Spring & Summer Offerings!
Springtide
Thursday, May 2
Elsie Gawler and Ethan Tischler return to the Merry Barn on Thursday, May 2, joined by Willy Clemetson, as the trio Springtide. With Gawler playing cello, Tischler on guitar, and Clemetson on fiddle, the band combines a love of high-energy traditional Celtic and Scandinavian fiddle music, heartfelt original tunes and songs, and spacious creative improvisation.
Doors Open at 6:30 p.m.
Show at 7:00 p.m.
Tickets $20 / Kids 12 & under $10
Educator Workshop
Music, Mindfulness, & Compassion
Friday, May 10 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m.
Kind Mind and Sing Me a Story provide professional learning for early childhood educators. Recognizing compassion as the foundation of social emotional wellness, and the role of music in early literacy, this interactive workshop provides educators with tools for bringing joy back to the classroom.
Cost $150. Financial assistance available.
The Sounding Board
Calling all Midcoast Writers!
May 10 with Featured Author Jodi Paloni
5:30 p.m. - Gathering and refreshments
6-8 p.m. - Readings and feedback
The Sounding Board is a new monthly forum for Midcoast writers of all abilities to share brief pieces, receive supportive feedback, and hear new work from a published author.
Writers will submit a piece, for approval, of up to 750 words in length by April 8 to merrybarnwritersretreat@gmail.com
2024
SUMMER ADVENTURES
in CREATIVITY
Write…Read…Explore…
Walk & Sketch in Nature…
Create Art…
Perform…
Learn from Professional Authors, Artists, and Actors…
Celebrate & Share with Families & Friends
Storytree Theatre: Adventure on Shipwreck Island is FULL.
Space is available in Storytree Theatre: A Space Odyssey, July 8-12.
Both weeks of Imaginary Worlds and Fantastical Characters are FULL. Please check out our other wonderful offerings.
After filling out the registration form, pay online (www.merrybarn.com/store) or send a check, payable to Merry Barn, 417 River Road, Edgecomb 04556
Creative Flow Circles
Creative Flow Circles are intentional and nonjudgmental spaces to explore creativity in community. You are invited to listen to instrumental music, moving color across a circle of easels, switching easels as the music changes. Each participant contributes to each piece, one after the other, producing a series of collective creations. This process invites you into the moment, releasing perfectionism, attachment to outcome, opening into imagination and possibility.
Flow Circles at the Merry Barn
Sunday, April 21, 3:00-4:30
Sunday, April 28, 3:00-4:30
Sunday, May 19 3:00-4:30 * For Kids! Sunday, May 26, 3:00-4:30
Community Writes!
Tuesday, May 7, 5:30-7:30p.m.
Together we’ll settle into an embodiment exercise, write into prompts, share our voice, and play in the creative process. We’ll write for process instead of product, for exploration and empathy, to see the world with new eyes, and to know what is deeply true for us. We’ll allow curiosity and a wide mind to guide our exploration. These gatherings are a means to begin telling a story, or collection of stories, that only we can tell.
$25.00
Save the Dates:
Tuesday, May 7, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, June 11, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
Stephanie Noyes McSherry
Executive Director
At Merry Barn, we are committed to helping all community members discover a love of words and tap into creativity in all its forms. It is through writing, reading, and the arts that we come to know and express ourselves, connect with one another, and build supportive communities. The creative arts represent acts of freedom, power, and joy.
Nestled in the woods of Midcoast Maine, once a working barn and a storied dance hall, the Merry Barn is the perfect setting to explore the power of words and art, create and share with others, and send our voices into the world.
“I write to make sense of the world -- both the world around me, and my own internal landscape. Writing peels back the hardened layers to reveal the true self, the child’s heart. This is one of the reasons I love writing with children: their words are genuine, they speak in truths.” - Stephanie Noyes McSherry
Community Partnerships
The Merry Barn Writers’ Retreat welcomes partnerships with community members and businesses in the form of individual donations and corporate sponsorships. Be part of the Vision!