Celebrating 20 years of savoring art and celebrating artists
Chapter Two, in the village of Corea, on the Schoodic Peninsula of Acadia National Park, was opened by Rosemary and Garry Levin in May, 2006 as a combination bookstore and art gallery in what had been the 1926 two room community schoolhouse. We featured used, rare and antiquarian books, Rosemary Levin’s hand hooked rugs, Dan Miller’s woodblock prints and the work of a small group of talented local artists and artisans. With a wood stove at its center and fresh coffee always on hand, Chapter Two also served as a community center, hosting Halloween and New Year’s parties, special events, workshops, meetings and gatherings.
On May 22nd, 2026, Chapter Two opened for its 20th season, and while our humbly sophisticated, elegantly rustic, kick-ass gallery has evolved, it has also stayed true to its roots. We continue to savor art and celebrate artists, offering a curated selection of locally connected art and fine craft and a variety of open houses, artists events and gatherings.
It has been quite the journey. As we walked past the schoolhouse in October of 2005, Bob Travers was putting out the “For Sale” sign, and we said we will buy it. We spent the winter working to cleanup the schoolhouse, which had been converted to a private home in the 50’s. We pulled up old carpet and stripped away layers of linoleum to reveal the original hardwood floors. We painted and patched walls, added lighting and brought in bookcases and tables to create display spaces. We moved Rosemary’s studio from the basement of our home on Paul Bunyan road to a large open space at one end of the building, and added chairs and tables to create a community workspace. We opened in May, 2006. We were open 5 days a week,
all year. Over that first summer and next winter, in addition to running the gallery, we boxed and moved over 20,000 books from the basement of our Paul Bunyan Road house to the large garage behind the schoolhouse. Twelve boxes would fit in the car and we would make two trips a day.
For our second summer, we opened the garage as a book outlet. Books were laid out on sheets of plywood supported by sawhorses, on windowsills and in open boxes. There was also a selection of vintage LPs, cassettes and CDs. That summer, we also opened the Spurling House to serve as a gallery annex. The Spurling House is named after Marcia Spurling, who lived in the early 1900’s building until her death in 1994. Marcia was known as a local character who reported on town happenings for the Ellsworth American. She also entertained the likes of Marsden Hartley, John Marin and Louise Dickinson Rich, who spent time in the village in the early 40’s.
A couple of years later, after considering a number of options to upgrade Rosemary’s studio space, we realized the most sensible choice was to use the garage space behind the schoolhouse and we began our first major renovation project. We reboxed all the remaining books and moved them into the Spurling House which would become our self service “Books for a Buck” outlet.
With the help of Steuben architect Tom Hitchins and Hancock builder Stephen Oliver, the garage was transformed into an inspiring space for Rosemary to create her original design, hand hooked rugs and dye her own wool. It also served as the perfect location to host Chapter Two’s weekly open house Fiber Friday gatherings, annual woodblock printmaking workshops with Dan Miller and bookmaking workshops with Margo Klass. We also hosted additional workshops, events and programs with gallery artists, Acadia National Park Artists in Residence and other spoecial friends, neighbors and creators.
In 2021, we decided to transform the Schoolhouse into our home, and Chapter Two evolved once again. “Books For A Buck” closed and the remaining books were sold to a friend from Ellsworth who sold books online.|The Spurling House became a storage space and the team of Tom Hitchins and Stephen Oliver began renovating the schoolhouse. The building was taken down to its original framework and reimagined as a contemporary, artful, open space that payed homage to its origins. In late summer 2022, We settled into our newly remodeled schoolhouse and focused on the next evolution; moving the gallery into the Spurling House.
Over the winter, the transformation began. With some minor carpentry work and painting, the reimagined Spurling House Gallery emerged as Chapter Two’s new home for the 2023 season. Rosemary’s studio served as our primary meeting and workshop space and we used the expansive back porch and open dining / living/ kitchen space of our refurbished schoolhouse to host special events and parties, such as Rosemary and Garry’s annual Birthaversary Cake Bash in support of land conservation and Frenchman Bay Conservancy.
Now featuring the work of more than 30 locally connected, exceptional artists and artisans, Chapter Two extols the universal language of art. We feature the work of artists and artisans we know and love, each a friend and kindred spirit. We feature work which uses line, shape, color, value, form, space, texture and marks to express deeply shared thoughts, emotions and relationships. We show art and craft which preserves time and place.
“Our goal is for the gallery to depict community, humanity, nature and self. We love work which transcends barriers, explores, challenges, endures and transforms. We hope the work we show inspires, reflects, and challenges our visitors. We want them to be inspired, comfortable and a little surprised to find a thoughtful selection of high quality, hand made original art and craft, beautifully arranged and displayed in an off the beaten path, unexpectedly artful environment.”