Susie Warren Hanley – Spindleworks

 What is Spindleworks?

Spindleworks is a community of makers where artists of all abilities are valued and inspired to do their best work. Artists are guided to find their creative voice, and express themselves in mediums such as drawing and painting, photography, ceramics, woodworking, weaving, and other fiber and fabric arts. Artists may write poetry and stories, as well as perform music, and engage in acting and dance. Spindleworks also hosts a gallery and store, showcasing the work of its sixty-three artists, open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

 

Spindleworks History

In 2026, Spindleworks will be fifty years old, and it’s still going strong! Nan Ross, an artist, teacher and weaver, was invited to teach a workshop in Boston at a school for the blind, and met an instructor from Canada who worked with individuals with disabilities. In the summer of 1976 Nan with a few artists visited a program in Montreal that really solidified her belief in the potential of the artists and inspired the program’s growth. Nan started Spindleworks in 1976 with grant funds from the Maine Arts Commission to work with a small group of individuals who had spent most of their lives in institutions such as Pineland. Nan saw the potential in these artists, believing that because of their disability they had a unique vision and ability which deserved to be fostered through creative practice. Her approach encouraged choices, supported independence, and allowed for failure.

Nan’s vision was a revolutionary idea at that time because the clinical practice for people with disabilities was to restrict choice, exclude individuals from the community, put them in institutions, and correct mistakes. If you can take an attribute that has been labeled as a flaw for someone’s entire life and turn it into their greatest strength, the discovery is transformational. Spindleworks has transformed the perception of individuals with disabilities by showcasing their strengths. In 1978, Spindleworks became a program of the Independence Association, which was founded by parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities who formed the nonprofit to better the lives of their children.

Spindleworks has moved around a bit in Brunswick over the years from an old drafty attic workshop that has since been demolished, to an upstairs space on Maine Street, and now at the historic big blue Greek Revival house converted to studio space at 7 Lincoln Street. The building has been modified over the last few decades to suit the needs of the program. The Gardiner program is located downtown on Water Street.

Fearless Leadership

The program director baton has passed to a series of leaders, including Arlene Morris, Jen Davis, Charlie Buck, Liz McGee, and currently Brian Braley, each leading Spindleworks towards full immersion and action in the local and regional community. Incredible partnerships were forged with community members such as poetry writing workshops with Gary Lawless from the Gulf of Maine Books, the creation of the annual All Species Parade with the local elementary schools, and theater productions with Al Miller from The Theater Project. Over the years, Spindleworks has played a role in the development of 2nd Friday Brunswick, which is now led by the Brunswick Downtown Association. The studio’s What Not Gallery hosts four separate summer exhibits featuring Spindleworks artists and occasional open call exhibits.

Spindleworks art has been featured at various local galleries and exhibits across the country including shows in Portland, Boston, New York City, Texas, and Washington, DC,

Key to Spindleworks Longevity

Brian Braley shares, “As we come up on our fiftieth year, I think we have not wavered from our vision. Many things have really changed around us, but we have remained committed to ensuring that these artists’ voices are heard and seen. Their work has meaning and value because of their unique perspectives, which I think are essential to the success of Spindleworks being so deeply embedded in the community. Our artists are known by name at the library, local galleries, bookstores, restaurants, and businesses. They are volunteers, hold jobs, attend church, and are treated like everyone else. We feel very supported by both the Gardiner and Brunswick communities, and if you ask anyone in those communities, you are likely to receive a response that Spindleworks is truly a gift.”

Artists like Terri Snape (painter) and Earl Black (weaver) have been with Spindleworks since its inception, and are still making art every day.

Significant shifts

Changes in program director leadership and style can make for lurches in public messaging, funding sources, and programming in many places, yet Spindleworks has weathered the changes over time with grace. Spindleworks now owns the building on Lincoln Street, and sales from the Spindleworks artists, which have grown over time, supplement the materials budget of the program. The studio has remained strongly artist-led and the program’s artists are involved in most decisions that impact the function of the studio and galleries.This type of collaboration has ensured that the studio adapts to the needs of the participants.

Brian Braley, the current Program Director for both programs and after ten years in his role, shared the following insight:

Maureen Block, a former mentor, began calling Spindleworks the Joy Factory because it captures the feel of the place and the people working in our studios. We are an artist-run collaborative studio and gallery supporting over sixty artists between our two locations. There are twelve paid Artist Mentors who support individuals to express themselves in any media. Spindleworks is a learning through immersion experience where the creative expertise of our paid staff helps each artist’s vision come to life regardless of prior experience. This approach builds confidence through creative problem-solving.

In 2011, Spindleworks’ exhibit Mosaic at the Harlow Gallery highlighted the need for creative programming in Kennebec Valley. This led to the founding of the Spin Off Studios, a sister program to Spindleworks, which provided studio space, mentorship, and community inclusion for more than thirty artists with intellectual disabilities until its closure in 2020 because of the pandemic. Even after Spin Off’s closure the Independence Association and Spindleworks remained committed to supporting artists in the region, continuing programming through the Harlow Gallery until 2022. Thanks to strong community support, Spindleworks proudly returned to downtown Gardiner in 2023, carrying forward the mission of fostering creative growth and inclusion.

Both programs offer shared studio spaces for art making and the use of professional art supplies. Programming occurs in the studios daily and by getting artists out in the community via visiting artist studios, going to art exhibits, and by showing their work in local galleries, libraries, restaurants, and medical buildings.

Current Funding

The ongoing operational budget of Spindleworks annually is just over a million dollars. Over 70 percent of the budget covers staff costs, and the remainder supports rent, heat, art materials, stipends for visiting artists, transportation costs, trainings, administrative and medical software documentation. Artists receive 65 percent of all art sales with 35 percent going back to support supplies and programming.

Spindleworks Program Managers have needed to be grant writers with successful experience and expertise in securing funding. With the current political administration, there is reason for grave concern about the sheer existence of Spindleworks since it is a program that supports Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Many if not all of the artists are on Medicare or MaineCare, and we all know those funds are under attack. Brian Braley confirms that “the programming offered at Spindleworks is funded under medical services as an essential service, allowing these individuals to be as independent as possible in their lives. We are deeply concerned that the proposed $800 million in funding cuts to Medicaid will impact Mainecare, devastating the Independence Association and Spindleworks’s ability to provide these services. Make no mistake, an end to these essential Mainecare services would be a forced institutionalization of individuals with disabilities. Without community support and access, people would be institutionalized in their own homes without means to be included in their community.”

Artist Mentors

Janet Broxon, who has a psychology degree with a studio art minor and worked as a freelance illustrator, was drawn to work at Spindleworks. She came on as a “relief person” at first, filling in when there were staffing gaps, and now after nine years works a four-day week. Janet explained that all mentors must get DSP (Direct Support Professionals) certification to work at Spindleworks. The training is done in-house, and involves direct support training, safety care training, behavior education, first aid, and all must be recertified every year. All mentors need to have a driver’s license with a good driving record as well. Some mentors opt to get CMR certification so that they can administer medications to artists who need them during the day program.

Other mentors find organizing and supervising activities like the Maine summer and Winter Special Olympics to be very rewarding. Janet shared that Spindleworks is good for the community, and the program brings out the best for artists, who would otherwise be isolated, and deep friendships develop as a result.

Deidre Barton, who has an English degree with an art minor, was a successful business owner in Damariscotta. She came to Spindleworks as a volunteer doing workshops with the artists for six months before she was offered a full time position fifteen years ago. She has found a balance between her belief that one can be an artist of purpose and meaning and the mindsets she finds in the artists who bring joy and no angst to their work.

“We changed the titles we held from staff to mentors because we learn from them as much as they learn from us.” Deidre explained how Nan Ross wanted the artists to understand the Disability Rights Act, the voting process, and how to learn about different voting issues. She reached out to Bowdoin professors who came and began the Spindleworkers’ journey to independent voting actions. The program in all aspects is based on fostering growth and independence, playing to the highest level possible and adapting from there on an individual basis.

Sara Cox has known Nan Ross since childhood because her parents and Nan were good friends. Sara, a potter, worked first in an inclusion day program in Portland, and later a group home, and has worked for Spindleworks for twenty plus years to date. Sara owns and runs Delilah’s Pottery based in Bowdoinham. She created and runs the pottery shed that is located in the backyard at Spindleworks. Over the years, she has learned to sew and dabble in other mediums along with the artists, whom she sees as fearless in trying new things and role models in bravery. What brings her joy is witnessing how spontaneous the artists can be, how they look out for each other, and how stereotypes get broken down. Spindleworks artists, men and women of all ages learn to sew, weave, dance, act, write, and sing.

Nancy Keenan Barron has worked at Spindleworks as an art mentor for nine years. After studying sculpture, she created an after-school art program in her home. In time, Nancy worked at the Buker Studio Arts in Augusta and became the program director at the Harlow gallery in Hallowell. Nancy and Liz McGee started Art Talks at the Harlow in conjunction with a Spindleworks exhibit at the gallery. Hired at Spindleworks to run the wood shop, Nancy had artists learn to strip old frames using tools and repurposed the massive collection of donated frames used by the artists, significantly lowering the cost of making two-dimensional artwork ready for exhibitions. Nancy characterizes working at Spindleworks as good exhaustion. The transaction and interactions, the diverse energy of all the multicultural and multigenerational participants, makes helping the artists to turn their interests and choices into creative art works a wonderful challenge and joy. Nancy characterized her mentoring to be like parallel play, a side-by-side teaching that happens as they explore familiar materials while trying something new, for example drawing with sticks using ink and paints. Nancy explained that to receive state funding, artists set goals and mentors check in and document their progress. At Spindleworks, the mentors take on three artists or more to support and report on. The goals fall into five categories: Community, Fiber, 2D, 3D, and Employment skills.

Kaitlyn Hunter, who was a special education student herself, is working at Spindleworks while also teaching fundamental 3D design at the University of Southern Maine. “There are so many parallels between my life and those of the artists at Spindleworks, given that artists don’t fit in a box, and we all need to be celebrated for being ourselves.” Kaitlyn works to maintain and improve the social media output from the multiple platforms in use. Given her political savvy and networking abilities, Kaitlyn regularly reaches out to invite or inform Governor Janet Mills, Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows, and other local representatives about Spindleworks events. Recently Kaitlyn and a few Spindleworks artists were interviewed for a NPR story about the effects of the current political environment on the efficacy of non-profits like Spindleworks.

Brooke Adams has worked in both residential and day programs for over a decade with people with disabilities. She has been at Spindleworks for the last nine years. Brooke has an art degree in photography and ceramics. Given her background in residential programming, she came to Spindleworks with the experience and certification to give medications and support artists who are perfectly capable of producing beautiful art yet are frail physically. Full of life and positive energy, Brooke guides artists to focus on and use the skills they have, to be open to learning new techniques, and to work toward completion and joy in their making process.

In 2012, the Independence Association started a special olympics team and asked for volunteers. Brook is a partner for the Spindleworks artists who participate in summer games in Orono, and has done so annually since the team’s creation. Brooke is excited because she will be accompanying Amy Madsen to the BOOCE national special olympic competition in Minnesota where there will be 75,000 people in attendance.

Toni Carroll grew up in a family where her mother had three disabled brothers. One died in early childhood, one was placed at Pineland, and one remained at home with the family. During her summers while in high school and college, Toni worked at Maine’s Pine Tree Camp as a counselor. She had developed a passion for working with folks with disabilities and with the arts. Having graduated from Massachusetts College of Art with a degree in sculpture, Toni worked at Gateway Arts in Brookline, which was structured much like Spindleworks and served as their pottery instructor. Returning to Maine, Toni worked within the Independence Association community living program and then transferred to Spindleworks. Given family circumstances, Toni and her family moved to Pawtucket, RI where Toni assumed the directorship of Flying Shuttles Studio. The program was an art and weaving program for twelve to eighteen people per day for sixteen years with one other staff member working with artists with disabilities.

During COVID, Toni moved back to Maine, closer to family and returned working part-time at Spindleworks as a part of the weaving support staff. What Toni loves about Spindleworks, is that the artists are seen and known in the community. One of her favorite things is when someone gets into a juried show, and the judges don’t know that the artist has a disability—that’s inclusion full bore! Also, finding the right material or medium with an artist is like magic. Toni talks about helping someone to embrace and learn a new medium like embroidery and allowing their fascination with billiard balls to direct the images they produce in threads. With another artist it might be working with wire to begin to sculpt, and then allowing their fascination with cars to lead to a form.

Author’s Note

My aunt, Helen Warren was a Spindlework artist for thirty years. Personally, her art work and joyful involvement in this wonderful program was reason enough to pursue writing this article, yet it was my own Spindleworks art learning experiences that caused me to act. I was resettling in the area, and for me Spindleworks is a loving touchstone. I wanted to learn to crochet and I thought maybe a Spindleworks artist could teach me, given my resistance to instructions, patterns, recipes, and manuals.

My Spindleworker Artist Mentors

Jennell Edson, forty-years old, born and raised in Maine, has been living in Topsham for fourteen years. She began with the Independence Association, participating in Community Works programming which she found was overstimulating and then waited for an opening at Spindleworks. Now an artist for ten years, she enjoys the choices, the pace and the friends she has made at Spindleworks. When learning something new she tries to do it on her own first, feeling pride in her independence, and then she asks for help. After doing an interest inventory at Spindleworks, it became apparent that Jennell was suited for and interested in volunteering in the community. Jennell has been volunteering for over a year, straightening up and creating new displays every other week for an hour at the Gulf of Maine Bookstore. Volunteering means being a willing teacher within the Spindleworks community as well. She began by teaching a class on making cat toys. She made sure she had examples to show people and a wide variety of materials for others to use. Now comfortable in her setting, Jennell is known as the in-house expert, a crochet queen, and has a magical ability at centering clay on the wheel. Jennell learned to crochet when she was six, and then at Spindleworks she retaught herself with YouTube videos. Her teaching philosophy begins with teaching others the basics and letting the person embellish it their own way. “Do your best and you’ll figure out a clever way to do it.” When I was learning crochet from Jennell last fall, I was able to produce triangles because I habitually dropped a stitch each row, and Jennell would say, “those are darn good triangles, and you will figure out what to do with them.” She encourages others to be independent, follow their dream, and have a plan, and tells you that “if you have a frustrating incomplete project or get in a rut, put it away and come back later.”

Sophie Jacobs

Sophie, thirty-two years old, grew up in Portland, moved with her mom to Bath, and graduated from Morse High School. She went to Strive University, a two-year program where she learned to live independently. She participated in Creative Trails art programming and its publication studio. After COVID in 2021, her social worker asked if she wanted to become a Spindleworker and live closer to her mom again. Sophie has a ten-minute walk from her apartment, and she comes five days a week to Spindleworks. Looking forward to creating, she doesn’t want to leave at the end of the day, and loves it when her friends do things together beyond the program. Through the Independence Association, Sophie participates in track and field events of the Summer Olympics, and plays soccer and basketball as well. She looks for ideas on Pinterest, and has had work in numerous shows in Freeport and Wiscasset and the Whynot Gallery at Spindleworks. I was drawn to Sophie’s embroidery work and asked if she would mentor me this last spring. I asked if there were books of stitches or instructional videos I should watch and she told me to “just draw a picture on your cloth and fill it in with color.” Learning lots of different stitches is too hard and too maddening. “For example when I was doing strawberries, I tried to learn french knots but it was too maddening, so I attached tiny golden beads instead.” Each week this spring I would head to Spindleworks for Fiber Talk Time which is from 1–2 p.m. on Thursdays, and would check in with Sophie on my embroidery work and found her to be an encouraging teacher.

Looking for Growth Opportunities in the Community

You just never know what will bubble up into a fantastic experience. Take the serendipity of Spindleworks’s fiftieth year of existence, and Bowdoin’s hosting the oldest art collection in America at the Walker Art Museum next year. Working with Anne Collins Goodyear at Bowdoin, Spindleworks will also have a show in the museum featuring a retrospective of Spindleworks artmaking over fifty years. What a crowning achievement to go from being tucked in an attic at the beginning and now ending up in a renowned museum! The Spindleworks film I Dream In Colors will be shown in the exhibit hall, and Spindleworks art will be for sale in the museum store.

On-going grant writing allows the program to bring artists to the area for collaboration in art making and exhibition. A current example of this coordination brings Annabel Keilley from England, who will work with artists at Spindleworks for a week of workshops. Art from this collaboration will be featured at Annabel’s culminating exhibit at The Barn as well.

The Voices of Gardiner project is currently up and available to experience. The artists created a walking tour. capturing the community’s key concepts, vital spaces, and art hot spots. Given its positive reception, the Brunswick site has plans to recreate this project locally.

The welcoming and supportive environment of Spindleworks has been percolating for nearly fifty years, nurtured and developed through the active involvement of the individual artists, the mentors, the program directors, the IA board, the visiting artists, and the community partners, all contributing to a broader sense of what a welcoming community truly is. It is truly artists supporting artists who enrich the local community. They are very resilient because overcoming challenges is really ingrained in what they do. Spindleworks welcomes community members volunteering within the programs and its artists are open to teaching and learning opportunities of all kinds.