Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Make, Use, Look, Think, Alleghany Meadows

Back from two fabulous weeks at a workshop at Haystack on Deer Isle, Maine. It is a magical place. Founded in 1950 the school moved to it’s current location in 1961. The school was designed by renowned architect Edward Larrabee Barnes and is cleverly built on the side of the hill preserving the natural landscape. The entrance called the “breezeway” houses two buildings, to the right is the gateway auditorium and to the left the store and library.  The only (I repeat the only!) wifi (for students) is in the library and the only place where phone calls are permitted is here in the breezeway.  It can be a very popular area.   A short walk on top of a large granite boulder walkway takes you to the heart of the campus and a view of the ocean which is accessed by a long staircase.

Stairs down to the ocean

View from the bottom of the stairs

Lobster boat

Looking down at the rocks

More rocks and Ocean

Coast line

Under the bottom platform is the desalination unit.

Views walking back up

Views walking back up

Views walking back up

The school offers clay, glass, metals, paper, bookmaking, blacksmithing, weaving, fibers, woodworking and more.  Susan and I were there to take Alleghany Meadows workshop Make, Use, Look, Think.

There are various types of accommodations from dormitories to quads, doubles and a few  private single rooms with shower.  These buildings built into the hill are accessed by wooden walkways.  The ceramic and wood studio is on the right and one level down is the metals, paper and textile studios.  Glass and the Fab Lab are a short walk back up the hill.  And then there is the dining hall.  The bell rings at 8am, noon and 6pm and the food is simply abundant and delicious.  We all began to feel like a pavlovian experiment trained to hear the bell and become instantly hungry.  And then there are the cookies.  Large batches of cookies baked daily, we never had the same cookie twice.  After lunch the cookies were put into a large cookie jar and were accessible along with a constant supply of hot coffee all afternoon until they were all gone.

Office – the upstairs office looks so cool!

Dining bell rung at 8am, noon, and 6pm

Center of campus outside the Dining Hall

Looking from Ceramic Studio towards the Dining Hall

Back of Dining Hall

Love these images – below the dining room windows – hanging laundry

Love these images – below the dining room windows – hanging laundry

Textile and Paper Studios

Wood Studio next to Ceramics

Back of the Ceramic Studio

Ceramic Studio

Textile Studio

Walkway to sleeping cabins

Walkway from sleeping cabins

Sleeping cabins

Sleeping cabins

Walking back up the stairs – Ceramic Studio

Sculpture

Sculpture

I didn’t take many photos of the food but this one of cookies with our excellent chef Tom is  from Alleghany!  All the food was served in hand made dishes.  Large bowls for salad, pitchers for serving water, platters and bowls for vegetables, small pitchers for dressing.  Breakfast and lunch were self serve while dinner was family style.  The food was excellent and it was impossible to go hungry!  Every night was a dessert to rival the previous nights!