August 2024 Featured MCA Institutional Member: Schoodic Arts for All

Schoodic Arts for All was founded with the first Schoodic Arts Festival in 1999, when a grassroots citizens’ group sought to revitalize Winter Harbor, a small fishing village with a population of less than 500, through increased visitation and economic opportunity. Supported by a small grant, the town’s inaugural arts festival was a resounding success. Over the next twenty-six years, Schoodic Arts for All expanded to offer year-round workshops, performances, after-school programs, and art-related community groups for both seasonal and year-round residents of Winter Harbor. The organization proudly occupies three historic buildings that house an art studio, administrative office, and a community arts space where they conduct a year-round calendar of programming and performances. The MCA recently had the pleasure of speaking with the organization’s passionate leadership team, Anna Woolf, Artistic Director, and Lisa Salsbury, Managing Director, about their roles and SAFA’s impact on the community.

1: Tell us a bit about your organization, its mission and role in the Maine community (or beyond)?

Lisa: 2024 marks the 26th year of Schoodic Arts for All. We act to enrich our community by providing welcoming, accessible art programs that engage, educate, challenge, and inspire people from all walks of life. As a community organization that operates in a small rural area to serve a diverse economic group, we strive to make programming accessible to everyone.

2: What are the most important elements to your work as an organization?

Anna: Youth education is my pride and joy. About ten years ago, we started with a small afterschool program that has grown to include four schools and a homeschool group that meets weekly. We hire teaching artists both from away and within the community to lead workshops and offer a wide variety of projects including needle felting, stone sculpture, self portraits, clay, screen printing, metalwork, and camera work. Students give suggestions for projects and artists and we build programming around those interests. For example, students recently made pinhole cameras out of old iphone boxes, learned about the wet developing process, and how to set up a dark room.

Lisa: The Schoodic Arts Festival spans three weeks in the summer (July 21 – August 10, 2024) and will include 50+ workshops offering everything from pottery, woodturning, jewelry, baskets, stained glass, cooking, and four performances per week. The Schoodic Peninsula becomes home to the festival with events taking place in multiple buildings as well as the town gym and local artist studios. We also schedule performances regularly and offer two summer camps. There aren’t many others in the area offering this level of activities and programming year-round. 

We also recently began offering the “For All” initiative: Flexible tuition is available for our workshops thanks to a new grant. Four price structures ranging from “Pay it Forward” for when you can afford more to “For All”, which is deeply discounted, enable you to choose the budget that works for you. We’re very pleased with the results so far. Not only are a generous number of participants choosing to “Pay it Forward”, we are attracting new people and already have higher registrations over last year.

3: Schoodic Arts for All is well known for its Schoodic Arts Festival, do you offer additional services or programs?

Year round workshops: Every week during the school year we host art clubs and free Crafting Times. In the winter when it’s dark and cold, this offers something fun to bring people together. Volunteers have stepped in to pick the theme and gather materials. We also plan to bring back Coffeehouse, a well loved performance-based program organized by the late Jeremy Strater. With a different act the last Friday of each month, homemade pie and coffee was served at each show. The tradition was continued after Jeremy’s passing but paused during COVID. This year is the first year we have had all of our performances back at Hammond Hall. Beginning in March, at the request of many attendees, we also brought back pie, with BYOP, Bring Your own Pie (to share). Folks have responded with enthusiasm and we have had more pie than we know what to do with at each Coffeehouse since! 

Community programs: The theater group meets monthly for dramatic readings and also develops an annual spring production. We host singing groups, a recording group, open mic night, ukulele club, and a Connect & Create painting club over Zoom. The switch to Zoom came about during Covid, but we found it to be a great way for attendees outside of the area to stay connected. The Connect & Create club will be having an art show in July and August in Hammond Hall. Other upcoming exhibitions include Warren Harding, “Only In America”, and the collective Farmstead Barn Arts.

4: How did you become involved with the Maine Crafts Association? 

We haven’t had any direct collaborations (yet), but our organizations have operated adjacently to serve Maine artists with similar values and initiatives over the past two decades. And, we show up to support one another’s programs and events!

5: Did you have any organizational mentors or major influences that inspired this organization’s development or growth?

Organic farmer/novelist Cynthia Thayer and musician Sheila Unvala co-founded Schoodic Arts for All in 1999 and hired Mary Laury as the first Executive Director. Mary served in this role for twenty years. Then and now, the community is the main driving force. They are the biggest influence for new programs and often will help organize as well.

6: Are there any key organizational mentors or influencers who inspire you? 

Anna: We would like to offer more opportunities to be together that are free or drop-in by donation, and to offer more yoga & movement classes. I’d like for SAFA to become a ‘Third place’ gathering space that fosters a sense of place. There are many in our rural community, especially elderly folks, who find joy in gathering socially. SAFA always responds to the needs of the community and this seems to be coming next; not just a focus on art, but on coming together, socializing, and sharing.

7: What is upcoming for Schoodic Arts for All and how can people learn more and get involved?

Lisa: Visual Arts Camps and the Schoodic Arts Festival! Visit our website to find ways to participate or make a donation to support the work of Schoodic Arts for All.

schoodicartsforall.org