Farewell to May Sarton's "House by the Sea" - Downeast Magazine

Bridget M. Burns for Downeast Magazine. February ‘21.

Photo by Rich Beauchesne | courtesy of Seacoastonline.com

In her 1977 memoir The House by the Sea, May Sarton described her first visit to the 1916 Colonial Revival in York that she would call home for the last 22 years of her life. “Once I stood on that wide flagstone terrace,” she wrote, “and looked out over that immensely gentle field to a shining, still blue expanse, the decision was out of my hands.”

The house she called Wild Knoll was demolished this winter, dismantled over three days in November, to the disappointment of some of Sarton’s readers and admirers. The author of 16 books of poetry, 19 novels, and 12 memoirs and published journals, Sarton, who died in 1995, was one of Maine’s most prolific literary figures. She rented Wild Knoll from friend and arts patron Mary-Leigh Smart, who lived next door and died in 2017, willing that her 47-acre property, called Surf Point, be converted to an artist colony after her death. The Surf Point Foundation, which began offering residencies to artists in 2019, met pushback from those who hoped to see Sarton’s home preserved, but executive director Yael Reinharz says the costs of repairing and maintaining the aging house were insurmountable.

“I think the initial feelings of many people were feelings of distress,” Reinharz says. But the modestly endowed foundation faced costs for structural repairs, a new septic system, and the replacement of windows, siding, insulation, and more. Reinharz is confident the loss of Wild Knoll won’t affect the public’s remembrance of Sarton. “I think the people who know the most about her work are very well prepared to continue to foster that legacy,” she says. Meanwhile, the flagstone terrace remains, a spot where resident artists can look out over the blue expanse, as Sarton once did.

Wild Knoll

Image by Greta Rybus

Surf Point Foundation invests in visual artists and those who amplify their work through a diverse, inclusive and accessible residency program on the coast of York, Maine. Our mission realizes the vision of our founders, the late arts patron Mary-Leigh Smart and artist Beverly Hallam.

The Foundation has reached a difficult decision, and we want our neighbors, the town of York, and those in the broader arts, cultural and historic preservation communities to understand the circumstances and reasoning behind it.

Over the last four years, the Foundation has invested in preserving and renovating “Surf Point,” built and lived in by Mary-Leigh and Beverly for nearly 50 years. This 6,000sf home, transformed into a cultural facility, now offers four live-work spaces to artists and arts professionals for three-week-long sessions year-round.

We have been guided by a commitment to honor the spirit of our founders, who contributed their home, land, art and legacy to Surf Point, and who wanted to build a retreat for artistic creation and connection with nature.

Integrated with the Foundation’s mission, our conservation easement, managed by the York Land Trust, ensures a minimal human footprint on our 47 acres of land.

A second building, known as “Wild Knoll,” also sits on the Foundation’s property. Esteemed writer and poet May Sarton rented, lived and worked at Wild Knoll from 1973-1995. When the Foundation assumed ownership of the building in 2017, it found the building in disrepair, and invested significant time and resources to determine the feasibility and cost of renovations.

Among the many obstacles: mitigation of hazardous materials; replacement and updating of windows, siding, insulation, electrical, HVAC, and septic systems; structural repairs; and reconfiguration for safety, accessibility and privacy.

The cost of such a renovation - combined with the continuing costs of maintaining, managing and programming the building - far exceed the Foundation’s capacity, which has one staff person and a commitment to its primary mission to serve artists and art professionals through the residency program. The Foundation is not equipped to raise the significant sums needed for such an undertaking. We must be organizationally, financially, and ecologically sustainable in order to fulfill the mission envisioned by our founders.

Given all of these factors, the Foundation board made the decision to take the building down, with no proposed future use for the site.

This decision was difficult, knowing that both historic preservation and the life and work of May Sarton are important to the Foundation and members of the community.

We are committed to continuing conversations about our mission and common interests with one and all, including organizations such as the York Land Trust, Old York Historical Society, the York Historic District Commission, Maine Preservation, the York Community Services Association, the George Marshall Store Gallery, and with town residents.

We value our role as a participant in the cultural community, and hope we have provided context for our decision.

Sincerely,

Executive Director Yael Reinharz and the Surf Point Foundation Board

The Work Ahead.

"Again We Rise," a mural on the Aura Concert Venue and Nightclub building in Portland, Maine, painted by local artists Ryan Adams, Mike Rich and Jason McDonald. The mural features a portrait of George Floyd and some of the names of victims of police brutality.

So much has recently happened in support of the nationwide demand for racial and economic justice, police accountability and meaningful and lasting societal change. Surf Point Foundation honors this historic moment and pledges to do our part in the struggle to dismantle systemic racism so that people of color can finally be safe, free, and fully enfranchised by the social contract that has been too long denied. We face a pivotal moment of reckoning in which no one can remain passive or silent.

Details from message board on Free Street, Portland, Maine (above and below).

As an organization in its growth phase, Surf Point has the opportunity to reaffirm core commitments, ideals and values - and to articulate new ones. We hold ourselves accountable to listen, learn, change, and devote ourselves to the challenging work ahead:

1. We will continue to reaffirm our responsibility to diversity and inclusion and to prioritize recruiting people of color, LGBTQI, women, and those with a connection to Maine as residents. We will do everything possible to make Surf Point a positive, welcoming and empowering space for every resident and visitor, with special sensitivity to the historical, cultural and economic history of our location in York, Maine. Community building is among our top priorities through sustained and anchored relationships.

2. As a primarily White governing body, the Surf Point Board of Directors will create a diversity committee whose mission will be to translate our ideals into meaningful actions and structures. Actions include: prioritizing meaningful diversity on our Board of Directors; mandatory Diversity, Equity and Inclusion training for our Board and staff; and identifying and supporting through grants Maine-based arts entities that fight for racial justice, judicial reform, and economic equality.

3. We will pursue partnerships with institutions that reciprocally share our values and can enhance our sense of intersectional networks, including creating opportunities for internships and hiring.

4. We will correctively expand our founders’ art library to include monographs, exhibition catalogues and historical and critical works by and about Black and Brown artists and scholars, cultures and creative movements, both historical and contemporary. In addition to serving our residents, we will explore how this library can become a resource for the larger community.

5. We will seek to learn what we do not understand. We will listen. We will see and remember. We will speak out.

In response to the many pressing concerns in our society, and in solidarity with the local and broader community, we have donated to organizations we respect and admire in Maine and New Hampshire that address hunger relief, community building, and celebrate BIPOC artists, art workers, and history: the Abbe Museum, Abyssinian Meeting House, Curtis Memorial Library; Gather, Indigo Arts Alliance, Mayo Street Arts, Ogunquit Museum of Art; Space Gallery, and York Community Services Association.

I look forward to your participation in this discussion long into the future and, as always, welcome your thoughts.

Yours,
Yael Reinharz,
Executive Director & the Surf Point Foundation Board

Community Outreach

In response to the many pressing concerns in our society, and in solidarity with the local and broader community, Surf Point Foundation donated to organizations we respect and admire in Southern Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire. We invite you to explore these remarkable organizations whose work address hunger relief, community building, and celebrates BIPOC artists, art workers, and history: the Abbe Museum, Abyssinian Meeting House, Gather, Indigo Arts Alliance, Mayo Street Arts and York Community Services Association.