“The Arts Connect” Conference is History
October 10, 2009What do you get when you bring 272 arts educators together?
Performer Michael Trautman, Argy, Executive Director Carol Trimble at the Celebration at The Summit
WOW! Great energy and passion for teaching arts education in Maine! Creative minds came together for the last day and a half for “The Arts Connect” conference at Point Lookout in Northport. The schedule was packed, the sessions were about dance, music, theater, visual arts connected to a whole lotta other content, the presenters were heartwarming, imaginative, and collaborative, the participants were enthused, enriched, and energized, and the setting was beautiful!
The conference opened Thursday night with a celebration on The Summit of Point Lookout with music by Bangor High School jazz music students under the direction of George Redman. They were AWESOME! Greetings were given by the Deputy Commissioner of Education, Angela Faherty, the Director of the Maine Arts Commission, Donna McNeil, and Maine’s First Lady, Karen Baldacci.
We were wowed by the talents of Karen Montanaro and Michael Trautman. It was so wonderful to have the chance to see and hear about their work and participate. Karen and Michael are both treasures of Maine.
2007 National Teacher of the Year Andrea Peterson and Past President of MENC Lynn Brinckmeyer
Today, Friday, October 9th, started at Erickson Hall with the keynote shared by Music educator, Andrea Peterson, the 2007 National Teacher of the Year who is from Granite Falls, Washington.
Consultant Dennie Wolf shared the findings of the statewide arts education census. Working in regions conference participants collaborated and created maps depicting arts education opportunities in their region. The maps will help determine which school districts/regions will be identified as “imagination-intensive” communities to develop a set of tools that will allow other communities to take stock of the opportunities that they offer and could build.
Performer Scot Cannon "opening the door"
Just before lunch we were treated to performances by dancer Jennifer Bourgeault, poet Martin Steingesser, mime/theater artist Scot Cannon, and from ImprovAcadia, Jennifer Shepard and Larrance Fingerhut.
After a lovely lunch participants walked to the Education Center for the afternoon workshops with a wide variety of topics from which to select. The afternoon wrapped up with THANKS and many great door prizes.
If you weren’t able to attend the conference, over the next several days (maybe weeks), I will do a series of blog posts on the conference. This will give you a chance to relive the conference or give you a taste of what you missed from the conference. The posts will be called The Arts Connect Continues: Part 1, or whichever number it is in the series. If you were fortunate enough to attend I hope you will join the conversation by
Workshop presenter Kath Hartley assists music educator Pam Kinsey in creating a clay drum
adding your comments to the comment section under this blog post. And, if you’d like to be a guest blogger and submit a post on your view of a segment of the conference PLEASE email me! Photos will be added to each post as well so you can “SEE” some of the conference as well.
A GREAT BIG THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HELPED MAKE THE CONFERENCE A SUCCESS. It is not a small task and I appreciate the hard work and dedication to the planning of the event! I invite you to add a comment on the conference to this post.
What a wonderful and inspirational conference! How could I have missed this before? I vow to never miss it again! Thank you to everyone who made it possible, from the plans and organizers, to the presenters, to all artists, and educators.
The conference was amazing, I feel reinvigorated to get back into the classroom and share what I learned at the conference. I truly enjoy the all the performers, and the keynote was inspiring. Just talking with other educators who understand the daily struggles, demands and triumphs in the classroom was energizing. I do have a challenge for the next conference. Every VPA teacher who attends should bring an administrator from their district. We as VPA teachers know and understand the value the arts bring to our schools, but if the adminstation were to see the performances and the presentations it might change their minds next time budget talks come around.
Lisa Gilman
Winthrop Middle School
Thank you for your comments Dawnella! Sounds like it was a worthwhile experience for you! I am so glad to hear that.
We’ve had that conversation about making it a “bring your administrator to the conference conference”. Perhaps it is time we stop talking about that and make it happen!
I have been working in education my entire adult life (24 years) and this conference, was by far, the best combination of community synergy, revitalizing entertainment with a message and workshops that were completely on target! Kudos to everyone involved in organizing and executing this event.
Wow! Thank you Chris from the planning committee and myself!
Instead of bringing administrators to our conference, how about hosting a conference for administrators? In fact, how about rallying to change the requirements for an administrator’s license to include study in the arts in education?
These are not new ideas. They have been around for as long as I can remember and I have been an educator for 30+ years.
Thank you all for the work you put into this conference. Looking forward to the next one–wish we could do this every year.
Chris Milliken’s comments are right on. This was a very well coordinated and vital conference. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this possible!
Thank you for the feedback Audrey! It was great to see you at the conference. I only wish it was longer so I could have a conversation with each participant!
Great conference, nice to connect with former colleagues and friends.
I found the keynote enjoyable and fun to listen to, but felt that most of what was done and said was kinda preaching to the choir.
I too would like to see an arts conference for administrators. While many are very supportive of the arts in schools and advocate strongly, there are many that do not. This is out of ignorance and perhaps lack of experience.
We all know what the arts can do for kids. We use this as a means of connecting kids to not only themselves but to their ability to learn. Administration should, across the board, honor and support these efforts.
Thank you so much, Tom for participating in the conversation. And thanks for donating your book for a door prize!
Maybe at the next conference there should be a day just for Administration and a day for educators. Food for thought!
Lisa Gilman