Archive for the ‘Media Arts’ Category

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Fall High School Musicals

November 10, 2024

Ahhhhh, ’tis the season

I love attending the high school musicals in the fall. It never fails, I walk away every time thinking, WOW, I am so impressed that high schoolers rise to the level of a great performance. Many of the actors are not new to the stage yet others are just beginning. As you know – the voices, costumes, set, acting, make up, lights, sound, and music are all critical components of the final performance. I am aware that bringing together all of the pieces can be very challenging. When the curtain goes up most people in the audience are not aware of what it takes to create the fall musical. Schedules, illness, grades, transportation, a willingness and commitment from everyone involved (students and adults), and other factors contribute. I was fortunate to have first hand knowledge helping some with middle school plays and again when my own sons were in high school, one on stage and the other on tech I supported in many ways. They both were part of community theatre as well. The commitment that students and staff and parents contribute is enormous. At some level it is collaboration at its VERY best. Perhaps our community (and beyond) leaders should take a close look at theatre programs.

I know that some (perhaps many) will not agree with me when I say IF we could only have one discipline of visual and performing arts education in schools, I’d pick Theatre, every time. Think about it – visual arts students work on the design of the stage, set, program, and costumes. Music students play in the pit band and on stage singing. Dance students are moving. Media Arts students are creating the sound and lights. Theatre students are center stage. I especially love it when the hesitant students are needed to take on a part and right in front of our eyes they grow into the role.

Why do I feel strongly about every student being involved in the theatre program? Besides involving all the arts disciplines it allows learners to literally and figuratively move to the edge (of themselves and the stage). It encourages them to take a chance and challenge themselves. Throughout the “play” process they engage in problem solving and improvising. Let us not forget the literature they are learning, not by reading script and keeping it inside, but speaking and putting into action the words and lines and story. They synthesize, analyze, ideating as the play formulates over a period of months. The story builds within each participate as they learn their positions and parts. Without the others on stage with them it doesn’t come to fruition. They depend on each other to help provide what the audience sees, hears, experiences and in the end hopefully, appreciates. The climax is the applause and perhaps a standing ovation that helps them realize, all the time and commitment they’ve made IS appreciated and worth it! I can tell when I look into their faces during the curtain call, the pride is evident. Sitting in the audience is me smiling from ear to ear. Even though I may not know the actors, musicians, dancers, and artists who made it happen, I can feel their pride.

Whether you have children of your own in high school or not I encourage you to find out when and where the plays in your area are scheduled. Don’t let another fall musical season pass without attending at least one. Below are some listed (some have passed) that I am aware of at this time. If you’d like one added to the list please email me (Argy Nestor) at meartsed@gmail.com.

  • Medomak Valley High School, Waldoboro, Guys and Dolls, last performance today, November 10, 2:00. Learn more!
  • Camden Hills Regional High School, Strom Auditorium, Into the Woods, November 15, 16, 17, 22, 23, 24. Learn more!
  • Freeport High School, Mamma Mia, November 8 and 9.
  • Thornton Academy, Saco, Little Women, November 22-24. Learn more!
  • Falmouth High School, Mean Girls High School Edition!, October 25, 26, 27, November 1, 2, 3.
  • Oceanside High School, Rockland, Legally Blond The Musical, November 8, 9, 15, 16, 17. Learn more!
  • Mount Desert Island High School, Chicago, November 15, 16, 22, 23. Learn more!
  • Fryeburg Academy, Amelie the Musical, November 14, 15, 16. Learn more!
  • Lake Region High School, Little Shop of Horrors, January 17, 18, 19, 24, 25, 26. Learn more!
  • Mt. Ararat High School, Topsham, Our Town, December 6-8, and Spring musical Mamma Mia, March 7-9. Learn more!

Posted in Communication, Community, Creativity, Dance, Media Arts, Music, story, Technology, Theater, Visual Arts, VPA | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments »

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Visit to Rangeley

October 31, 2023

Soooo amazing!

The leaves had just started to turn their brilliant colors as I followed the windy road west to Rangeley from my home in the mid-coast. It was a warmish and beautiful day. I haven’t traveled to western Maine in a few years and surprisingly during my 13 years working for the state (Maine Department of Education, 7 years and Maine Arts Commission, 6 years), I didn’t visit the Rangeley Lakes School. (I say surprisingly because during those 13 years I visited about 450 schools.)

Sonja Johnson and Maryam Emami

I’ve know Rangeley art teacher Sonja Johnson and English teacher Timothy Straub for many years. More recently, I met Maryam Emami, graphic arts and history teacher and the 2023 Franklin County Teacher of the Year. I was excited to visit the Rangeley Lakes School and to learn more about Maryam and Sonja’s collaborative project. I shared my recently published book, Catching Fireflies, that I’ve co-authored with poet Jean Feldeisen. I learned about the community project that Sonja and Maryam have had underway for almost 10 years called Words of Wisdom. Students have made beautiful black and white photographs and collected stories from almost 100 community members. We discussed ideas on how they can move forward to complete this comprehensive historical and artistic project this school year. The lessons learned in creating Catching Fireflies have been many and I was happy to share them.

Along with the collaborative project I had a chance to learn about some of the recent engaging curriculum work Maryam had underway with students. You’ll find descriptions below of two units plus Words of Wisdom. It was fun for me to talk with students as they worked in the classroom space and the hall gallery they were creating with the completed work.

Graphics Arts

Retail Design: Part 1. The Logo-Create a fictitious company. Begin by naming it. Once the name has been selected everything else falls into place. Think of who your audience is and the company’s personality. The logo design will be most effective when the spirit of the store is clearly thought through. Keep in mind that you will be using the logo for a broad range of applications. The typographic symbol is usually, but not always, the expression of a unified design for advertising and manufacture.  It must be original and simple in form, have a very high degree of memorability, and be easily recognized and noticeable. A symbol either brings letters together to make a new form, or illustrates the product or does both. A symbol is something completely different and of higher importance than a monogram (a sign of identity usually formed by the combined initials of a name). A faulty symbol is far worse than none at all, and a bad symbol can be disastrous to a product.

Humanities II

Historical Exhibit: Students curate artifacts which can include music, visual art, videos, digital media, information about important individuals from the time/culture, and cultural/historical items in their exhibit. Artifacts should be cataloged and given museum tags. And, students should be able to act as a docent to visitors to the classroom exhibit. When designing your exhibit, consider incorporating a mix of artifacts, documents, interactive displays, and multimedia presentations to engage visitors and provide a comprehensive view of your Empire’s history and cultural heritage. The Empires are the Inca, Songhai, Ayuttyha, and the Ottomans. 

Words of Wisdom

Sonja and Maryam plan to publish a book with the information below that students have collected from almost 10 years of community members. The information supports the beautiful black and white photos students took and developed. These are older community members, at this point some of them have passed away. One student is the child of a student from 10 years ago when the project first got underway.

  • what is your full name including nickname
  • how old or young are you
  • where do you live in rangeley
  • what is your connection to rangeley how did you get here how long have you lived here
  • what was/is your occupation
  • what do you enjoy doing now
  • describe your family background
  • what are some of your interests/hobbies

Last piece: please share with us any additional details about your life or anything else you would like to share with future generations.

There is nothing more wonderful than learning about teachers collaborating in an impactful way. The information is of course, authentic and somewhat raw. I spent a few minutes reading through the answers, looking into the eyes of the portraits. I couldn’t help but wish this project could be carried out in every school in the state. This is a gift to the students who participated in so many ways. They’ve had a chance to learn about the individuals (in some cases relatives), to learn the history through the lives of community members, and to reflect on who they are as young people because of the people who live in their own community. Very, very powerful work! I look forward to holding the book in my hands in the future.

I’ll let you know when the project is complete. Good luck to Maryam and Sonja and to the students as they move to complete this gift to the community!

If you’d like to purchase my book Catching Fireflies it is available at THIS LINK.

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Media Arts, Research, Resources, YAHOO | Tagged , , | 2 Comments »

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Amazing

July 11, 2023

AI

I think the video embedded below was a Coca-Cola commercial for this year’s Super Bowl; yup, back in February 2023. I don’t know exactly how it was created but Artificial Intelligence, AI was part of it. This came out about the same time that I started to see more information and reading about AI. Some people closest to my circle were concerned, and still are, about the negative impact AI might have on education, learning (or the lack of), creativity, and originality. I find it difficult to take a stand, for or against. For me there is too much grey area on the topic. Take this commercial, for example. I’m guessing that we can all agree that it is well done on all levels, creative and inspiring. It includes many known art works. An entire lesson could be formed around or built on the idea. An integrated lesson for music and visual art and actually many subject areas.

One comment from someone in the advertising community said: “that’s the proper way to use ai stuff. not to make the entire content, but to work alongside traditional methods”. I do agree!

I dug a little to learn about it and this is what I found: The new campaign from Coca-Cola features a combination of film, 3D, and Stable Diffusion, which is deep learning, text-to-image AI model. Traditional production methods coupled with artificial intelligence will bring the next level of creativity to the advertising industry.

I suggest that as educators responsible for the arts, use this as an example of how we can utilize AI for the expansion of the creative process. What do you think?

Posted in Communication, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Media Arts, Music, Resources, Technology, Visual Arts, VPA | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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Penny’s Story

April 19, 2022

MLTI t-shirt design

This story starts with the design that was selected for the Maine Learning Technology Initiative (MLTI) conference t-shirt. But, it’s about much more than that. It’s about a 7th grader who LOVES the arts. Congratulations to Penny Graham who attends Waterville Jr. High School. Her art work, seen below, was selected to be printed on t-shirts that will be worn by Maine middle schoolers and their teachers while they attend the virtual student conference being held, May 26. Registration is open for the MLTI Virtual Conference and all grade 7 and 8 Maine students are invited to participate.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Penny recently about her design that connects with this years conference theme: Space2Connect. Before getting to the creating part Penny looked at t-shirts from past years which helped to guide her decisions. She wanted it simple so she considered ideas with space, specifically planets. She decided on one color so it could be seen and read easily. She tried different colors including pink and green but kept coming back to purple. She’s been using the digital app Procreate on her iPad for about a year so it made sense to use it for designing the t-shirt idea. In fact, she has created a video that demonstrates her knowledge and how she went about accomplishing her design. Video about using the app Procreate. Penny’s video will be included on an upcoming episode of the MLTI SLAM Show, which focuses on student leadership in technology integration. 

Penny drawing

After being on the phone with Penny for about 45 minutes I realized that I was not only speaking to a t-shirt designer by an incredible arts advocate. “The Arts are important to me. My whole life I’ve always loved doing music and art because they’re my passions. I’ve done art clubs, I draw a lot, I played a little saxophone, guitar, and the recorder. This year I can see myself improving.”

In addition Penny loves to write, narratives and some poetry. She’ll often learn something while writing in school and goes home and practices what she’s learned. She’s had several different learning opportunities in the arts. “I love doing art with materials and using my hands and getting dirty. It is such fun.” She enjoys pen and ink, sketching, water color, rock painting and pottery. Penny also loves creating with digital tools because “I can change the design quickly and the process goes much smoother.“

The arts rotate through the schedule for students at Waterville Jr. High and as a 7th grader she doesn’t have visual art but she does have music. She selected the violin which she played when she was younger and is happy to return to it. She enjoys playing in the school orchestra and likes the performances.  

She also loves theatre and has participated in the Sound of Music and Nobody Believes in Fairies which was written by one of the school’s 6th English teachers. She’s excited about the musical coming up this spring called Middleschool Madness. Penny says: “Theater is a really nice bonding experience. It’s a fun, social thing that I just love to do. I got to meet so many new people in the two plays I’ve been in. My theater experiences have all been really great.” 

Penny as Gretl

Penny also shared her experience of the pandemic. She was glad to have alone time to draw and bake and was able to pursue her hobbies. “I feel like without the pandemic I wouldn’t have been able to move forward that much. I feel like I could take big strokes that I wouldn’t have had time to do.”

Penny’s dad shared: “Waterville is a wonderful place for artistic and curious children like Penny.”

I’m certain that Penny has a bright future and I’m grateful to have met her and for our conversation.

Posted in Community, Food for thought, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, story, Technology, Theater, Visual Arts | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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APPLY now!

June 21, 2021

Deadline tomorrow for MAEPL

Curious about the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) program, Maine Arts Education Partners in Leadership (MAEPL)? Wonder why you should consider applying? Listen to arts educator and veteran MAEPL Teacher Leader Charlie Johnson at THIS LINK explain his reasons and the benefits that he’s experienced during his ten years of participation!

DEADLINE TO APPLY IS TOMORROW, JUNE 22, 2021! DON’T DELAY!

DETAILS – THIS LINK

APPLICATION – THIS LINK

DOWNLOAD THE BROCHURE that contains all the information you need!

maepl-web-brochure-2021.b-1Download

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Dance, Food for thought, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, Opportunity, Professional Development, Resources, Standards, Technology, Theater, Visual Arts, VPA, YAHOO | Tagged , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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Arts Education Month

March 2, 2021

YAHOOOOO and Happy Arts Education Month!

I know this March is a bit different than other years but we as visual and performing arts educators still have important work to do – celebrating and raising up the voices of our students in the arts. The creative minds of arts educators are serving you well, as you plan and implement a way to recognize the accomplishments of your students in the arts. CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU to all the educators who provide an excellent arts education and access to it for learners of all ages. I know that you are proud of your students and I encourage you to take advantage of this month designated to celebrate arts education. Whether you do it in a small or large way, please let me know about the work you are doing so I can include your story on this blog. Your good ideas should be shared so others can learn from you! I appreciate your ongoing commitment to providing THE BEST visual and performing arts education!

Take advantage of Arts Education Month to engage others in the conversation of why a quality arts education is essential for all students. Use the Commissioner of Education Pender Makin’s message, posted on this blog yesterday, to help others understand what we know to be important.

If you’re looking for resources each of the national professional organizations below have a plethora of information on their websites. Check them out and consider becoming members to support their good work.

NAEA

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The National Art Education Association has been celebrating Youth Art Month since the 1960’s. Check out what NAEA has to offer on the topic. The purpose of YAM is to emphasize the value to children from participating in visual art education. 

CFAE

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The Council for Art Education provides tons of resources to help you plan. They have ideas on their site that teachers and students are engaged in across the country. The ideas range from school based to community, both large and small. You can sign up for their free newsletter and receive information on a regular basis.

NAfME

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The National Association for Music Education has been recognizing Music in Our Schools Month since 1985. The idea started in 1973. You can learn what NAfME has to offer on MIOSM by CLICKING HERE. The purpose of MIOSM is to raise awareness of the importance of music education for all children – and to remind citizens that schools is where all children should have access to music.

EDTA

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The Educational Theatre Association and the International Thespian Society and the American Alliance for Theatre & Education (AATE) all provide resources for theater educators. Their resources are directed towards Thespians, schools, and educators. The purpose is to raise public awareness of the impact of theatre education and draw attention to the need for more access to quality programs for all students.

NDEO

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The National Dance Education Organization celebrates the artistic and academic achievements of exceptional students through the National Honor Society for Dance Arts (NAHSDA) by teaming up with the US Department of Education during March. Learn more about their advocacy work by CLICKING HERE.

As you’re contemplating your March celebration checking out a blog post from the past with more resources. CLICK HERE

AFTA

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Americans for the Arts envisions a country where everyone has access to—and takes part in—high quality and lifelong learning experiences in the arts, both in school and in the community. Their arts education council represents a cross section of the country so all voices are represented. The Americans for the Arts website has a plethora of resources on arts education. Check them out by CLICKING HERE.

ARTS ADVOCACY DAY

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We know that arts-rich schools benefit everyone. It is our responsibility to help others who may not understand this statement. Arts Education month provides that opportunity and in the near future the Maine Alliance for Arts Education will be sharing a video of Arts Education Advocacy Day that took place on February 17, 2021.

Posted in Communication, Community, Creativity, Dance, Food for thought, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, Resources, Theater, Visual Arts, VPA, YAHOO | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

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Holiday Feast for Dogs

December 19, 2020

Toooooo funny

This needs no explanation however below it is a video that shows how they made it. 13 dogs and 1 cat and lots of humans. Can you imagine being on the set for this one?

Posted in Creativity, Food for thought, Media Arts | Tagged , | 2 Comments »

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Vincent Van Gogh

November 28, 2020

I know that traveling is out of the question at this time but I think it is important to take notice of an amazing exhibit that is traveling to the US to two locations during the next several months. Who knows, you might need to travel to one of these locations for another reason and you could visit.

It’s a multi-sensory Vincent Van Gogh exhibit with almost 3000 moving images projected giving the experience of stepping into a painting. These are “larger than life scenes”. I can’t think of any paintings that would be more appropriate to manipulate with this technology. Along with the images the exhibit is accompanied by a musical landscape running in sync with the moving displays that adds a dream-like state. Infused into the space will be the smell of flowers.

The exhibit started in Paris in 2019 and has visited 50 cities world-wide. It will open in St. Petersburg at the Dali and head to Indianapolis to The Lume the end of April where it will occupy 30,000 sq. ft. of gallery space.

If you’re interested in learning more CLICK HERE.

Posted in Food for thought, Media Arts, Visual Arts | Tagged , | Leave a Comment »

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Early Childhood Conference

December 6, 2019

Young Audiences

2020 National Conference – Young Audiences Arts for Learning. March 25-27, Nopsi Hotel, New Orleans – Arts from the Start: An Exploration of Early Childhood Learning. This year’s conference will explore timely issues around the theme of early childhood learning.

Call for Workshop Proposals
Deadline: January 15, 2020

Save the Date!

March 25-27, 2020

 NOPSI Hotel
317 Baronne St., New Orleans, LA 70112

Proposals are now being accepted for workshop sessions that address the conference theme, or relate to other priority topics as detailed in the 2020 Conference Workshop Session RFP Guidelines and Application document.

To Submit a Proposal, please download, review, and fill out the 2020 RFP Guidelines and Application document. Email the completed application form to Lauren Altschuler (lauren@ya.org) by 5:00 pm ET on January 15, 2020. Incomplete applications will not be considered. You will receive email confirmation upon receipt of your proposal.

Evaluation and Selection of workshop proposals will be completed by a Conference Advisory Committee. Lead Workshop Session Presenters will be notified via email of the final selection by February 3, 2020.

Questions? Please contact Lauren Altschuler at lauren@ya.org or 212.860.1563 ext. 107.

Stay tuned for the Official 2020 Conference Site, conference.youngaudiences.org, for the latest information, including how to book accommodations through YA’s room block at  NOPSI Hotel, where workshop sessions will be held.

Posted in Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Dance, Food for thought, Leadership, Media Arts, Music, Opportunity, Professional Development, VPA | Leave a Comment »

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National Art Ed Conference

October 30, 2019

Registration open

National Art Education Association conference, March 26-28, 21020, Minneapolis. REGISTRATION IS OPEN!

Posted in assessment, Communication, Community, Creativity, Curriculum and Instruction, Food for thought, Integration, Leadership, Media Arts, Opportunity, Professional Development, Research, Resources, Standards | Tagged , , | Leave a Comment »

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