Haystack’s Winter Maker Residency Program Fosters Rural Innovation through Art, Design & Technology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Issued May 13, 2026
CONTACT: James Rutter, [email protected]
Download Photos: https://adobe.ly/4mX99IG

Haystack's Winter Maker Residency Program Fosters Rural Innovation through Art, Design, and Technology

Deer Isle, Maine - The Winter Maker Residency program at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts brought visiting artists, designers, and creative technologists to Deer Isle in March and April 2026 to collaborate with local makers, educators, and students in Haystack's Fab Lab at the Center for Community Programs and the Island Connectivity Hub.

Each maker-in-residence spent two weeks in the community, assisting with Haystack's after-school Creative Makers program, and pursuing their own research and experimentation in digital fabrication, sustainable materials, and new hybrid craft processes. The residencies culminated in public hands-on workshops developed in partnership with Deer Isle Adult & Community Education.

The Winter Maker Residency program fostered creativity, experimentation, and community engagement year-round while positioning Deer Isle-Stonington as a model for rural innovation through art, design, and technology. Haystack Technology Director James Rutter shares, "Our Winter Maker Residencies engage with Deer Isle as a research site, not a retreat. The biomaterials, marine debris, and recycled plastics our residents worked with this winter all came from the local environment - and the workshops they led put those materials directly back into community hands." Rutter continues, "Bringing visiting artists into Deer Isle to work alongside our community - youth and adults alike - exposes everyone to forms of making that aren't normally accessible here."

Haystack's Winter Maker Residency program was supported in part by Haystack's Program Endowment, with additional funding provided by grants from G. W Bailey Foundation and NEA Our Town.

Session 1 | March 16-27

Resident: Beth Ferguson

During the first Winter Maker Residency, ecological designer Beth Ferguson sourced local seafood byproducts from Coldwater Seafood, LLC (Stonington), to expand Haystack's biomaterials library. Biomaterials are produced by organisms like plants, animals, bacteria, fungi, and other life forms. Ferguson broke down lobster, crab, and oyster shells and incorporated the powders into various recipes that previous Fab Lab Residents have developed since 2024.

Frequent collaborator Eldy Lázaro joined Ferguson during the second week of the residency, foraging sugar kelp from Causeway Beach Preserve to add to the biomaterials library collection. Ferguson led the Deer Isle Adult & Community Education workshop, "3D-Printed Weaving," where attendees used 3D-printed elements and dyed reed to weave lanterns.

Beth Ferguson (she/her) is an ecological designer whose work bridges digital craft and sustainable materials to imagine resilient futures. She explores how sustainable materials and digital fabrication can reduce reliance on fossil fuels and inspire climate-conscious design. Ferguson is an Associate Professor of Design at the University of California Davis, where she directs the Circular Futures Lab, a studio dedicated to circular practices and material innovation.

Session 2 | March 30-April 10

Resident: Carolina Fernández-Miranda

Carolina Fernández-Miranda experimented with new creative avenues for marine debris use in the second Winter Maker Residency. Fernández-Miranda activated Haystack's plastic recycling equipment with materials from OceansWide (Newcastle, ME), a nonprofit organization focused on marine based education and marine debris removal in the Gulf of Maine. She also made informative site visits to Tapley Cove Oyster Company (Brooksville) and Center Harbor Sails (Brooklin).

Attendees of the marine recycling workshop, "From Shore to Studio," with the Deer Isle Adult & Community Education, used the materials to craft unique and useful creations, from birdhouses to rope baskets.

Local Maker-in-Residence

Resident: Julie Morringello

Haystack also hosted a local Maker-in-Residence this winter as part of the NEA Our Town-funded Maker Exchange Program. The residency provided space and support for a Maine-based artist to explore digital fabrication, material experimentation, and sustainable making practices.

Working alongside visiting residents and community participants, Julie Morringello used the Fab Lab's tools-including its plastic recycling equipment-to develop new techniques and creative applications that bridge craft, design, and technology. This residency deepened the program's commitment to investing in local artists, fostering collaboration, and expanding access to digital tools within the Deer Isle-Stonington community.

Julie Morringello (she/her) is the founder of Modernmaine, an independent design studio dedicated to the creation of contemporary light fixtures. Morningello's innovative designs explore the transformative power of light on both materials and spaces. The sculptural shapes of her lights emerge from a blend of traditional craftsmanship and digital fabrication techniques. Morringello received a BFA in Industrial Design and an MFA in Furniture Design from the Rhode Island School of Design.

Image list and caption info

Download Photos: https://adobe.ly/4mX99IG

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Session 1 Winter Maker Resident Beth Ferguson holds foraged sugar kelp at the Causeway Beach Preserve in Deer Isle, photo by Eldy Lázaro, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Eldy Lázaro (left) and Beth Ferguson (right) examine various biomaterial experiments in the Fab Lab at Haystack's Center for Community Programs, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Beth Ferguson (right) assists Nolan Decker (grade 7, Deer Isle Elementary School) with a 3D-printed woven lantern during the Creative Makers after-school program, photo by Phoebe Zildjian, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Attendees of the "3D-Printed Weaving" make-and-take workshop with Deer Isle Adult & Community Education pose with their finished lanterns, photo by Phoebe Zildjian, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Attendees of the "From Shore to Studio" make-and-take workshop with Deer Isle Adult & Community Education pose with their recycled projects, photo by Phoebe Zildjian, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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NOAA Marine Debris Intern Lydia Burnet fires up the industrial shredder in preparation for breaking down marine debris materials, photo by Carolina Fernández-Miranda, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Center Harbor Sails, an independently owned sail loft in Brooklin, ME, hosted Carolina Fernández-Miranda and Fab Lab Coordinator Phoebe Zildjian (right) for a site visit, photo by Carolina Fernández-Miranda, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Carolina Fernández-Miranda (front right) leads the make-and-take workshop "From Shore to Studio" with Deer Isle Adult & Community Education at the Island Connectivity Hub, photo by Phoebe Zildjian, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Using a heat press, Julie Morringello created a lighting prototype out of high-density polyethylene plastic derived from recycled oyster bags, photo by Julie Morringello, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Radiant remnants on display following Local Maker-in-Residency Julie Morringello's Make + Take workshop, photo by Julie Morringello, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

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Julie Morringello (right) confers with Lydia Burnet (back left) and Jake Horsey (front left) over recycled heat pressed oyster bags in the Fab Lab at Haystack's Center for Community Programs, photo by Phoebe Zildjian, 2026. Image courtesy of Haystack Mountain School of Crafts.

About Haystack Mountain School of Crafts | haystack-mtn.org

Haystack Mountain School of Crafts is an international craft school located on the Atlantic Ocean in Deer Isle, Maine. For 75 years, Haystack has connected people through craft, providing the freedom to engage with materials and develop new ideas in a supportive and inclusive community. When Haystack was founded in 1950, it was truly an experiment in education and community, with no permanent faculty or full-time students-a School that awarded no certificates or degrees. Haystack serves an ever-changing group of makers and thinkers of all skill levels-we are dedicated to working and learning alongside one another, while exploring the intersections of craft, art, and design in wide-ranging and expansive ways.

For three-quarters of a century, Haystack has offered intensive studio workshops and has functioned as a think-tank to explore craft in broad contexts. The School's award-winning campus, designed by noted American architect Edward Larrabee Barnes, opened in 1961 when the School relocated to Deer Isle from its original location in Montville, Maine. The buildings and secluded, natural setting have provided steadfast support for convening an intergenerational community of makers from around the world to share ideas, materials, and techniques, and make discoveries alongside one another in a creative and generative environment. While Haystack has grown in ways that could never have been imagined-offering residencies, programs for Maine youth and adults, conferences, publications, and more-the core of our work and the ideas we adhere to have stayed very much the same.

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