Hone Your Artistic Skills in Maine
Artists of all mediums, genres and abilities come to Maine to expand their knowledge and skills in the state’s many internationally acclaimed workshops and schools. You can, too.
The Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts in Newcastle holds workshops and summer and fall residencies for ceramic artists. Each year, more than 100 people spend their time creating, firing up the kilns and crafting pieces from clay that is made on site. Throughout the year, there are workshops like wheel throwing and glazing, as well. The center uses the marine clay left behind from when the campus was a brick factory.
The world-renowned Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, situated on the shores of Penobscot Bay on Deer Isle, offers one- and two-week studio sessions each summer for guests to learn a multitude of crafts - from glass blowing and pot throwing to blacksmithing and fiber arts. Visiting artists and talented faculty guides work in studios that remain open all day, every day, so you can work when the muse inspires you.
If you want to try your hand at furniture building or you’re just looking to polish your craft, the Center for Furniture Craftsmanship is the place to be. Offering 9-month-long programs, shorter intensive courses and workshops, the Center has something to teach everyone. All bases are covered, from basic woodworking classes to wood-turning and fine cabinetry, wood crafters of all levels can expand their knowledge and skill.
If physical theater is your art, check out the Celebration Barn. Nestled in the foothills of Western Maine, the Barn offers a full season of intensive, immersive and collaborative workshops with world-class teachers in techniques from clowning and buffoon, to improv and movement theater. Artists can delve into their craft for six to twelve hours a day in small, intimate groups.
Hone your skills in photography, filmmaking, book arts and writing at the Maine Media Workshop in Rockport. One of the longest-running media-arts workshop programs in America, where everyone - from high school students to octogenarians - can learn in a workshop setting or a 4-10 week-long intensive. Their MFA program was was recently named to the top 100 fine-art graduate schools by US World & News Report.