Congresswoman Chellie Pingree
Arts Ed Partnership resource
Twenty-nine states in our country define the arts as a core or academic subject. You can learn what Maine and other states have in place for policies that impact arts education on the Arts Ed Partnership site at ArtScan.
Congratulations students!
The 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards are the largest, longest-running scholarship and recognition program for creative teens, and are presented annually by the nonprofit Alliance for Young Artist & Writers with generous support from Scholastic Inc.
From an initial pool of nearly 350,000 submissions 3,300 works of art and writing earned a National Medal. Students and their educators will be honored at a National ceremony at Carnegie Hall in New York City, on June 7, 2018.
Award winners from Maine include the following:
Learning Works
Heather Davis and Amy Pichette
I had the chance to meet with Heather Davis, Executive Director of LearningWorks and Amy Pichette Learning Works After School (LWAS) Team Program Director recently. I learned about their comprehensive after school programs, had a tour of the Portland facility and to visit one of their after school programs at Reiche School. LearningWorks received Maine Arts Commission Arts Learning grant funds for the 2017-18 school year.
LearningWorks Mission
LearningWorks reimagines learning through innovative programs that help children, adults, and families realize their potential and build thriving communities.
I asked Heather to answer some questions so the Maine Arts Education blog audience could learn more about the LWAS program.
What do you see/know are the greatest benefit(s) to students at Reiche and the other schools you are working with to offer the afterschool program?
The greatest benefits to students in the LearningWorks LWAS program are the opportunities to continue building skills, background knowledge, and confidence in a supportive environment.We love afterschool because it is flexible and student centered. We are able to provide students with structured learning activities, but the students can help guide the direction of the ship based on their inherent interests.
What do you hope that students will remember or will be saying in the near or far off future about the opportunity to learn in this manner?
We hope students will remember the experiences they had while participating in LearningWorks Afterschool and how it helped them perform better in school. We also hope that the students develop new interests and skills through participation in activities they may not have had the opportunity to participate in if they weren’t a part of LearningWorks Afterschool. For example, those students who participated in the Portland Youth Dance Club are developing new dance skills and it is our hope that some of the students will be able to take advantage of participating in Portland Youth Dance beyond their time in LWAS and it can becomes a lifelong engaging activity for them.
Success story
A LearningWorks Afterschool/Portland Youth Dance success story comes from our performance yesterday afternoon (Wednesday, April 4th, 2018) during our LearningWorks Afterschool/Portland Youth Dance Final Showcase. All six groups (Reiche, East End, Ocean Avenue, Presumpscot, Hall and Riverton Schools) of LWAS/PYD dancers traveled to the Casco Bay Movers Studios to show off their dances to their peers, parents, and the community. The energy in the room is like no other…students are full of excitement and nerves. Some dancers are so nervous when they walk into the studio, they don’t want to dance. But, when the music starts, every dancer is ready to use their dance energy. There are constant cheers of support from the audience and the other dancers throughout each and every performance. The room was packed and this year’s performance had the most dance participants and the most parent/community audience members than any of our showcases in the past. One dancer from Hall School had 14 family members attend the performance! This is the best day of the year!
This video is on the Learning Works After School Portland Facebook
Check out the energy of the dancers and the crowd – Ocean Avenue’s dance team.
LearningWorks Commitment
LearningWorks is committed to strengthening the communities we serve by providing free community-based education programs for children, adults, and families throughout Southern Maine. Our primary goal is to support academic and personal success for our neighbors who lack resources and/or fall outside traditional educational structures. Our unique blend of academics, youth development, and social and emotional expertise makes it possible for us to transition our students from a place of struggle and hopelessness to a place of possibility and opportunity.
In the mid-1960s, residents of Portland’s West End neighborhood banded together to advocate for change on behalf of families who were struggling to maintain affordable housing. This coalition became known as Portland West in 1967. Through its housing rights work, Portland West came to appreciate that education is the best pathway out of poverty. Thus, the group reoriented its mission to focus on education.
LearningWorks’ journey from a grassroots neighborhood advocacy group to a unique and innovative education nonprofit has been long and remarkable. In late 2016, our staff and board joined forces to rewrite our organizational mission statement to focus on the concept of “reimagining learning” to help Mainers of all ages realize their potential and build thriving communities.
As we celebrate 50 years of service, we look to the future with a focus on what we do best: reaching students that no one else can reach; breaking down barriers to create educational opportunities for all; and helping people of all ages and backgrounds achieve academic and personal success.
LearningWorks AfterSchool (LWAS) provides free, high-quality afterschool and summer programs for students in grades 2-5 who are below grade level and come from families that cannot afford a paid afterschool enrichment or tutoring program. The curriculum utilizes an innovative blend of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) and literacy to help improve each child’s academic standing, all in a safe and supportive environment. The primary focus of the afterschool program is academic enrichment through project-based, hands-on, and engaging curriculum. Transportation and a snack are provided.
Visual Art Educator
This is one of several blog posts in 2018 that include stories of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Phase 7 Teacher Leaders and Teaching Artist Leaders. This series includes a set of questions so you can learn a little bit about each leader. CLICK HERE for more information on MALI. CLICK HERE for more information on the 93 Teacher Leaders and 8 Teaching Artist Leaders. CLICK HERE for Arts education resources. CLICK HERE for the MALI Resource Bank. Search in the “search archives” box on the bottom right side of this post for past teacher leader stories. Thank you Adele for sharing your story!
Seven of Adele Drake’s 20 years of teaching have been at Leonard Middle School in Old Town. She has been designing and implementing a curriculum for 300 students, in grades 6-8. In addition she serves as a buddy/advisor for 7th graders. Adele also coordinates the Operation Breaking Stereotypes Initiative and the School Garden. Adele says: “There are so many things to love about being an art educator but if I had to pick one it would have to be the fostering of critical and divergent thinking skills”.
What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?
Three keys to a successful visual arts education are the appreciation of art, the love of making things and the need to express ideas by making things.
How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?
Assessment has been helpful in my classroom in that it helps students to develop an understanding for the vocabulary of visual art. It also helps students to reflect on what they have accomplished and set new goals for themselves.
What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the Maine Arts Leadership initiative?
Being involved with the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative has benefited me because I have had the opportunity of learning so much from other art teacher leaders. MALI Teacher leaders have inspired me to want to share the work I do as an art teacher with others.
What are you most proud of in your career?
I am really proud of the partnerships that I have created with various cultural institutions which has supported my art program and helped me to provide opportunities for my students.
What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?
What gets in the way of being a better teacher is usually not having enough time or money or space to do things.
What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?
One of the things I have worked really hard at is writing grants and fundraising so as to have available basic supplies for my students. It isn’t just luck or circumstance that has enabled me to raise the money to build a raised beds, a garden loom, a green house, garden shed, mosaic tile stepping stones, fencing and a water barrel collection system.
Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?
The advice that I would give teachers is that 50% of being an effective teacher is the ability to build respectful relationships with students.
If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?
If I were given $500,000 to do whatever I wanted I would use it to create an arts integrated curriculum that focused on the school garden.
Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?
If I were 94 years old I would look back and regret that I didn’t laugh more and listen more.
Farnsworth Art Museum
The Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland announces a unique opportunity: Winter Windows Project – Deadline for submission of ideas: June 1, 2018. Submission information.
Farnsworth Winter Windows is a Farnsworth Art Museum project designed to showcase the work of Maine artists in our Main Street windows through temporary installations of original artwork. The Museum seeks proposals from artists to create a site-specific installation for display in the windows of the Farnsworth Art Museum from November 23, 2018 to January 15, 2019. This initiative will add an exciting component to the downtown streetscape during the holiday months, coinciding with Rockland’s Celebration of Lights and the Farnsworth’s Share the Wonder Celebration. The finalist will received a $2,500 award, inclusive of all expenses involved in the project.
Who Can Apply
Individuals, or teams of artists in Maine are eligible to apply for participation. Participants must be 18 years or older. All media will be considered. The project invites submissions from artists including but not limited to architects, filmmakers, graphic designers, painters, photographers, sculptors, textile designers, and woodworkers. Artists may submit proposals individually or as a group. One submission per artist, please.
Proposals
Proposals should include a one-page written description of the concept for the work, including dimensions and materials; one to three sketches of the proposed work (e.g. front view, detail); and one-page artist resume. Artist teams may submit a single-page resume for each team member. The entire proposal, consisting of the description, sketches and resume(s) must be submitted as a PDF document. Sketches must accurately represent the work proposed; works not accurately represented may be disqualified. Entries should be complete by June 1, 2018. The finalist will be informed by August 1, 2018.
The Space
The Main Street window space is 82 inches high by 464 inches wide and 36 inches deep. The space comprises the four pairs of windows to the immediate right of the Farnsworth Administrative entrance, directly on Main Street.
VIEW and DOWNLOAD a schematic of the space.
Review
Proposals will be reviewed by Michael K. Komanecky, Farnsworth Chief Curator; Anneli Skaar, Farnsworth Creative Director; and Tom Weis. Weis is a designer, educator and cofounder of Steel House in Rockland. Weis holds a master’s degree in industrial design from the Rhode Island School of Design, where he also teaches. His work has appeared in the Cooper Hewitt National Design Museum, Time Magazine and The New York Times.
The jury will announce the winning entry on August 1, 2018
Installation
The finalist will meet with Farnsworth staff in August to see the Main Street window space, and to discuss installation requirements and parameters, including the schedule. The finalist is responsible for delivering and installing the work in the Main Street windows, and for removing the work following the end of the project. If there are any substantial changes to the work during fabrication, including those that do not conform to the accepted proposal or space limitations, the finalist must consult with the Farnsworth curatorial staff. Works that differ markedly from the proposal submitted may be disqualified from the project. Installation will take place from November 13-21, 2018, and will be unveiled on November 23.
PLEASE NOTE:
Although proposals in all mediums are encouraged, thorough consideration should be taken to the fact that this is a temporary installation. Please use common sense in submitting designs with minimal impact on the space and that can be easily be removed at the end of the display period. If you have questions regarding limitations, please feel free to direct them to the email on this page. Submissions that are deemed unrealistic or potentially harmful to the space will not be considered.
If you have any questions about program participation, please EMAIL.
University of Maine – Farmington
MORE INFORMATION
Full listing of summer TECHNOLOGY COURSES.
Fabulous learning opportunity
Over 70 PK-12 arts educators and Teaching Artists traveled to Oxford Hills High School in late March to attend the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative conference. The workshops varied greatly and participants had the opportunity to attend three during the day.
Thank you to the Oxford Hills visual and performing arts staff and administrators for providing the space for the conference. One week before the conference we learned that their workshop day turned into a teaching and learning day due to the many snow days. We are grateful that they were still able to make it happen.
Kris Bisson, Kate Smith, Brian Evans-Jones
A huge THANK YOU to visual arts teachers Cindi Kugell and Samantha Armstrong for all of their attention to detail.
Thank you to the following who offered workshops:
Amanda Huotari
In the middle of the day we had the fabulous opportunity to work with and learn from Teaching Artist Amanda Houteri from Celebration Barn Theater.
Participants during Amanda’s session
In June there will be an opportunity for teaching artists. PK-12 arts teachers and teaching artists will have an opportunity to apply to be a leader. Watch the blog and weekly email to learn more.
Dr. Katie Rybakova and Thomas College pre-service teachers
Jan Gill and Jenni Null
Kris Bisson and Brian Evans-Jones presenting
Tom Luther presenting
Mandi Mitchell
Samantha Armstrong and Linda McVety
Teaching artists Tim Christensen, Tom Luther, and Brian Evans-Jones
Portland Stage
Portland Stage received a Maine Arts Commission Arts Learning Grant for the 2017-18 school year. Recently I had the pleasure of visiting Lincoln Middle School in Portland where teaching artists from Portland Stage were on site working with grade 8 students. When I walked in I remembered instantly of how much I love teaching middle school. I’m so fortunate to have had this opportunity to see Portland Stage and middle schoolers ‘in action’.
Students shouted out at one another in their best Shakespeare voices: “I do not like your faults.” They attempted to beat their partner with words, to manipulate and convince them. The only rules in one of the word games: 1) be safe 2) gotta win as they learned about understanding Shakespeare. I was impressed with the engagement of the students and wowed by the teaching artists techniques. What a great way to learn about persuasive language.
Portland Stage Teaching Artists: Khalil LeSaldo, Hannah Cordes, Chris Holt, Ella Mock
Portland Stage provides excellent and age appropriate learning opportunities for these young adolescents. Thanks for your good work Hannah Cordes, Portland Stage Education Manager and the other teaching artists working at the school (and in the theatre): Chris Holt, Ella Mock, Khalil LeSaldo, and Megan Tripaldi.
The following information was provided by Hannah Cordes.
Describe the work you’ve been doing with Lincoln Middle School students.
Every year, we bring the Directors Lab Shakespeare School Tour program to the 7thand 8th grade students at Lincoln Middle School. Students watch a shortened adaptation of a Shakespeare play performed by professional actors and then are invited to explore the story and language of the play themselves in interactive workshops in their classrooms. In these workshops, students practice effective communication, creative collaboration, rhetoric, and critical analysis. Directors Lab puts Shakespeare’s language into the hands and mouths of the students, empowering them to be the artists, directors, and ensemble with the power to interpret the text and produce meaning. We also work with the 6th grade students at Lincoln Middle school through our winter show. This year, 6th grade students came to Portland Stage to see our mainstage production of It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play, adapted by Joe Landry. Prior to the performance, we did pre-show workshops in their classrooms with a focus on the play’s story arc and character development, particularly exploring the theme of how an individual can impact an entire community. We find that these workshops enhance student ownership over the language and story of the play. Additionally, many Lincoln students also participate in our In-Theater programming, through camps, after school classes, and other programming.
What language do you hope impacts these students and what language do you want them to walk away with?
Chris Holt, teaching artist
I hope that our work helps students realize how brilliant they are at understanding and bringing Shakespearean language (and any complicated or dense language, for that matter) alive. The workshops are designed to empower students to feel a connection to the language by using their bodies, voices, and ideas to explore the text.
In terms of specific language, I would love for each student to come away knowing at least one line of text from Julius Caesar. In her feedback, Language Arts teacher Antona Bailey remarked that students were quoting the lines from the play that we used in contrapuntal arguments on the bus! So I would call that a success!
What do you want the learners to remember in the near and/or far future?
The goal of our programming is to enhance literacy and to empower students to be brave with their creativity, so that is always my number one hope of any given program. More simply than that, I hope that Portland Public School students look back on their Portland Stage experiences from K-12th grade and feel connected to art in a meaningful way. I hope that our programming inspires them to seek out theatre and other art forms, as both audience members and artists themselves. I hope that the access to art provided by Portland Stage programming will help shape future generations into people who appreciate and value artistic expression as a means of understanding and investigating the world.
What are the greatest benefits of the work with Lincoln Middle School students/staff?
Hannah Cordes
What I love most about our work with Lincoln Middle School students/staff is that we are able to continue to build relationships and build upon the work that we do both with teachers and students. We interact with students all three years of their Middle School experience, with the intent to build upon the work we have done the previous year. In 6thgrade, we focus on the elements of storytelling (characters, theme, plot, etc.) and how to bring that alive using your voice, body, and imagination. In 7th grade, we engage students with Shakespeare (often their first experience of Shakespeare’s work) through the lens of creative collaboration, exploring how to tell stories as an ensemble. Then in 8th grade, we explore Shakespeare again, this time with a focus on rhetoric and critical analysis, investigating how to make an argument, how theatre engages with its audience, and how the audience/actor interpretation impacts the content of a play. With teachers, I am grateful for the relationships we have created with Lincoln teachers. This allows us to find more and more ways in which Portland Stage can continue to support classroom teachers and how we can make our work even more impactful to teachers and students alike.
STUDENT FEEDBACK
TEACHER FEEDBACK
NOTE: In the fall I posted a series of blog posts on Portland Stage. You can access the series by typing in Portland Stage in the “search archives” box located on the right side of the blog.
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