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The College is nestled in the small village of Rockport - at the head of a protected harbor on the coast of Maine. Here there is a quality of life simple and free, where the traditional values of craftsmanship and excellence still carry weight. Here, too, there is a special quality of light, with constantly changing weather - storms, fog and sparkling blue skies presenting patterns of light which have inspired painters, photographers, and poets for generations. Rockport was the location for Mel Gibson's film, "Man Without a Face", a few summers ago and, more recently, nearby Rockland was the setting for "In the Bedroom". Rockport sits on the western edge of Penobscot Bay on the rugged coast of the North Atlantic. Vast expanses of wilderness extend westward to the Canadian border. Nearby are other small fishing and farming villages and the sparsely inhabited offshore islands. Here is where "the mountains meet the sea," where Edna St. Vincent Millay "turned and looked the other way and saw three islands in a bay," where men still fish the sea and farm the land and things done well have importance. Rockport's remoteness, its sense of isolation, has added in great measure to the College's effectiveness as a learning center. Here photographers, filmmakers, actors, writers, artists, musicians, shipwrights and craftsmen of all kinds find peace, as they are free from the turmoil and hectic pace of the city. While Rockport is remote, it is not inaccessible. We are half-way up the Maine Coast, less than 4 hours' drive north of Boston. Route 1, the tourist route up the Maine coast, passes near the village, providing contact without distraction. The towns of Camden and Rockland are nearby, with a variety of museums and galleries, shops, restaurants and movie theaters. There are frequent music concerts and plays, as well as public lectures and films. There are numerous summer and winter sporting activities to enrich the lives of those who live and work in the region. The bay provides some of the best sailing in North America. The lakes and ponds surrounding the area provide excellent swimming and fishing in the summer, skiing and skating in winter. Everywhere there is a harmonious blend of traditional New England architecture and the Maine landscape.
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