May 31, June 1 9am-4pm Included with General Admission ticket
Each day will begin with an eco-history tour and animal husbandry talk illuminating how the Desert of Maine land has changed since it was a farm in the 1800s.
Fun activities for all ages will include opportunities to see sheep with lambs, demonstrations of the shearing, carding, spinning, and weaving process, and opportunities to try some of the fiber crafts that helped sustain agricultural life on the Tuttle farm.
Experience intimate performances in the resonant historic Farmhouse that will allow the audiences to connect with talented artists and hear the stories behind their songs.
The Desert of Maine has quite an unusual landscape history. Tom Wessel's interpretive walk will explore that history based on the evidence we will encounter as we wander the property's woodlands. This includes how to age its trees, evidence of past logging, and when areas were abandoned to grow back to forest. We will also cover some of the unique adaptations of the trees that have recolonized the site, plus a look at successional patterns on sand and the unique role that lichens play.
This event is FREE with purchase of General Admission Tickets at Desert of Maine
Tom Wessels is a terrestrial ecologist and professor emeritus at Antioch University, where he founded the master's degree program in Conservation Biology. He has conducted programs and workshops throughout the United States for over 3 decades. Tom is the author of numerous books, with his latest being
New England's Roadside Ecology: Explore 30 of the Region's Unique Natural Areas.
If you are not familiar with Tom's interpretive walks, you might check out his YouTube videos.
CAE supports arts programming that connects people with nature and to this unique landscape.
Note: We are committed to developing programs that center queer and BIPOC composers, voices that have been creating fantastic art for a long time, but have been excluded from the canon
Past Performances 2024
An intimate and exclusive songwriter's circle in our 1800s farmhouse featuring 4 local Southern Maine artists playing with no amplification
Thurs August 8, 7pm - 9pm
FINE PIONEER
KATE MCCANN
MOLLY GIBBS
MELVIN GRADIZ
Past Performances 2023
In 2023, we hosted five events which helped us home in on our mission to focus on Nature-Centric Arts.
Juan Wauters
Founding member of Queens-based garage act The Beets, Wauters has spent the better part of the last decade on the road as a solo artist, traversing the US and Latin America to collaborate with other musicians. This was his first time performing in Maine in over a decade and this "destination concert" in our historic Farmhouse was a memborably special standing room-only affair.
The Sand Princess
High drama and low comedy featuring clever scoundrel who threatens the future of an empire in the sand. The show contained magic, masked creatures, and evocative music performed live out on the dunes.
Classical Uprising Presents,
Choose your own Musical Adventure
A bold rethinking of the classical music experience through an immersive event which stations musicians at different areas of the Desert of Maine landscape to encourage audience participation and ask questions like–will you be the conductor, the drummer, a singer, or a music critic?
Kat and Brad
Drawing from 50s and 60s pop, American Songbook standards, and much more, this vibrant duo channels and fuses these influences through two voices, a guitar, and violin to bring you a mixture of original songs and dusted off covers from the past.
Sarah Quintana
A rare solo performance from a singer-songwriter from New Orleans with a background rich in jazz, folk and popular music. This was her debut concert in Maine.