Celebrating its first decade as a community arts space in Presque Isle, the people leading Wintergreen Arts Center have some big ideas for the future.
Dottie Hutchins has been busy since February, when she became Wintergreen Arts’ executive director, and has fit in well at the nonprofit community arts center.
“I’m not an artist — I’m more of an organizational person — but this has just been really fun,” Hutchins said, highlighting a recent painting event Wintergreen held at the Mars Hill Nursing Home. “They had residents, staff and people from town, and we had anywhere from a 9-year-old girl to a 90-year-old woman.”
Wintergreen has been growing its reach from the historic State Street Wight Furniture Building as one of several bright spots in Presque Isle’s downtown revitalization. The center has served as an arts and community space, with activities including $45 sip and paint events, free ladies’ nights, First Friday open houses and youth programing.
In the fall, Wintergreen is set to start a “creative preschool” program, for three hours in the mornings Monday through Thursday. Hutchins credited the idea to Heather Harvell, Wintergreen’s co-board chair, and said a teacher will be hired this summer.
“We’re going to dip our toes in with one class and 14 kids, and as we go into another year we’re hoping to have two classes,” Hutchins said.
Wintergreen’s expansion mode is well matched to Hutchins varied career. Growing up in Oxbow, where her parents operated a lodge, Hutchins got a degree in special education, worked as an insect specialist in the Maine Forest Service, earned a master’s degree in entomology and worked in the forestry industry fighting the spruce budworm. Later, she spent a decade managing public relations for the Cianbro construction company.
After moving to Presque Isle to help care for her aging parents, Hutchins started writing, recently collaborating with photographer Paul Cyr on “Acadian Roots: Images of the St. John Valley.” Now she’s part of a team of paid staff and many volunteers who are shepherding Wintergreen into the next decade.
“We’re trying to maintain our original vision and grow at the same time,” Kim Guerrette Michaud, co-board chair of Wintergreen, said. “We don’t want to lose our original mission of being a place for everybody to be able to be creative. We also want to make sure we’re filling all the needs of the community.”
“If people have ideas or feel like they would like to see something started here, we’d love to hear that input,” Hutchins added.
Over the next two years, Hutchins, Michaud and others will be pondering Wintergreen’s physical future. Originally based at the mall for its first two years, the arts center has been set up in the renovated downtown building thanks to the generosity of Tony Burgess and Glenn Capp, who purchased the building complex and offered Wintergreen free space and utilities until 2018.
“We love our space,” Michaud said. “We have options we’re looking at, about either committing to stay here or moving on. It’s our hope to stay in the downtown area.”