Carolyne Sauda ’27: Gardenshop & Webshop Intern at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens
By Carolyne Sauda ’27
The Gardens: The Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens is on the tourmaline-green coast in Boothbay Harbor. The Gardens strives to cultivate meaningful connections between people and the environment. Along with caring for the gardens year-round, the CMBG does a lot of intentional work with education, plant conservation, horticulture therapy, community cohesion, indigenous relations, and more.
Webshop: I worked with the Gardenshop, helping redesign and update their online store while learning about marketing, inventory management, product photography, and sustainable packing and shipping practices.
Makers' Project: My biggest project was interviewing the artists and makers of our Gardenshop products and telling their stories. My manager, Samuel Betts (Bowdoin ’21) and I met 23 local makers who create everything from jewelry to soap to pottery. I combined my deep listening and writing skills with Sam's photography to create a series of longform articles that we plan to release as a product guide in a few months.
Personal Growth: I loved traveling around Midcoast Maine and talking with makers about their lives and dreams. Seeing successful people doing what they love gives me hope for a creative career in my own future. I will always carry with me the therapeutic qualities of art, nature, and creativity, and the stories I learned.
Internship funded by Richard G. D'Auteuil ’82 and Kimberly A. Labbe ’82 Internship Fund