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On Parker Pond, Mount Vernon, Maine |
Listed in the National Register of Historic Places
A unique summer retreat center dedicated to the preservation and appreciation of
our natural environment. Weeklong workshops are offered for youth and adults
that explore the natural world through the lens of creative arts and sciences.
Bearnstow is situated on sixty-five acres of pristine woodland, bordering the serene Parker Pond in Mount Vernon, Maine. Twelve rustic buildings, most nearly a century old, are nestled along the 2,400 feet of rocky shoreline. Participants are housed in rustic cabins, complete with electricity, full bathrooms, and a charming screened porch where they can enjoy the soft breezes from the lake and listen to the loons call.
The property is protected in perpetuity by a conservation easement held by the Kennebec Land Trust. Its oldest structure, the Lodge, was the only building on the lake on the 1880 geological survey. Bearnstow is located at Spruce Point Camps, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Bearnstow has had a rich history of arts-related activities linked to a practice of environmental responsibility. Throughout our history the resonance of place in all activities has been central to our mission. Our unspoiled environment provides an alternative freedom for aesthetic expression away from the demands of daily life. Our attention to the care of place, land, and spirit is central to our daily practice.
Bearnstow’s current summer programs, directed by Ruth Grauert and Bebe Miller, for both adults and children, emphasize the connection between environment and learning. The immediacy of our natural surroundings affects the breadth and depth of the learning that takes place, for both teacher and student. For adults we offer weeklong workshops in movement studies for professional and pre-professional dancers taught by a world-class faculty. For a snapshot of a dancer's summer experience at Bearnstow, read Stories From Camp by Susan Douglas Roberts. For children we offer a two-week Day Camp session in arts and creative physical activities, with classes in dance, art, swimming, and horsemanship.
In addition to Ruth Grauert and Bebe Miller, our Board of Directors also includes:
- Nicolaus Bloom, a free-lance events producer in Portland, ME;
- Vernon Dunn, designer of industrial trusses in Belgrade, ME;
- Bobbie Gottschalk, founder/director, Seeds of Peace, in Washington, DC
- Suzanne Jones, Ph.D., a psychologist n Arlington, VA;
- Susan Liebling, a realtor in Mount Vernon, ME; and
- Jim Van Abbema, Webmaster and wildlife biologist in the Bronx, NY.
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank the following for contributions and/or in-kind services to Bearnstow during the 2010 season: Pamela Blake, Nicolaus Bloom, Peggy Chambers, Mary Therese Duffy, Vernon Dunn, Janet Erickson, Laura Faure, Barbara Gottschalk, Ruth Grauert, Phillip Gregory, Kennebec Land Trust, Kents Hill School, Howard Lake, Margery Lieber, Susan Liebling, Suzanne Dalton Jones, Bebe Miller, Sandra Merrick, Donna and Kevin Oliver, Panera Breads, Jeff Pidot, Shamou, Alan Stone, Linda Tarnay, Joanna Tibby, Jim Van Abbema, and Clyde Walton.
Bearnstow’s 2010 programs were made possible in part by a grant from the Maine Arts Commission.
Bearnstow is sponsoring the Nikolais Anniversary Concerts at Hunter College in New York City in December 2010. We thank the following persons for their contributions to these events: Beth Bagnold, Tandy Beal, Anne Berry, Bob Beswick, Peggy Chambers, Jan Connor, Kitty Cunningham, Virginia Dillon, Suzie Friedel, Cathy Heath Gaedje, Mimi Garrard, Claudia Gitelman, Geroge Gracey, Tim Harling, Steven Iannacone, Claudia Melrose, Nusha Martynuk, Lynn Needle, Gerald Otte, Fred Timm, Steven Vendola, Maida Withers, and Joan Woodbury.
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Bearnstow also publishes the online Bearnstow Journal,
offering articles and discussion on the Nikolais esthetic and the arts. |
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