We were so pleased to be able to safely offer in-person craft programming this summer after so many months of only being able to offer online programming due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Here are some highlights:

• Crafting at Cobscook- inspired by some of our earliest programming, the Cobscook Gatherings- 15 participants gathered for a four-day intergenerational immersion experience to focus on silk-screening or pottery.

• Local fiber artist Gabi Montoya-Eyermann taught a needle felting class

• Pottery studio improvements: Fewer people on campus over the past year and a half offered an opportunity to reinvest in our pottery studio. We regularly hear from community members that our pottery studio is such a unique and appreciated asset, so we now have a new kiln, a more organized and welcoming workspace, regular pottery classes, and a new addition: open studio time. Visit our website or contact Michelle Cousineau for more
      information (michelle@cobscookinstitute.org or 207-255-7246).

Craftspeople are invited to partner with Cobscook to share their skills and passions with the community via workshops, clubs, and classes. Visit our website for more information and to submit a proposal.Whether you are a potter, fiber artist, painter, photographer, basket-maker, home canning expert, or something else, let us know what you would like to offer. Contact Daphne (daphne@cobscookinstitute.org or 207-255-7623) for more information.

Recent Program Partnerships

Our beautiful campus serves not only our own programs, but is also serves as a hub from which we build relationships and partnerships. Our campus is the “homeplace” for our own programs, collaborative initiatives, and also for other organizations to run their programming here. For example, this summer Healthy Acadia led its Downeast Teen Leadership Camp here. The program was a stunning success, with one camper remarking, “why haven’t we always had camp here?”

After a year of few gatherings, the Cobscook campus served as headquarters for the 18th Annual Downeast Spring Birding Festival, a collaborative project of Maine Sea Grant, Downeast Lakes Land Trust, Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge, Maine Birding Trail, and Maine Audubon. This year, in addition to in-person guided trips, the festival offered six online events over the course of the weekend. Further, we offered a first ever Summer Birding Festival in August. To increase access to participation, we waived the registration fee for both festivals. This was made possible through philanthropic support from the Onion Foundation, Approximately 200 people participated in the festival events.