Artist in Residency Program: Searsport Shores Ocean Camping and Makers Space

Who is Searsport Shores Ocean Campground and Makers Space?

We are a family campground business that was established in 1965. We plan and strive to grow sustainably while stewarding the land for future generations.   In addition to sites for RVs and trailers, we have a separate camping area for tents, and several cabins & rental trailers. We focus on creating a beautiful, natural environment where people can come and relax, wander through the organic gardens, interact with our fiber flock & chickens, explore the beach & wooded trails, and re-connect with themselves and others.  Our guests are families, couples and solo travelers who are looking for an alternative to the heavily commercialized areas that typically draw hordes of tourists.

At the core of our mission is the belief that a perfect camping vacation offers the freedom to live slowly and simply. We want everyone to experience all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, tastes and textures of the outdoors; in so doing, renew or rediscover the creativity and playfulness that lives in all of us. In addition to our private beach, 40 wooded acres on Penobscot Bay, access to wilderness trails and to Sears Island, (a 940 acre uninhabited island open only to hikers, kayakers and bicyclists), we offer a summer long program of optional activities to further enhance the camping experience. These range from live music and weekly jam sessions, to food related events and our highly regarded ARTIST IN RESIDENCE program (Sponsored by the Makers Guild of Maine) which allows guests of all ages and skill level to spend time working on a creative project during their stay. You can see more of our world on Instagram and Facebook.

What is the Makers Guild of Maine?

The Makers Guild is a 501c3 that raises awareness of hand-making, music-making, and food related skills and makes them as widely accessible as possible within our community. We organize events that showcase hand-crafts, traditional music, and local food in the outdoor setting and raise funds for community music and teaching initiatives. We bring together different ages and backgrounds, experiences, and interests. We draw on both local and global perspectives for inspiration and materials.

Our Artist in Residence program:
We have teamed up with The Makers Guild of Maine to create and promote a summer program that will offer campers the chance to further enrich their time with us, while at the same time enabling artists who enjoy teaching the chance to take advantage of all that our unique campground offers. Each residency will last a week, and we hope to have a new artist in residence every week from June to October. We know that some of our guests will actually plan their vacations around a particular residency, while others will simply seize the opportunity while they are here.

Who we are looking for:

An artist or artist couple who is/are outgoing, social media savvy, happy to work in an unstructured environment and eager to share their passion.

What we offer you:

Our artists may live and work out of our art studio, or you can bring your own camper or tent and we’ll reserve you a campsite. No money is exchanged for either option. The studio has a loft space with two twin beds and reading lights, wi-fi and includes a kitchenette and toilet/sink, but is NOT suitable for families or pets. Showers and laundry are available in the communal bathhouse.

What we ask of you: Free Form Sessions (option #1)

Artists will arrive on Sunday between 1 PM and 7 PM and be ready to offer a one-to-two-hour creative session for campers each day from Monday through Saturday. The sessions should be interactive, fully facilitated, and interesting to a wide range of ages and ability levels. At least one session during the week should be to create something the guest can take home to share with their friends.

It will be up to you to organize and supply all the necessary materials you need, set a time and place each day that works for you, and ask us for help as needed. There will be no charge for your sessions (although you may put out a donation bowl for yourself or a favorite charity), and we ask that you keep the material costs as low as possible and that guests reimburse you directly. If you have questions about appropriate fees please talk to us ahead of buying your supplies.

Not all sessions need to be hands-on. You are welcome to use the beach, gardens and nature trails to lead exploration walks and immersion talks. It is also possible to plan a session simply to share your art and what you do with those who are curious.
In any event, we will work with you to create a schedule for the week with flexibility built in for weather related challenges.

Within reason you are welcome to require that children be accompanied by a parent and that disruptive participants can choose to “get in line” or go back to their campsite. We DO NOT expect that you will be a baby-sitter!

When you are not offering the structured program, we ask that you to work on your own art as an open-studio experience for at least 3 additional hours each day. You can share your open studio hours on the office marker board and vary them according to the timing that suits you best.

We also ask that you post your work and details of the program on your social media platforms before arriving, while you are here and for a couple of weeks after you head home using @searsportshores, @fibercollege, @makersguildmaine and #searsportshores, #searsportshorescampground, #fibercollege as tags. The week you are here, we’d like you to do an Instagram takeover of the Searsport Shores account.

Free Form Sessions + “Summer Shorts” (option #2)

Everything that is stated in Option #1 for Monday through Thursday:

Artists will arrive on Sunday between 1 PM and 7 PM and conduct the camper portion of their program each day from Monday through Thursday afternoon.

On Friday and Saturday

Campers and guests staying outside the campground will have the opportunity to register and pay in advance for a more in-depth experience sponsored by the Makers Guild of Maine and Fiber College. The artist will plan the program, provide adequate images and text for the Campground and Guild website (by December 15), market in all available channels, provide the class materials (at additional cost to the students as presented in the marketing material) and teach. Searsport Shores will provide the teaching spaces with necessary worktables and chairs and pre-arranged equipment, offer lunch with a vegetarian and gluten free option, provide use of the garden kitchen if attendees would like to prepare (and clean up after) a communal dinner with a campfire in the garden each evening. Searsport Shores and Fiber College will market in all available channels. Makers Guild of Maine will provide registration services. In exchange the Artist will receive 50% of all registration fees and the Campground/Guild will receive 50% of the fees. Ten total hours, Two Day Workshops, $495/session

In the event that there are less than four sign ups for the Summer Short portion, we would “re-group” and decide how to proceed together: either simply continuing the AIR drop in program and/or adding paid private lessons to the end of the week.