I don’t know how or when Mary learned about the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts since I was busy pursuing my own life. No doubt, she had known about Haystack for many years and wanted to go but was unable to do so because of work commitments and her devotion to Tom, who was not a traveler or a cook. Mary always had the travel “bug” and made a lot of local trips within the state of Florida but didn’t travel further until a few years before Tom died. In those years, she visited the Hirschhorn Museum in Washington, D.C., the Smithsonian, and visited her niece in New York City, taking in the art scene while she was there. When she lost Tom in 1984, her life, like that of every widow, changed dramatically.

In early 1988, she applied for and was accepted for session 1 in June at Haystack. The instructor was Michael Moore and the class was in drawing. Mary returned in June, 1989 for another drawing class, taught by Alan Bray.

From April 17 until May 1, 1990, Mary went on a trip to Scandinavia, led by Jane Weiss, whom she met while attending a session at Haystack. The itinerary included Helsinki, Finland; Stockholm, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark. In August of 1990, she returned to Haystack, participating in a graphics course in session 6, entitled “Narrations” and taught by Marjorie Moore.

In 1991, Mary took a class in printmaking during session 3. I don’t have the name of the instructor of that class, though. She went with a friend, Nancy Jefferson, who took a class in clay taught by Cynthia Bringle.

Energized by all of her travels and new experiences, Mary took a break from Haystack until she attended session 6 in August of 1994, when she took a writing course with Alfred DePew.

The following year, 1995, at the age of 81, was the last year that Mary attended Haystack. In August of that year, she took a poetry workshop given by Sas Colby and Christine Hemp, who were from Taos, New Mexico.

I recall Mary telling me that she would not be able to go back to Haystack again because her night vision was not good. She said that she was unable to safely negotiate the steep stairs at Haystack at night. She didn’t stop traveling, though, because in July of 1997, she made a trip to New Mexico, taking another poetry workshop with Christine Hemp.

Her last trips were in 1998 – 1999 to Fort Wayne, Indiana, to visit some of her late husband’s kin and to attend a memorial service for an old friend. I also accompanied her to visit her brother in Arizona in that year. After that, her age having caught up with her, she stayed home. She stayed in touch with Haystack, though, participating via the annual appeals and vicariously enjoying the activities in Maine via the publications that she received.

Although she had expressed an interest in doing something for Haystack as part of her will, she never got around to doing anything about it. In 2006, knowing of her wishes, I took care of that for her by establishing the Mary Blakley Fellowship. I’m sure she would be thrilled to know that she was able to assist other struggling artists by enabling them to immerse themselves in the creative ferment that takes place every summer at Haystack.