OPEN DOOR

For more than forty years, Open Door has welcomed Maine residents to campus for an intensive three-day workshop weekend. The program is designed for individuals, 18 and over, of all skill levels and backgrounds.

Workshops are taught by established artists from across the country. The combination of uninterrupted time and the unique setting of the Haystack campus provide a wonderful experience for participants to explore new processes or deepen their studio practice. The program is also widely recognized for its ability to serve Maine-based art educators, who often attend Open Door to acquire professional development experiences.

Given the interest in this program, Haystack accepts people based on a lottery system and is open to Maine residents age 18 and over who reside in the state for more than 9-months of the year. For more information on the application process for Open Door, please see the How to Apply section below.

Open Door is supported in part by Haystack’s Program Endowment, with additional funding provided by individual donors and granting agencies.

BLACKSMITHING | Shawn Lowell
Forging Kitchen Tools: Spoons, Spatulas + Hooks

Learn the fundamentals of blacksmithing while forging a collection of useful kitchen tools. Participants will make items such as serving spoons, spatulas with riveted handles, and forged hanging hooks. Through these projects, participants will develop hammer control, heat management, forging accuracy, riveting, shaping, and finishing techniques. This workshop is designed for beginners while offering opportunities for more experienced students to refine foundational skills. All levels welcome.

Shawn Lovell (she/her) is a full-time blacksmith and metalsmith based in Berkeley, California. For more than twenty-five years, she has created hand-forged architectural ironwork and functional objects that combine contemporary design with traditional forging techniques. She is known for her forged kitchen utensils, including the egg spoon developed in collaboration with Alice Waters. Lovell has taught at Penland School of Craft and competed internationally in blacksmithing events in the Czech Republic and Italy.

Slmetalworks.com | @Slmetalworks

CERAMICS | Frank Zhu
Breaking the Confines of the Wheel

This workshop explores how wheel-thrown forms can be altered, assembled, and reconfigured to move beyond traditional throwing. Through demonstrations, discussion, and studio time, participants will work across functional and sculptural approaches. All levels welcome - Prior Experience with Wheel Throwing highly Recommended.

Frank Zhu (he/him) is an Austin, Texas‑based multidisciplinary artist and educator whose 14‑year practice spans ceramics, metalwork, drawing, photography, performance, and poetry—creating both medium‑specific and hybrid works that blur the boundaries between form, function, and narrative.

frankzhuceramicist.com | @frankzhuceramicist

FAB LAB | Kimberly Lyle
3D Printing with Bio-Based Materials

In this beginner-friendly workshop, we will gather natural materials from the local landscape, such as  dried seaweed, crushed shells, and soil, and turn them into mixtures we can build with. We will design and 3D print simple tools like stamps, texture rollers, and molds to shape them by hand. We will even experiment with printing our mixtures in a clay 3D printer. Together, we will explore less extractive and low-waste ways of working with digital fabrication tools. All levels welcome.

Kimberly Lyle (she/her) is an artist and educator living in Atlanta, Georgia. She uses digital fabrication, electronics, craft, and found materials to question how the values embedded in our technologies shape our relationships with each other and the natural environment. Her interactive sculptures and installations challenge dominant systems and invite embodied ways of knowing. Lyle is currently an Assistant Professor of Sculpture and Technologies at the University of Georgia.

kimberlyle.net | @kimber.lyle

FIBER | Carly Owens Weiss
Encrusted: Explorations in Contemporary Bead Embroidery

In this workshop, participants will delve into the foundations of hand embroidery and beading in the context of contemporary surface embellishment. The usage and manipulation of traditional methods will be emphasized to create experimental embroidery-based works through the implementation of design elements such as texture, density, repetition, and form. Participants will complete their own bead embroidered pieces and leave with the confidence to continue exploring this exquisite craft. All levels welcome.

Carly Owens Weiss (she/her) is an artist and educator based in Brooklyn, New York. She received a BAD from North Carolina State University and attended the Royal School of Needlework, UK. Her recent exhibitions include the Chautauqua Institute, The Museum of Arts and Design, The Hole, and Tracey Morgan Gallery, where she is represented. Owens Weiss was awarded residencies at the Vermont Studio Center, Haystack, Contemporary Craft, and Penland School of Craft. She was a finalist for the Hand & Lock Prize for Embroidery (2017).

carlyelizabethowens.com | @carlyowensweiss

GRAPHICS | Ashley Page
Papercoated: Sculptural Papermaking

Join us in learning the basics of 2D papermaking and pulling sheets, while integrating cold-connection wire sculpture making and found objects into the vat. Whether you are crafting wire floral forms, figurative poses, or a critter found in nature, participants will play with scale and texture to create their own personal sculptural forms. All levels welcome.

Ashley Page (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist living and working in Portland, Maine. She received a BFA in Sculpture and a minor in Public Engagement from the Maine College of Art & Design. Her studio practice and curatorial projects serve as vehicles for storytelling, representation, and intergenerational exchange. Page’s artwork has been exhibited at museums and institutions, including the Portland Museum of Art, Hunterdon Art Museum, the Tate House Museum, and the University of Southern Maine Art Gallery. As a teaching artist, she has taught various workshops in textiles, papermaking, and printmaking at Peters Valley School of Craft, the University of Maine Orono, Waterfall Arts, Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, and others.

ashleypagestudio.com | @ashleypage.studio

METALS | Venetia Dale
Fiber Techniques and Metal

This workshop will focus on learning and applying fiber and metal techniques to wearable or sculptural forms. Engaging with the long histories within these respective fields, we will play with fiber and metal, building structures, surfaces, and decoration through material exploration. All levels welcome.

Venetia Dale (she/her) is an artist living and working in Boston, Massachusetts. Dale pieces together fragments of mundane objects into sculptural works. The material histories of embroidery, pewter, and rug hooking are translated through her work as intimacies of domestic life that remind us of the generative potential of the everyday. Dale has exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the National Museum of Women in the Arts, among others.

venetiadale.com | @venetiadale

WOOD | Fredy Huaman Mallqui
Hand Wood Carving

Participants will develop a solid foundation in traditional skills for carving ornamental elements for furniture, as well as transforming sculptural pieces of art. Participants are invited to work on their individual projects with guidance, while benefiting from shared group critiques. Through discussion and demonstration, we will address tool handling safety, efficiency, sharpening, etc. This workshop is for carvers who want to learn and expand their knowledge of hand wood carving, tools, and techniques. All levels welcome. 

Fredy Huaman Mallqui (he/him) is an ornamental wood carver, contemporary sculptor. He began apprenticing with master carvers at the age of nine in Ayacucho, Peru. He explores connections, life cycles, and rituals through sculptural storytelling in wood. In 2021-2025, Huaman Mallqui was commissioned by the Pittsburgh International Airport to create a series of public art. He teaches wood carving at prestigious institutions, including the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship (Maine), Anderson Ranch Arts Center (Colorado), Shakerag Workshops (Tennessee), and Pocosin Arts School of Fine Craft (North Carolina). His work has been shown individually and collectively in Austria, Germany, Peru, and the United States.

fredyhuamanmallqui.com | @fredyartworkrestoration

Given the interest in Open Door, Haystack accepts people based on a lottery system and is open to Maine residents age 18 and over who reside in the state for more than 9-months of the year. Open Door workshops are open to all skill levels, from beginners to advanced professionals, unless otherwise noted in the workshop description.

The application for Open Door opens July 27 at 10:30 am EST.

Participants are responsible for the combined cost of Tuition and Room & Board. Please see the chart for an overview of rates.

When indicating your preference for housing, be sure to include your first and second choice on your application. While we make every effort to accommodate participants’ first housing choice, we cannot guarantee it based on availability. For an overview of housing options, please see the Housing page.

Meal costs are included in all Room & Board rates, including the Day Student rate—meals are never a separate or pro-rated cost. There are no exceptions.

If you are accepted to Open Door, the full balance must be paid no later than Friday, August, 28, 2026. Participants will forfeit their workshop spot if the full balance is not made by the payment deadline.

Cancellation Policy: For cancellations received by September 11, a refund will be given—less a $100 cancellation fee. No refunds beginning September 12. All cancellations must be made in writing to the Registrar at registrar@haystack-mtn.org.