The Third Place - Maine

Black History Month is an invitation to deepen how we understand history—not just as something distant or national, but as something lived, local, and present all around us.

Here in Maine and across New England, Black history is embedded in our towns, coastlines, industries, families, and cultural traditions, even when it has gone unnamed or under-taught. This month is a powerful opportunity to learn more about the stories rooted in the places we call home and to support the people and organizations working to preserve and share them.

As you move through February, consider engaging with events, performances, conversations, and community spaces that center local Black history and lived experience. History becomes stronger, more honest, and more meaningful when we choose to look close to home.

For upcoming learning opportunities, go to: https://mailchi.mp/atlanticblackbox/february-14179534?e=[UNIQID]

Are you looking for a free and holistic way to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day? Join Bates College for a community-wide opportunity to celebrate, reflect, and move towards action. Attend one of over 25 films, workshops, performances, and lectures led by students, professors, community leaders from across the state. Make a whole day of it. Children's activities are also available.

Keynote Address: What Do We Do with All This Fear? Lessons from Martin Luther King Jr. on Fear and Courage

Myisha Cherry, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of California, Riverside

The event is free and open to the public. However, tickets are required. For a complete schedule and ticketing, go to: https://www.bates.edu/mlk/

The ECO BIPOC network invites community members to its next online meeting, Coordinating Outdoor Planning for Greater Impact. This session will bring together BIPOC-led and serving nature-based groups, outdoor organizations, and individuals who spend time outside recreationally—as well as those employed in nature-based careers such as farming, aquaculture, forestry, land conservation, environmental education, and other related fields.

The purpose of this gathering is to explore how coordinated planning can strengthen our collective impact and deepen community engagement across Maine. Participants will also be invited to share what they have planned for this winter and discuss what support, collaboration, or partnership they may need for opportunities being developed for next year.

Whether someone hosts outdoor programs, works professionally in a nature-based field, or simply enjoys hiking, gardening, climbing, fishing, skiing, or any form of outdoor exploration, all levels of experience and engagement are welcome. No formal affiliation with a group is required—interest and enthusiasm for nature-based community engagement are more than enough.

This meeting offers space to connect, brainstorm, and imagine how aligned planning can expand our reach, support one another’s efforts, and create more accessible and meaningful outdoor opportunities for BIPOC communities.

All members of the BIPOC outdoor and environmental community are encouraged to join the conversation.

for more information and to join, go to: https://maineecobipoc.eventbrite.com

Last chance this season to experience In the Voice of Trees at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens — open through October 19.

This summer, The Third Place had the good fortune of hosting two community clay bead-making workshops led by artists Daniel Minter and Raquel P. Miller in preparation for the final installation of Deconstructing the Boundaries at the Gardens.

Deconstructing the Boundaries was a three-year partnership between Indigo Arts Alliance and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens, created to foster resilience and unity within our communities while aspiring toward a brighter future. The project recognized that people of the global majority—Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities—have been historically disenfranchised, culturally erased, and continually called upon to be resilient. Through this initiative, Indigo Arts Alliance sought to create opportunities for recovery, reinvestment, and renewed relationship with the land and with one another.

As part of this partnership, Indigo Arts Alliance commissioned Daniel Minter to create In the Voice of Trees, a semi-permanent public artwork composed of bound tree trunks inspired by the African proverb, “Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable.” The trunks are adorned with hundreds of handmade clay beads, ranging in size from golf balls to oranges. Each bead represents the hopes and prayers we hold for generations to come.

Standing tall among the gardens, this work serves as a meditation on unity, endurance, and the strength that emerges from community—shaped by many hands across Maine.

If you have not yet experienced this powerful piece, make plans to visit before the Gardens close for the season on October 19.