  Artists of the Forest is a four-state touring exhibition documenting the lives and work of traditional artists in Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. The largest expanse of intact forest in the eastern United States, the Northern Forest is home to some of the northeast's most gifted traditional artists including canoe builders, snow shoe makers, basket makers and twig furniture makers. Exploring issues central to living and working in the region, Artists of the Forest will tour the region in 2012 and will feature over twenty traditional artists.
Funded by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Quimby Foundation, the exhibit and catalogue is the result of fieldwork and artists gatherings held throughout the Northern Forest which brought together practicing traditional artists to share their ideas about how to sustain these traditions. Artists of the Forest is organized by Cultural Resources, working in collaboration with the Vermont Folklife Center, Traditional Arts of Upstate New York and the Maine Crafts Association.
 Remembered worlds exist in the hearts and minds of all of us, but as we get older, the need to share what we have learned over a lifetime takes on special meaning. This unfolding process, called life review, often finds expression in telling stories. As Gerontologist Robert Butler suggests "There is perhaps no other group that can tell us something about the nature of human life with all its successes and problems better than old people."
As a non-profit working with traditional artists and their communities on sustaining their cultural traditions, Cultural Resources often works with elders, documenting and hearing their stories. In 2012, we will continue our work with the University of New England, Geriatric Education Center and the Maine Arts Commission on presenting traditional master artists as part of a series that explores aging and the arts. We will also be working with Catholic Charities of Maine at their newly established Elder Refugee Center in Lewiston helping them facilitate a story exchange program as well as recording sessions for Story Bank Maine. (Funding for the Elder Arts program is provided by the Davis Family Foundation.)
  Through the generous support of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Maine Community Foundation and the Davis Family Foundation, Story Bank Maine will take to the road and record local stories in 2011 and 2012.
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