2010 Travel Guide to New England.

The Maine Alliance for Arts Education and the Maine Department of Education have collaborated to identify nine Maine communities where schools and a range of partnering organizations invest in the imaginative development of children and youth. The six finalist communities include Arundel, Blue Hill, Camden-Rockport, Deer Isle-Stonington, North Haven, and York. Three semi-finalist communities were also identified. Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is a partner with two of the six communities identified - Deer Isle-Stonington and Blue Hill. Funding from the Kennedy Center, the Betterment Fund, the Maine Arts Commission, and the Maine Department of Education made the search possible. The Herald Gazette carried a full press release.

The architectural model of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts' campus, by architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, was recently on display at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York. The model is in the collection, Department of Architecture & Design.

Constant Contact, the industry leader in online email communications and Haystack's eNewsletter host, has named Haystack Mountain School of Crafts a Constant Contact Email Marketing All Star for 2009. The award recognizes excellence in email marketing, based on good practices - communication and performance as well as maintaining clean records and delivering engaging information to readers.

Winter 2010

Bomb Magazine's Spring 2010 print issue and their online Bomb Shelter section includes a listing for Haystack Mountain School of Crafts as part of a feature on Artists-in-Residence Programs.

Haystack Director, Stuart Kestenbaum, traveled to Australia, at the invitation of the JamFactory, a craft and design center in Adelaide, to give presentations about Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and meet with artists.

Haystack’s Assistant Director, Ellen Wieske, is one of three artists who will receive a 2010 Society for Arts & Crafts (SAC) Artist Award at an awards ceremony in September. The SAC Artist Awards recognize emerging and mid-career New England artists, who show mastery of their craft media and create original and innovative work.

Fall 2009

A one-week Community-Based Artist Residency and exhibition with Environmental Artist Bryant Holsenbeck, hosted by Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, was the feature of two articles in local newspapers - the Bangor Daily News (Capping of her vision: Artist Bryant Holsenbeck works with students and community members to turn trash into mandala treasure) and Island Advantages (Recycled art forms come to Deer Isle). Both stories included photographs of Holsenbeck, Deer Isle-Stonington High School students, and community volunteers creating a mandala made of plastic lids, tins, and other found objects, at the school's Center for Community Programs. The residency took place from November 2-6.

Haystack Trustee, Bebe Pritam Johnson and her husband, Warren Eames Johnson, owners of Pritam & Eames, a studio gallery featuring original furniture in East Hampton, New York, were interviewed and featured in the article Furniture Extraordinaire, in the Shop Talk section (page 14) of the August/September 2009 issue of American Craft.

Summer 2009

Art Jewelry Magazine included an image of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts with information about Andy Cooperman's 7th Session workshop Zengineering (page 13).

Reader'sDigest.com chose Haystack Mountain School of Crafts as one of forty favorite places to visit in their June, online article, Wish You Were Here?

An overview of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was included in the Boston Magazine's annual Travel Guide.

Spring 2009

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was recognized for contributions to the field of craft in Maine by the Maine Crafts Association, on May 16. During their annual spring retreat weekend and celebration dinner at Haystack's campus, the Maine Crafts Association held an awards ceremony at which Maine's first awards in craft were presented. Haystack received the first institutional award in the category of 'individuals, businesses, and institutions whose contributions to Craft in Maine deserve acknowledgement'. In addition, the first Master Craft Artist Awards were also presented to five Maine artists, which included Haystack Trustee Lissa Hunter.

A May 12 Bangor Daily News article, One thing led to another..., featured Chain Reaction 2009, the presentation of a chain reaction process, which was created during a week-long Community-Based Artist Residency, hosted by Haystack. Visiting artist Arthur Ganson, a kinetic sculptor, along with students from the Deer Isle-Stonington High School and community volunteers, created the chain reaction during the residency. The story is accompanied by a video of the event, which was presented in the courtyard of the high school on May 8.

A May 15 article in Island Ad-vantages, the local Island newspaper, ran the article Causing chain-reactions: Artist helps build kinetic sculpture at DISHS, which also covered the chain reaction event.

Haystack's Director, Stuart Kestenbaum, was the keynote speaker at the May 10 commencement for Maine College of Art graduates. In a May 11 Portland Press Herald article, 'Visionaries' move on, a few notable pieces of advice, from a list of 23 compiled and offered to the graduates by Stu, are presented, along with other news and details from the graduation ceremony. The article's byline reads: "A poet tells Maine College of Art graduates to tell stories, stick to deadlines and listen to silence."

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was spotlighted in a May 1 TravelMuse (Magazine) online feature, Getting Crafty While on Vacation.

FiberARTS' April/May 2009 issue included the article, Residencies & Retreats, in which Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was a featured organization (page 44).

The April 13, 2009 edition of The Ellsworth American included an article, Young, Gifted Artists Benefit from Haystack Mentors, about Haystack's Student Mentor Program and the Student Mentor Program Exhibition, which was on view at Haystack's Center for Community Programs April 3 - May 1.

The Writer's Almanac for April 5, 2009, included "April Prayer" by Stuart Kestenbaum, from Prayers & Run-on Sentences. © Deerbrook Editions, 2007. Reprinted with permission.

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts was mentioned in the article, Camp for Weavers, in the March/April 2009 issue of Handwoven Magazine.

Winter 2009

Edge, the new magazine of the University of the Arts, has included, in its first issue, an article about The William Daley Crafts & Haystack Award, established by former UARTS faculty member and Haystack Life Trustee, William Daley. Photographs of Daley, with Haystack Director, Stuart Kestenbaum, and the Haystack campus, accompany the article.

Fall 2008

Jessica Tomlinson's October 23, 2008 blog, Portland Perspective, posted on DownEast.com, includes a mention about her weekend spent at Haystack Mountain School of Craft's annual fall intensive program for Maine residents, Open Door.

Maine Arts Magazine published a photo from Haystack's Studio Based Learning program on the cover of their winter issue and featured an article on page 6.

The November issue of Down East featured photos from Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in the Arts & Crafts section articles Get Handy and Perfecting Your Craft.

Summer 2008

Fiberarts.com posted an article, A Conversation about Haystack with Janet Koplos, in which Janet, a faculty member for the 2008 Summer Conference, was interviewed by Marci Rae McDade, editor of Fiberarts Magazine and a conference participant.

In a July 30 online ArtsJournal feature, ListenGood: Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and other sounds, a weblog entitled, lobstercrackers social aid & pleasure club, Haystack earned a mention as the blogger sang the praises of the 8th annual Deer Isle Jazz Festival, which included Haystack Visiting Artist, New Orleans saxophonist and Big Chief, Donald Harrison.

Bangor Daily News ran a news article, Exhibit traces Haystack's impact: Deer Isle summer show features 24 artists with ties to the school, about Haystack: Creative Process, held at Haystack's Center for Community Programs June - September 2008.

Spring 2008

The James Renwick Alliance awarded Haystack Mountain School of Craft’s director, Stuart Kestenbaum, with its Distinguished Educator Award at the Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, in Washington, D.C. in April. The award, which is presented biennially, recognizes the achievements of outstanding educators in the field of craft education. Kestenbaum, Director of Haystack since 1988, is the first non-academic teacher to be honored.

American Craft magazine's April/May 2008 issue featured the article/interview, Jack Lenor Larson/Pierre Paulin REDUX. Jack is Honorary Chairman of Haystack's Board of Trustees.

Maine Arts Magazine, the official publication of the Maine Arts Commission, mentioned Haystack's receipt of a Cultural Facilities Accessibility Grant from the Maine Arts Commission and included a photo of the Haystack campus.

Winter 2008

Surface Design Journal ran Lissa Hunter: Finding Her Truth, written by Stuart Kestenbaum. Lissa, a Haystack trustee, is a studio artist who works with fibers and sculpts coiled basket forms.

January 2008

Ornament: The Art and Craft of Personal Adornment magazine included an article about the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, with an emphasis on metals and fibers.

December 2007

Bangor Daily News ran a news article about Haystack's Center for Community Programs and the Beaded Blessings exhibition, which ran from November 14 to December 16, 2007 in the new Center for Community Programs.

Bangor Metro included a piece entitled, Jammin' Duo, about artist-couple Stuart Kestenbaum, Haystack's Director, and Susan Webster, Haystack's Community Programs Coordinator.

November 2007

The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland, ME presented A Gathering of Contemporary Glass - Artists from Haystack and Pilchuck. The exhibition was open November 2007 through February 2008.

Country Home magazine included an article, blanket statement, about Haystack friends Claudia Brahms and Noel Mount and their business Brahms/Mount Textiles, Hallowell, Maine.

October 2007

Maine Home + Design magazine featured a a profile of Haystack Director, Stuart Kestenbaum called, The Poetry in Paperwork.