The small, art-thriving lake town of Monson is located at the edge of Maine’s North Woods, smack dab along the Appalachian Trail. Originally famed for its slate quarries and, later, wood furniture manufacturing, Monson embraced its noted artist roots with the emergence of Monson Arts in 2018 through the investment of Maine’s Libra Foundation. Ceramicists, woodworkers, and painters live in the heart of Monson with open shops and galleries while seasonal hikers fill out the General Store and main street. Mix in a budding food scene, including upscale restaurant The Quarry and local brewery Turning Page Farm Brewery, and Monson is poised for growth, all in the “Highlands” of Maine, an area dense with beech, birch, and maple trees mingling with fir and spruce, thickly dotting the myriad of hills, low mountains, and lakes, ponds, and rivers – a wild and wooly landscape perfect for inspiration.