Sweetland Arts – Hope
Archive for March, 2019
Aroostook County
March 18, 2019Celebrating YAM
For many years the Aroostook County art teachers, all part of the Northern pARTners, have collaborated for a Youth Art Month celebration. This year is not different – they have put together an exhibit at the Aroostook County Mall. The artists’ reception was on March 8 and the room was packed. Thank you to the Aroostook County Art Teachers for your commitment to this annual art show and the good work you do everyday across The County!
The exhibition in Aroostook County Mall runs from March 1 through March 31, 2019.
Who participates in the Northern pARTners?
- Jane Hutchison – Easton Schools, Kindergarten to High School
- Beth Cummings – MSAD #45/Washburn, Elementary
- Ellyn Whitten-Smith – MSAD #1/Presque Isle High School
- Julie Nadeau – MSAD #1/Presque Isle Middle School
- Lena Tingley – RSU #39/Caribou Elementary and Middle
- Jessica Goodwin – Caribou High School
- Ruth McAtee – MSAD #1/Presque Isle Elementary
- Stacy Ramsey – MSAD #70/Hodgdon, Kindergarten to High School
- Susan Beaulier – MSAD #32/Ashland, Kindergarten to High School
- Theresa Cerceo, , Sonya Michaud – MSAD #33/Frenchville & St.Agatha
- Wanda Jackins – MSAD #42/Mars Hill, Pre K to High School
- Anderson, B. Brissette, J. Sandstrom, K. Davenport – Caswell Elementary
- Sarah Love- EUT/Connor
- Joanna Doughty- MSAD #20/Fort Fairfield
- Jessica Goodwin-RSU #39/Limestone
- Classroom elementary and middle school teachers – Union 122/Woodland Consolidated
Is the student artwork from particular schools or grades?
There is a large assortment of artwork that range from Pre Kindergarten to 12th Grade. There are approximately 300 to 350 students who participated in displaying their work.
Exhibit March 8th to March 30; where is it?
Aroostook Centre Mall – 830 Main St, Presque Isle, ME 04769.
Across the Label Shopper store inside the mall
How was artwork chosen?
The teachers’ selected the best works from their classes.
Where and what time can people view the exhibit?
Monday to Saturday’s: open 10 am – 8 pm, Sunday: 11 am – 5 pm
Where was the March 8 reception?
The reception was at the mall. Each school invites the artist and their family to celebrate their success.
In Today’s News
March 17, 201940 Maine high school’s competed
READ about it in today’s Portland Press Herald – Maine high school jazz fest red hot and cool!
Careers in Art Series for Kids
March 17, 2019Folk Art Studio at Fiber and Vine
The fourth children’s workshop in the Careers in Art Series for Kids, Felt-Stitch-Weave will be led by Kimberly Hamlin at The Folk Art Studio at Fiber and Vine, 402 Main Street in Norway on Saturday, April 13th. This workshop series is designed to expose children to the myriad of processes and professions for visual artists and aims to open pathways for kids to consider making as a worthwhile activity and even imagine a dream that becomes a viable profession one day. For this workshop, please register by April 6th.
Workshop Description: Learn to use fiber in all sorts of ways! We’ll begin by combining colorful wool roving, wool locks, silk fibers and yarn to create our own fabric. We will then use simple hand stitching techniques to embellish our projects. Students can choose to fold their fabric into a wallet/pouch or keep it flat as a wall hanging, either way everyone will go home with a 100% unique piece of fiber art! In between tasks, kids can take a break and try weaving on Kim’s community loom project. This piece will be finished and on display at Cafe Nomad, 450 Main Street, Norway, ME during the month of June.
Kim Hamlin is a fiber artist, designer and dancer living in Western Maine. Kim co-owns and manages Fiber & Vine, a spacious and creative fiber shop that also specializes in wine. Kim has been teaching children dance and other creative arts for over 10 years. She believes in building solid technical foundations and supporting individual creativity and expression.
The Western Maine Art Group, The Folk Art Studio, and Fiber & Vine have partnered to bring this workshop series to the Oxford Hills. Through a generous grant from The Norway Savings Bank, Oxford Credit Union, and the Rotary Club, scholarships are offered for those with financial need. Workshops cost $35 each or $10 for scholarship recipients. Workshops are currently presented for two age groups: 10 am – noon for children ages 6 – 8 and 1:00 pm – 3:00 pm for children ages 9 and up. For information, scholarship requests, and registration, contact fiberandvine.com.
A Night of Poetry
March 16, 2019Everyone welcome!
The Maine Council for English Language Arts has added a new event to its annual conference at Point Lookout: an evening of poetry at the Summit! On Thursday night, March 21 from 6:00 to 9:00 P.M. join us for an evening of poetry and conversation featuring Maine’s Poet Laureate. Enjoy a reading by Stuart Kestenbaum, connect with writers and educators, relish appetizers and beverages, and share your own poetry or a favorite poem. What a delightful way to take off the chill of a late winter evening! Cost to attend: $55.00. FOR MORE INFORMATION!
ABOUT STUART KESTENBAUM
He was the director of the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine for 27 years, where he established innovative programs combining craft and writing and craft and new technologies. He is an honorary fellow of the American Craft Council and a recipient of the Distinguished Educator’s Award from the James Renwick Alliance.
Thanksgiving (Deerbrook Editions), Prayers and Run-on Sentences
(Deerbrook Editions), and Only Now (Deerbrook Editions), and a collection of essays The View From Here(Brynmorgen Press). He has written and spoken widely on craft making and creativity, and his poems and writing have appeared in numerous small press publications and magazines including Tikkun, the Sun, and the Beloit Poetry Journal. He was appointed poet laureate of Maine in 2016. Former US Poet Laureate Ted Kooser has written “Stuart Kestenbaum writes the kind of poems I love to read, heartfelt responses to the privilege of having been given a life. No hidden agendas here, no theories to espouse, nothing but life, pure life, set down with craft and love.”
Burnt Island Summer Workshops
March 16, 2019Summer workshops
Two professional development opportunities are being offered this summer on Burnt Island. Learning on an island in Maine – waahooooooo!
- Burnt Island Workshops including Innovative Learning through Nature, Inquiry, and Mindfulness – June 25-27
- Lighthouses across the Curriculum – July 16-18, and Visual Literacy through Gouache – July 30-August 1. LEARN MORE!
Biddeford Student Exhibit
March 14, 2019March 22
I love this poster created by Rachel Brask, Class of 2021!
Joao Victor Reciting
March 13, 2019And the final call
Check out the 2019 Maine State Poetry Out Loud Champion reciting and the end of the state finals when Joao was announced as the champ on the Maine Arts Commission Facebook page.
Joao on the news on WGME TV, listen to how inspired he was by last year’s champion Allan Monga.
MALI Teacher Leader Story: Catherine Newell
March 13, 2019Music Educator
This is the last of six blog posts in 2019 that include stories of the Maine Arts Leadership Initiative (MALI) Phase 8 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 96 Teacher Leaders and 11 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 Anthony for sharing your story!
Catherine teaching
Catherine Chesley Newell is a music educator who calls herself a “Once-And-Future Elementary Music Teacher”, because that’s what she was before she had her daughter and what she plans to do again in the future. Recently Catherine said: “Right now I have the supreme joy of teaching music with small groups of children ages 2-5 at Beansprouts Early Learning Center in Freeport. From a child development standpoint, this has been the most fascinating part of my career!”
CATHERINE’S STORY
What do you like best about being a music educator?
The magic of making a song or a rhyme or a movement artful. Children’s hands become beehives or sparks or stuck in the mud. A word becomes a laugh, a shout, or a sigh. A song becomes a declaration, an adventure, or maybe a wish. Everything is transformed by imagination into what is needed in that moment. What could be better than that?
What do you believe are three keys to ANY successful visual and performing arts education?
A passion for learning and growth, delight in the success of others, and flexibility. Maybe not THE three keys, but they’re certainly my keys.
How have you found assessment to be helpful to you in your classroom?
If I don’t know where my students are, I can’t lift them up to where they want to go next. Assessment has an undeserved, negative reputation. It needs a rebrand! Assessment isn’t the problem; the problem is when some administrators and politicians think the data gathered should be used to punish educators.
What have been the benefits in becoming involved in the Maine Arts Leadership initiative?
There’s nothing like spending time with other passionate educators. I come away feeling energized and motivated and full of hope and inspiration. This has been one of the very best things I have been part of and I am so excited to continue our work.
What are you most proud of in your career?
All of the times I was afraid to try something new and did it anyway, or worked through a challenging experience. Especially if it was particularly scary (public speaking leaps to mind!) or the stakes were high. Those are the times I’ve grown the most as a person, musician, and educator.
What gets in the way of being a better teacher or doing a better job as a teacher?
There so very many misconceptions about who is and who is not a musical person or learner. I find that reshaping perception around this is challenging work!
What have you accomplished through hard work and determination that might otherwise appear at first glance to be due to “luck” or circumstances?
My transformation from a “band person” to a “little kids” person. I worked incredibly hard at the Kodály Music Institute to develop the skills I use today. I spent a good part of three years learning repertoire, solfege, pedagogy, and analyzing music. I studied until one or two in the morning every night of my summer sessions in Boston. It was wonderful and worthwhile and I loved it, but it was some of the hardest academic work I’ve ever done. It was, however, luck that landed me in a district that (despite having limited means) supported my summer study. Our local Maine Education Association chapter did a wonderful job negotiating a contract that prioritized professional development!
Look into your crystal ball: what advice would you give to teachers?
Keep growing, keep learning, but take care of yourself, too. Say no when you need to, accept help when you can, and rejoice in your achievements harder than you dwell on your disappointments. Long-term goals are wonderful to have, but the climb is a lot easier if you celebrate along the way!
If you were given a $500,000.00 to do with whatever you please, what would it be?
A good friend of mine passed away at 26 from a lifelong, chronic disease. Her greatest wish was to live long enough to get to be a music teacher. I have long thought that if I ever became fabulously wealthy, I would start a fund in her name to support music education. I think $500K would probably be a good start!
Imagine you are 94 years old. You’re looking back. Do you have any regrets?
Taking so long to join MALI, of course!
me arts ed 