Art, Ecology, and the Resilience of a Maine Island

Book excerpt: A richly illustrated catalogue of visual art recording the changing ecology of Monhegan Island, a renowned artist destination off the coast of Maine. With its rugged shoreline, magnificent Cathedral Woods, and rustic cedar-shingled homes, Monhegan Island is quintessential Maine. This historic fishing village situated 10 miles off the coast has long been a haven for artists drawn to the splendor of its ocean vistas and picturesque wildlands and for ecologists fascinated by its complex natural history. Merging art, science, and history, this book explores the broad arc of ecological events on the island—the formation and abandonment of pastureland, forest recovery, and the critical importance of land conservation—through their representation in visual art. Indeed, for well over a century, painters, photographers, printmakers, and cartographers alike have observed and depicted this dynamic landscape. Inspired by a Rockwell Kent painting of white spruce saplings set against blue sea and golden sky, biologist Barry Logan recognized that the island’s ecology could be traced through its artistic depictions across the ages. This collaboration between Logan and Monhegan historian Jennifer Pye and art historian Frank Goodyear yields a new and unprecedented survey of the art of the island through the lens of ecology. This story of Monhegan parallels that of other land conservation efforts throughout the country, yet it is one uniquely well told by island artists, ecologists, historians, and community members.