ROCKLAND — The Farnsworth Art Museum has announced the Shakers of Sabbathday Lake, New Gloucester, as the recipients of the 2014 Maine in America Award.

The award is presented by the Farnsworth’s Presidents Council to honor an individual or group who has made an outstanding contribution to Maine’s role in American art.

This year’s presentation will occur during the Farnsworth Art Museum’s Summer Gala, which will take place on Friday, July 11, at the Strand Theatre.

The Sabbathday Lake Shaker Community was founded in 1783, in what was then called Thompson’s Pond Plantation, by a group of Shaker missionaries. In less than a year’s time nearly 200 people gathered in the place that previously had only been the home of some five farming families.

The new influx of people initially made do with the existing homes and out-buildings. On April 19, 1794, they formally organized as a community and, to mark the event, they began to build a meeting house for public worship.

The next year saw the construction of the first communal dwelling house and the next decade saw the addition of workshops, mills, barns and other related buildings necessary for laying permanent foundations.

Today Sabbathday Lake is the only active Shaker Community. It presently consists of 18 buildings located on 1,800 acres of land. They maintain a tree farm, apple orchard, vegetable gardens, commercial herb garden, hay fields, pastures, a flock of sheep and a variety of livestock.

Other occupations include manufacturing of fancy goods, basket-making, weaving, printing and the manufacturing of small woodenware.

Visit www.farnsworthmuseum.org for more information.