Magic Lantern Innovation Center

08/25/2026

Magic Lantern is proud to display the Lakes Region PhotoVoice project this Friday, 8/28. This collaboration between USM and Lakes Region Recovery Center features photos and commentary by our neighbors experiencing housing instability. It is powerful and poignant--and a must-see for anyone who cares about community. At 7:00 pm. we will show the documentary Building Hope: Ending Homelessness in Maine that presents some options. Please join us for this important free event.

08/24/2026

Indigo, our program assistant for classes throughout the summer, is now going off to start her third year at USM as an art major. She created beautiful pieces that inspired our young participants to do their best in a variety of mediums, including fiber, hand dyeing, cement design, decoupage, collage and book design. Her prototypes helped our young people envision their own artistry. Thank you for your creativity and guidance, Indigo!

08/21/2026

Young animators in our Stop-Motion Animation class created interesting videos that you can view here. Did you know that each video includes over 600 individual photos? Stop-Motion Animation is time-consuming and requires lots of patience. We applaud these students who planned their stories and had the inspiration to carry them forward in this unique format.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/qny3mv2i7cbb9pb17mh0z/Banjo-and-Amelia-1.mp4?rlkey=o529b7lasipup26guiein0cgg&st=swfkx61c&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/1k92vpjtlsctdqh3ufzu6/Aurora-and-Tillie-1.mp4?rlkey=biamxa2f8j2y8qnx3iap4eyry&st=8a9dtn8m&dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/pk0wxsycg41o8ti6qdbxf/Charlie-and-Sam-4.mp4?rlkey=phntjqyb4eju5ka6dhrg6wzxz&st=6fy2kmkr&dl=0

Shared with Dropbox

08/18/2026

Workshops yesterday and today showcased participant literary creativity. On Monday, young people created accordion books and Victorian puzzle purses and filled them with original poetry, and today they decorated small boxes, using collage as a way to tell stories.

08/15/2026

Children from the K-1st grade group at Bridgton Recreation learned about fossils at a workshop with Maine Mineral and Gem Museum. They learned about the discovery of dinosaur bones and were able to touch real dinosaur bones and teeth. They especially enjoyed creating their own "resin fossil" using a plastic cockroach.

08/14/2026

Classes for next week at Magic Lantern Innovation Center!

08/13/2026

We had a great time at the hand-dyeing with fruit workshop this week! We experimented with three different fruit dye solutions on white cotton that had been treated with mordant: raspberry, blueberry, and blueberry mixed with hibiscus flowers. All were beautiful shades of deep pink to magenta. We then experimented with different tie dye patterns. The hand-dyeing instructions can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/v2ja5u5d2dszet0h7z9l6/Instructions-for-hand-dyeing.docx?rlkey=mp0lggq4syem5v8bgeer9opgz&st=0zxq0z8h&dl=0

08/11/2026

The circus is coming! Free admission to the Nevaeh Dance Theater production this Saturday.

The Navaeh Dance Circus show this Saturday at the Magic Lantern will now be free of charge with the support of our sponsors including, Chalmers Insurance Group, The Maine Masonic Charitable Foundation and the Jennings & Grover Family through the Maine 4-H Foundation! Seating is first come first serve, tickets can be reserved here. https://internet-ticketing.com/websales/sales/MAGBRI/actual_book?perfcode=649

08/11/2026

Young artists created some interesting prints in yesterday's cyanotype workshop. As subjects, they used everything from fern fronds to paint brushes. As with all art, there is a science component and these young people experimented with different materials and exposure times, and did quite a bit of problem solving. Great work!

08/09/2026

Some interesting sky events!

🌌 August 2026 Skies: Don't Miss These Incredible Events! 🌠

Get ready for a jam-packed month of stargazing ✨ — August brings everything from a Total Solar Eclipse 🌑 to the Perseid Meteor Shower ☄️ and a stunning six-planet lineup 🪐. Here's your skywatching calendar:

🌕 August 9 – The Moon pairs up with Mars
🌒 August 12 – Total Solar Eclipse
☄️ August 12–13 – Perseid Meteor Shower reaches its peak, delivering up to 100 shooting stars per hour under clear, dark skies
🪐 August 13 – A rare Six-Planet Parade lights up the pre-dawn sky, featuring Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Uranus, Saturn, and Neptune
✨ August 15 – Jupiter and Mercury draw close together in the early morning sky
🌘 August 28 – A Deep Partial Lunar Eclipse plunges most of the Moon into Earth's shadow

📅 Set your reminders, 🔭 dust off your binoculars or telescope, and get ready for one of the best months for skywatching in 2026!

👉 Which of these are you most looking forward to? 💫

💾 Save this post so you don't miss a single event, and 🔄 share it with a fellow stargazer who needs to see this!