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Fiber College: Learn, Make, and Connect by the Bay

A Midcoast Maine gathering space for classes, conversation, and community — where makers come to deepen skills, follow curiosity, and create alongside one another in a beautiful coastal setting.

Whether you drop in for a festival of classes or spend five days in an immersive Touchstone workshop, Fiber College helps you make more than things—you make experience, skill, and connection, with room for curiosity and discovery along the way. It’s a chance to step off the well-worn path and follow your creativity where it leads, traveling with intention but open to surprise—a bit of coddiwomple in the best sense of the word.

“Since 2005 we've brought Maine’s fantastic artists together to share their skills and inspiration with each other, and with anyone who wants to learn,” says founder and director Astrig Tanguay. “We like to make the experience a bit of a party—live music, great local food, the opportunity to meet like-minded people, and the chance to take time out from everyday life to focus on creativity and having fun.”

Astrig Tanguay eco printing with seaweed in the Fiber College Dye Barn at Searsport Shores Ocean Campground

"The ‘things’ that get made during Fiber College events include not only beautiful art and craft pieces, but also new friendships, lasting memories, and a powerful sense of how art connects past and present, people and place." Paula from PA

Makers Festival and Craft Sale

September 5 & 6, 2026

  • Drop-in workshops (no pre-sign up)

  • All skill levels welcome

  • Family-friendly creative spaces

  • Live music + community vibe

  • One low cost for access to all classes

Touchstones Retreat

September 9-13, 2026

  • Choose from 5 deep dive creative classes
  • Bonus evening enrichment workshops
  • Most meals included
  • Accommodations range from free tent camping to oceanview inns

MEET ASTRIG & STEVE:

Steven Tanguay on the BeachAstrig Tanguay, founder and director of Fiber College is a passionate and accomplished fiber artist, who designs, spins, weaves, knits, sews, tends her small flock of sheep and goats, and cultivates a dye garden, as well as running the family’s Searsport Shores Ocean Campground with her husband Steve, who is an equally passionate and accomplished musician.

With the help of volunteers and their campground staff, Astrig and Steve have been organizing FIBER COLLEGE events since 2005 as a way of share their own passions and celebrating the rich traditions of fiber art and old time music making in Maine. By focusing on gatherings that encourage visitors to the state and local residents to join in on the fun, they infuse their surrounding towns of Searsport and Belfast with prosperity in what is currently called, experiential tourism.

Fiber College is sponsored by The Makers Guild of Maine, a 501c3 that raises awareness of hand-making, music making, and cooking skills, and makes them as widely available as possible within our community. They organize  events that showcase hand-crafts, traditional music and local food in an outdoor setting and raise funds for community music and teaching initiatives. Astrig shearing sheep in March

 

For more information, interviews and hi-res images, contact:

Astrig Tanguay (207) 930-5919 (text or call) or email: astrig@makersguildmaine.org