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Friends & Neighbors: Wick and Alice Skinner
"More and more, our area is becoming a desirable destination," said Wickham Skinner this past August. "There is a lot of growth and change in our country, some of it negative. So we are interested in trying to make this a better community, and a prettier community and a healthier community."
He was sitting with his wife, Alice, in the living room of their home on a wide, wooded cove in Tenants Harbor. He had just rowed ashore from his motor sailer, where he had been working on the engine.
Wick and Alice Skinner support a wide range of organizations in midcoast Maine. They have been generous to Pen Bay Healthcare, and are members of both the Legacy and Wellspring Societies. Wick served on the PenBay hospital board for two years, lending his expertise in the field of industrial management. A graduate of Harvard Business School, he worked at Honeywell for ten years and then returned to Harvard to teach industrial management, eventually becoming Associate Dean of the Business School. One of his students went on to become the current President and CEO of Pen Bay Healthcare, Roy Hitchings. "Roy was an excellent student and has turned into a friend," said Wick.
Wick has also been actively involved with the University of Maine System as a trustee, the Natural Resources Council as President, the Farnsworth Museum as Board President, the Maine Community Foundation and the Georges River Land Trust.
"I think, as people give to organizations within the community, they themselves get more involved in those organizations," said Alice. "They think about what the organizations do and why, and what the community needs. As you give, even if it's a small amount, you become more attached and more involved."
Alice said she is particularly interested in "seeing the arts flourish and become more accessible." The Skinners funded an exhibition of photographs, "Maine Women – Living on the Land," which was previously on view at the Farnsworth. Alice also served on the board of the Lincoln Street Center for Arts & Education in Rockland.
The Skinners have been year-round Mainers for more than 20 years. Beginning in 1964, they had summered in a very old farmhouse in Spruce Head, living the rest of the year in Concord, Mass. When Wick retired from Harvard and they considered moving to Maine permanently, they found that the farmhouse "didn't lend itself to winterizing." They already owned land in Tenants Harbor and decided to build there. They spent their first night in the new house in February 1981.
The house reflects the Skinners' wide-ranging tastes and curiosity. It is full of books on history, art and nature. The walls are lined with paintings, many of them by Wick, who has been drawing and painting for 18 years. His paintings are mostly of landscapes and scenes, based on memory and sometimes from imagination.
One is a playful and affectionate depiction of people working on a conveyor belt – it is his favorite. "I have been in love with the American factory for 55 years," he explained.
Copyright © Pen Bay Healthcare Foundation, All rights reserved. The information on this site is not intended as legal, tax or investment advice.
For such advice, please consult an attorney, tax professional or investment professional.
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