me arts ed

Harlow Gallery

Five works of art expressing social issues from the view of Maine high school students earned awards at the opening of “A Matter of Conscience”, at the Harlow Gallery in Hallowell.

First Prize went to Annah Kimball, Gardiner Area High School (see photo). Second Prize was awarded to Maggie Ditre from Maranacook Community High School for “Walter,” her college junk mail collage. Tied for Third Prizes were Whitney Wei from Hall-Dale High School for her sculpture, “Size 14”, and Alex Spies from Mt. Ararat High School for his work, “The Tides of War.”

The Peace Jam Youth Group from the Unitarian Universalist Community Church in Augusta won the group prize for “Recycled Peace: The World Watches Us and We Watch the World”. Group members include Katelyn McAuliffe, James McAuliffe, J’rae Mendall, Cale Mendall, Tonia Reiter, Vanessa Gilbert, Katie Gilbert, Marie Donisvitch, Soren Donisvitch, John Hutton, Sean Oshima, Keiley Chaisson, Ben Barnes, Nick Barnes, Gracie Kavenah, Christian Heath, Maya Bentley, Connor Fahy, and Miriam Nielsen. Photos and artist statements are available online by clicking here.

Cheryl Harper selected twenty-one pieces for the show from thirty-five entries by HS students from across Central Maine. Parents were complimented at the opening for supporting artistic development of their sons and daughters and encouraged students to pursue their creative expression. Following the awards, she shared slides of her own social/political art with exhibition attendees. Appreciation was expressed to Evergreen Foundation for generous financial support of the event hosted by the Harlow Gallery, home of the Kennebec Valley Art Association.

Greg Percy: Art Educator/Musician

What do you get when you mix an art educator with a musician? YES, songs about art and the art world. Some of the titles to his songs are:

• The Red and Yellow Blues
• Complementary Colors
• Secondary Samba
• Picasso Polka
• I Draw the Line
• Pop Andy
• From Matisse to You
• Tints & Shades
• Monet’s Mom
• Marry an Art Teacher?
• Pollock’s Eyes
• Born Toulouse

Greg uses a variety of music styles from pop to polka to punk. The songs are about artists or have an art theme. They are catchy, fun tunes which kids remember and in the mean time are learning information. You can learn more about Greg and his work by clicking here. And you can download/purchase his songs on iTunes or on his website. He does visit schools and perform, I actually read about him from a teacher who had him visit her school recently.

The proposed cuts – UMaine Division of Music

The Academic Program Prioritization Working Group (APPWG) Committee, led by Provost Susan Hunter, is taking comments on the proposed cuts to the Music Division offerings, but only through next week. You can send comments directly to Dr. Hunter via FirstClass, or send comments to the address described on the Committee’s website: http://www.umaine.edu/achievingsustainability/send-us-your-feedback/

“I can summarize the proposed cuts by saying that the B.A. in Music, the B.M. in performance and our graduate degrees have been targeted to be eliminated. My argument to the administration will include the facts that many of the actual courses required by the B.M. in Music Education degree (which is NOT in danger) are the same courses that are required by the other undergraduate degrees. So, any possible savings will come only with eventual faculty retirements. We in the Music Division have already discussed ways that we could adapt to offer many of these degrees even when we have fewer faculty after 2014. So, we are working towards keeping the Division strong, both by attracting the same variety of music majors that we have in the past, and keeping the Music Education program strong by offering the opportunities for advanced study that our graduate program gives them.”

Beth Wiemann
Chair, Music Division
Associate Professor
University of Maine
School of Performing Arts
Orono, ME 04469-5788

(207) 581-1244

Bringing dance to Brewer

Karen Montanaro and 4th grade student

I had the opportunity to visit State Street School in Brewer last week to visit one of Karen Hartnagle’s dance programs. She does an amazing job organizing and supporting dance education. She understands the value and positive impact that a well developed program can have on students. She understands it so much that she has sent all of her dance instructors to the National Dance Institute in New York City for training.

I was delighted to see Karen Montanaro working with 4th graders in the Brewer school. Karen just returned from her third training session in New York. If there is a question about the value of a dance education program just watching Karen with students would change anyone’s mind.

The pride and focus of each student is amazing. We all know the importance of focus in our lives. And it is such an important key to learning. Some of Karen H. other dancers were present during the session. The 4th grade teachers were fortunate because they had a professional development session of their own with Karen afterwards. Yahoooooo for the “Karen’s” for the outstanding work they are doing.

Vassalboro, Waterville, Winslow

During November and December AOS 92 students had artwork on display at the Maine Department of Education. Congratulations to the students and art teachers for their work that you can view the work in the gallery – AOS 92, the artwork can be found on the right side of the front page under ‘Pages’. A GREAT BIG THANK YOU to art teachers Robin King, Kathy Keene, David Matteson, Ryan Kneeland, Katrina Billings, Crystal Douglas, and Ann Roy. A special thank you to Suzanne Goulet for organizing the exhibit!