Choirspeak: The Maine Woods

Choirspeak: The Maine Woods is an ongoing project for Open Waters that seeks to develop continuing state-wide dialogue around the future of the North Woods in Maine. 

The northern Maine woods comprise the largest tract of undeveloped land east of the Mississippi, and nearly half of that land has been sold in the last ten years to both developers and conservationists.  This degree of change has not been seen in the region in more than a century, and the effect on our inland communities promises to be demographic, economic, and physical.  Access to creative dialogue around these changes, and involvement in the outcome, is essential to the health and well-being of our citizens.

We recognize that as editors, as artists, and as listeners, our personal opinions and our voices are not absent from this process.  Our intention, however, is not to advocate for one particular solution to the controversy now surrounding the North Woods region. Our hope is merely to increase the quantity of effective dialogue, and the diversity of opinion shared in that dialogue, around these imminent social issues.

The project began in the winter of 2007-2008 with a series of visits to the communities of Rumford, Belfast, Greenville, Millinocket, and Portland, Maine.  A small group of Open Waters artists interviewed store owners, park rangers, barber shop customers, first-time visitors, wreath makers, and a variety of others as to their memories, feelings, and opinions about woodlands in Maine.  Conversations lasted anywhere from two minutes to two hours and covered everything from public access to landowner rights, from economic growth to preservation, from childhood memories to hopeful visions of change.

In the spring of 2008, the material from our interview process was transcribed, edited, and compiled into a performance script for 3-10 actors.  The piece was developed in the spirit of a choral event and was presented to the public in workshop form in July of 2008.  The workshop was directed by Jennie Hahn and featured Virginia Collins, Tess Van Horn, and Michael Wilson. 

drawing by V. Collins