Archive for the ‘Creativity’ Category

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Summer Learning

June 15, 2021

Opportunities, deep and deeper

I know that considering learning opportunities for the summer may be the last thing you wish to do after such a challenging year. Thankfully there are a variety of learning opportunities happening this summer that put your emotional needs at the top of the list. Perhaps one of the resources below will fit your needs. Don’t hesitate – dated information!

Maine Arts Education Partnership in Leadership – MAEPL is offering a summer institute, July 27 and 28, Pilgrim Lodge Retreat Center, Lake Cobbosseecontee, W. Gardiner. DEADLINE to apply: JUNE 15. Join MAEPL for Reflection & Renewal, Partnering, and Individualized Goal Setting. If you are selected you will be part of the 2021 cohort and the expectation is that you integrate your learnings in your classroom, your school community, and share with other educators in your region of Maine and beyond. Full participants will receive documentation of contact hours. There is no cost to participate in this yearlong teacher leadership program, including the 2-day Institute.

Maine Art Education Association – Summer retreat at Pilgrim Lodge, August 2-5, Lake Cobbosseecontee, W. Gardiner. Indoor and outdoor spaces to create art in a beautiful uninterrupted environment. The waterfront includes a large swimming area with kayaks, canoes, prams, and access to an island. Trails to get away from it all and a large woodland labyrinth to walk when you need to do some deep thinking. All meals and lodging, use of facility for $220. REGISTRATION OPENED YESTERDAY! You must be a member to attend.

New England Institute for Teacher Education – Earn 4.5 CEUs (the equivalent of 45 contact hours) for recertification. All courses are accepted by the Maine Department of Education.

Confronting Racism in America – starting JUNE 21

Starting JULY 5

Engaging Digital Learners

Google Suite 101 for Educators

Promoting Social & Emotional Learning 

Educating Gifted and Talented Learners

Encountering the Arts: Voice, Choice and Creativity

Engaging Literature for Children and Adolescents K-12

When Trauma Comes to School

Best Practices in Teaching Literacy

Teaching Children of Poverty: Why Culture Counts

Black Authors Matter

Teaching the Exceptional Child in the Regular Classroom

Introduction to Education for Paraprofessionals

Managing Classroom Behavior

The Art of Education University – Perhaps you’d like to work totally independently this summer. The Art of Ed offers a ton of resources for you to do just that. Here are some of the readings/podcasts that you can access. Perhaps make yourself a schedule and tackle one topic a week. They have many more on their website.

10 Art Teachers Reflect on a Year of Challenges and New Opportunities

Why We Need SEL Right Now

5 Effortless Adaptive Art Strategies That Won’t Compromise Your Curriculum

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Maine Art Ed Summer Retreat

June 14, 2021

Registration opens TODAY

MAEA Summer Retreat/Conference at Pilgrim Lodge
​
Creating on Cobbossee

August 2 – August 5

Cost: $220 (Includes room and board)
* NOTE – Your membership must be updated for the 2021-2022 membership year in order for your registration to be considered  complete. Click HERE to register as an MAEA member for 2021-2022. Membership runs from June 1st to May 31st annually.
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​Registration opens TODAY: June 14th at 7 a.m. (Registration is limited to 100 people!​)

Registration link HERE will be active JUNE 14, TODAY, at 7 a.m.

Greetings fellow Art teachers! Do you feel like this year has dragged all the life out of you and you need to give yourself a break from the grind? Do we have an opportunity for you! Starting on Monday, August 2 – Thursday, August 5, you can join about 100 of your closest Art teaching friends on the shores of beautiful Lake Cobbosseecontee for glorious uninterrupted Art making!

 The site is Pilgrim Lodge, which has a boardwalk connecting 18 cabins, a dining hall, a main lodge, and several woodland trails. The cabins can house 6 people and also have screened porches. Each cabin has bunks, a bathroom and shower. 

The waterfront includes a large swimming area with kayaks, canoes, prams, and access to an island. You may also bring your own gear. 

There are many indoor spaces for setting up your art practice and lots of trails to get away from it all.
There’s even a large woodland labyrinth to walk when you need to do some deep thinking.

Pilgrim Lodge is 20 minutes from Augusta and one hour north of  Portland. We will not be offering workshops but hope that everyone will be comfortable making art on their own. Our desire is to make this a yearly event in addition to the Fall conference at Haystack. The cost is $220 which includes meals, lodging, gorgeous sunsets over the lake, and just a few mosquitoes. Check out www.pilgrimlodge.org for more information about the site. Pilgrim Lodge has a no alcohol, recreational drugs, or smoking policy and we intend to honor this during our stay there. Please plan accordingly. We hope that you will consider joining us in this exciting endeavor to create some great new memories, friendships, and ART. 
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Sincerely, 
your friends and colleagues at the MAEA

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Congressional Art Awards

June 13, 2021

Congratulations go to Lewiston and Portland students

In an academic year that was largely defined by remote learning and minimal social gatherings, twelve high school art students welcomed some exciting news from Maine’s Congresswoman Chellie Pingree and Congressman Jared Golden. 

Representatives Pingree and Golden announced the winners of this year’s Congressional Art Competition: Baxter Academy senior Elwen Bernard of Maine’s First District, and Lewiston High School sophomore Whitney Perkins of Maine’s Second District.

Benard’s illustration Passport Photo, and Perkins’ photograph Curious, will be displayed in the Cannon Tunnel of the U.S. Capitol for the entire year, alongside winning artists from districts across the country. The winners are flown to Washington, D.C. in June for the official opening of the show.

“Every year, the sheer talent of Maine student artists blows me away, and this year’s Congressional Art Competition was no exception. Art offers a great outlet through tough times. I’m thrilled to see that students are still connected with their artistic processes after a year of unknowns and immense change,” said Congresswoman Pingree. “Elwen’s piece is poignant and stunning, and I’m sure that it will stand out when it’s on display at the Capitol. My thanks to all the students who participated this year—It is an honor to view your work.”

“I had high hopes for the submissions we’d receive for this year’s Congressional Art Competition, but the students really went above and beyond,” said Congressman Golden. “This contest is a great showcase of the insight and skill of Maine students, and it’s an annual reminder of how fortunate we are to have so many talented young artists in our state. Congratulations to all of our winners and thank you for making our district proud.”

The submitted artwork was judged by a panel of jurors selected by the Maine Arts Commission.  Jurors Juliet Karelsen and Breehan James judged the First District competition.

 The jurors noted in Benard’s Passport Photo, “we encounter a real person whose strength, warmth, honesty, vulnerability and soul come through the finely layered and textured colored pencil markings….It exudes an inner life and an unassuming presence. It speaks loudly in its quiet expressiveness and subtly.”

Jurors Carolyn Wallace-Zani and Teddi-Jann Covell judged the Second District competition.

In Perkins’ Curiosity, the jurors noted the variety and repetition of lines, shapes, tones, and values repeatedly directing the viewer through the nearly empty bus and back again to the young child while confirming her feelings of isolation, uncertainty, and curiosity. “This piece has a strong composition, is well presented and timely. Her backwards glance caught us looking into the now common life of all students around the world during this pandemic. Even though the mask hides a smile, it cannot mask the inquisitiveness of youngsters.”

The judges honored the works of twelve Maine students in total.

First District:  Winner: Elwen Benard of Baxter Academy. First Runner Up: Fiona Jason of Baxter Academy, Second Runner Up: Kaitlyn Sawicki of Freeport High School. Honorable Mention: Della Huntley of Baxter Academy. Honorable Mention: Alexis Milem of Thornton Academy. Honorable Mention: Kaylee Demers of Falmouth High School.

Second District: Winner: Whitney Perkins. First Runner Up: Sophia Carson of Edward Little High School, Second Runner Up: Ella Shaffer of Rangeley Lakes Regional School. Honorable Mention: Lexi Bachelder. Rangeley Lakes Regional School. Honorable Mention: Ruoxuan Zhang of Lee Academy, Honorable Mention: Addaline Hemmingway of Rangeley Lakes Regional School.

Click here to view student’s artwork in a virtual gallery

The Congressional Arts Competition was started in 1982 to honor the arts and talents of students nationwide. The Maine Arts Commission works closely with Congresswoman Chellie Pingree’s and Congressman Jared Golden’s offices to administer the program. The Arts Commission also partners with the Maine College of Art (MECA) and the National Scholastic Art and Writing Awards to help with the process of selecting the artwork. Two art professionals from each district are chosen to jury artwork from that district. It is “blind” jurying in which the judges only see the title, size and medium of each piece. This year they convened online to review and discuss digital images to decide. Placements are first, second, third and then three honorable mentions.

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Broadways Back

June 12, 2021

Didja hear the news?

This is 6 minutes of fun with Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jimmy Fallon.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Bx8RKOSLIyI

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A Woman and Her Dog

June 9, 2021

Finn, the dog

Yes, Finn is a dog who is dressed up or dresses up and helps his owner re-create paintings. Fun and funny, Finn is an Australian Shepherd who is quite obviously patient and tolerant and his artist friend and owner Artist Eliza Reinhardt must have a great sense of humor. She started creating these works of art at the beginning of the pandemic and has not stopped. You can follow her and her 3-year old Finn on Instagram. Need a smile I highly recommend checking out these photos and by all means share them with your students (of all ages). I intend to next week with my learners. Check out the rest of the story at THIS LINK. I do wonder if Eliza has met William Wegman?! Hmmm…

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D-Day

June 7, 2021

Performance

Each of us holds meaning about pieces of history in different ways and for different reasons. My mother’s birthday was yesterday, she would have been 103 years old. She died at age 97. She and my dad had an amazing story which included D-Day. My parents were very patriotic, perhaps it was because my father landed at Omaha Beach after fighting in Africa and Sicily as part of the Army’s Big Red One. His story continued on from the beach for several months. My mother was proud that she shared her birthday with D-Day having volunteered in WWII helping with the wounded soldiers when they returned to the states.

We talk about performances and the meaning behind the stories. When I saw this performance by Sam Elliott I knew that I had to share it on the blog. It’s Ray Lambert’s story but its also everyone’s story who fought in the war. The performance of Sam Elliott sharing Ray Lambert’s story is the finest kind of performance, in my opinion.

In remembrance of D-Day Actor Sam Elliott shares the story of 98-year-old D-Day survivor Ray Lambert who landed on Omaha Beach. Sgt. Ray Lambert is a highly-decorated combat medic who landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944. He survived along with his brother who also landed on the Normandy beaches on D-Day. This talk was given at the 30th National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C. in 2019.  

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Dill Pickles Rag

June 5, 2021

Charles L. Johnson

Kristen Mosca shares “Dill Pickles Rag” by the great Charles L Johnson. Kristen has played the piano since she was 9 years old and fell in love with Ragtime as a teenager. This song was a hit in 1906 and it was the second rag song to sell over a million copies after Scott Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag”. 

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MAEA Conference

June 4, 2021

Re-stART: MAEA 2021 Fall Conference- September 17-18, 2021

The Maine Art Education Association (MAEA) Fall Conference is being planned after a year without it and after the struggles we have all faced with the pandemic. This will NOT be held at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts as they are still working on a reopening plan. MAEA is planning a full return for 2022. Instead, this fall MAEA is offering an in-person “satellite” conference at several venues, studios, and locations throughout the state. This will be a two-day event, in small groups, with 18 studio offerings! The conference will run from 8am-5pm during those two days. Room and Board will not be offered for most studios, however with so many locations, you may be able to find one close, or experience some of the great hospitality Maine has to offer. This does cut down on the conference cost significantly though as well!  

The theme of the fall conference is Re-stART. With the worst of the covid crisis hopefully behind us and the acknowledgment of many social disparities, we are looking forward, using the silver linings and new understandings we have learned to continually improve our practice, our wellbeing, and our social interaction.  We see this as something of a new beginning, a chance to make systemic changes and to highlight the best of mankind and of ourselves. This is an opportunity for us to make the changes we know can improve the structures we have found ourselves in. A chance to “Re-stART”. While not all workshops will focus on this theme, we hope it is something we can all reflect on as we begin a new school year this fall. Join MAEA this fall to learn a new craft, refine an old one, and/or develop art making skills with fellow arts educators! 

Registration opens July 1st at 7:00 AM. Make sure to read the descriptions thoroughly for locations, recommendations, and other applicable fees (specifically for those that offer room and board). If you’re not a member of MAEA now is the time to become one so you can participate in the conference.

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MAEPL

June 2, 2021

Invitation to Arts Teachers and Teaching Artists

Join us for a great opportunity! The Maine Arts Commission invites arts educators and teaching artists to be a part of the Maine Arts Education Partners (MAEPL) in Leadership Summer Institute on July 27 and 28, held this year at beautiful Pilgrim Lodge on Cobbosseecontee Lake in West Gardiner. Arts Educators and Teaching Artists from across the state will come together to reflect, collaborate, address emerging needs in Arts Education and leave with an individualized plan tailored to the needs in their programs, schools, communities or regions. MAEPL teaching artists and educators:

  • Share ideas
  • Collaborate
  • Advocate
  • Amplify student and teacher voice
  • Commit to life-long learning
  • Inspire and become inspired
  • Educate through high quality effective teaching and learning
  • Make connections
  • Enrich lives through the Arts

Feel isolated or overwhelmed? Long for like-minded people with whom you can share your passion for the Arts and Arts Education? Wish you could have more impact within your school, community or state? We can help. Become a part of the MAEPL family today, now over 120 people strong. 

For more information ….

Flyer: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JhlIzjXCdlvPXd8ldpkFoBf5Xe8DNvzc/view

More details:https://docs.google.com/document/d/10kpE9SMgUuATjHPQ0GIBoRRLn5sN4Rv1Azvyi8mya2c/edit?usp=sharing

Application form: https://forms.gle/WDX8yerfjeBUe6a46

Posted in Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Leadership, Opportunity, Professional Development, VPA | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Art and Writing Collaboration

June 1, 2021

Amazing project

Secretary Bellows hosts student artists and their artwork at office

AUGUSTA – On Wednesday, Secretary of State Shenna Bellows hosted student artists from King Middle School in Portland and Sweetland School in Hope, Maine-based artist Rob Shetterly and Assistant House Majority Leader Rachel Talbot Ross of Portland for a viewing of the students’ artwork and poetry on display in the Secretary of State’s main office.

The students made the artwork in partnership with Americans Who Tell the Truth, a non-profit arts and education organization founded to foster and inspire a profound sense of citizenship in students.

“Challenging young people to think deeply about the world and their place in it through art and poetry is a wonderful project and we’re honored to display it,” said Secretary Bellows. “I was delighted to get the chance to meet the students and hear what they learned about themselves through this project.”

Raya Luehman

“These students, some of them immigrants, are all well aware that this country has struggled to live up to its own ideals and struggled to infuse its laws with justice, so for them to meet Shenna Bellows and Rachel Talbot Ross who are dedicated to making those ideals real for everyone and making all of our laws just, was an incredible thrill,” said Shetterly, an artist whose portrait project became Americans Who Tell the Truth. “The students went home with new respect for Maine government and what they can do as citizens.”

“I was honored to spend time with students from King Middle School and Sweetland School alongside Secretary Bellows and Rob Shetterly,” said Talbot Ross, a legislator from Portland who represents the district that includes King Middle School. “I was really inspired by the words, the artwork and the level of engagement from the students in examining the lives of people who have been dedicated to truth and justice. It’s clear these students will carry on our legacy in years to come.”

Several of Shetterly’s portraits hang in both Secretary Bellows’ and Rep. Talbot Ross’s offices in the State House Complex.

The art will be on display on the second floor of the Nash School Building, which houses the Secretary of State’s main office, at 103 Sewall Street in Augusta through next week.

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