3:30-6:00PM MAEA Art Educator of the Year Awards Ceremony
in order to celebrate quality arts education staff and programs!
This year’s conference highlights accessibility to quality fine arts programmingand offers visual art opportunities for district’s that have state certified art educators as well as for those schools without art educators. Administrators, general education teachers, and visual art educators are invited to join the MAEA Spring Conference to learn more about teaching artist programs, museum programs with access to resources, inclusive programming, and interdisciplinary programs that benefit neurodivergent students.
For schedules, workshop information, and to register for the April 27th conference,
Registration for the Youth Art Month (YAM) show at the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) has been extended until Monday, February 12th at 8:00am.
In collaboration with the Maine Art Education Association (MAEA), (PMA) is honored to present artwork made by young artists in our communities. Youth Art Month is also an opportunity to highlight the art educators in our schools and the importance of and access to quality art programs. Art educators help to inspire and empower young artists, creating avenues for young artists to express their creativity, find their voice, and cultivate communication skills.
Youth Art Month shines a spotlight on the power of art, especially for youth. We hope that this one-month-long exhibition helps to garner support and advocacy for youth art access all year round.
To learn more and register your student artwork by Monday, February 12, 8AM please CLICK HERE.
Spring MAEA Member Exhibit at the Saco Museum, “Changing Seasons”
Spring Member Exhibit at the Saco Museum, “Changing Seasons”
Whoops! I didn’t realize my mailing list was woefully out-of-date! It’s updated now, so all MAEA members should receive this email. If you’ve already received it – disregard this duplicate! I’m proud of our state association for our belief in educators as artists, and for supporting the artistic practice of our members. That’s why our Fall Conference focuses on hands-on experiences, why we have a thriving interest group (MAEA Creates!) devoted to art-making, and that’s why we have not one, but TWO Member Exhibits that allow us to share our artwork in professional venues. Our Spring Member Exhibit, “Changing Seasons”, at the Saco Museum is coming right up! The show will be up from February 10th through May 3rd, with an opening reception February 10th from 1:00-3:00 (snow date Feb 17th, same times). Participate by registering no later than January 31st at this link:
Not all of us live near Saco, however. Don’t let that stop you! We typically coordinate art shuttles to bring artwork in from other regions around the state. Want to help, or need a shuttle? Let me know!
Waterfall Arts, November 15, Open Clay Studio. Start a new project or finish something you have started. Don’t let your lack of studio equipment be an obstacle! Waterfall Arts has a well-furnished and staffed clay studio for artists of all skill levels (*must have some experience and an orientation before attending Open Studios) to drop in and work independently on their own projects. Drop-in rates are $20 for a 3-hour session. Maximum 5 artists during Open Studios. Studio Monitor, Jeremy Hollinger has a Fine Arts degree, specializing in Ceramic and Sculpture works.
Two-hour workshop, Fun with Fused Glass, Waterfall Arts, November 30, 6:00 – 8:00 pm. Students will learn how to fuse a glass wave using a 4″x4″ flat glass sheet and bits of crushed transparent glass in shades of blue and green. Your unique design will be fired to a tack fuse to create a textured, 3D work of art to be displayed on a mini easel or used in a decorative way in your home. Instructor Sharon Warren, glass artist has a BS in Marine Engineering from the US Merchant Marine Academy. LEARN MORE!
WATERVILLE
Waterville Creates is hosting an extra-special Maine Art Education Association (MAEA) meet-up on Saturday November 18th, 9:00-12:00. Bring whatever art supplies you want to play with (there will also be fun extras and goodies to try, including a communal “crankie”)! In order to participate you need to be an MAEA member. Join at THIS LINK.
Last years Waterville Creates and MAEA workshop
The following two opportunities are open to anyone.
Ticonic Gallery + Studios is offering a Ceramic Jewelry Workshop with visiting artist Martha Grover from 10:00-2:00. A delightful beginner level jewelry making workshop. Martha will lead participants step-by-step to create unique ceramic jewelry that will be fired with hand-made ceramic elements. In this one-day workshop, students will make a variety of earrings, pendants, brooches, and beads. Beginners will be given individual attention while those with more experience can work at their desired pace. LEARN MORE. Register HERE.
Greene Block + Studios will be hosting the Elm City Small Press Fest from 11:00am – 4:00pm. The Small Press Fest is a free community event that focuses on independent publishing in the Maine region. The goal of the Fest is to promote contemporary creative publishing while stimulating and promoting creative economies in the area. Don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity to browse independent publications and art prints and participate in free workshops throughout the day.
Maine Art Education Association (MAEA) Interest Group
Origin story… The MAEA LGBTQIA+ Interest Group was birthed out of conversations around supporting Queer students, coworkers, and teachers at the Spring MAEA conference. We had our first meeting in person at the end of the school year in downtown Portland, where we discussed what the group could focus on and enjoyed coloring pages. A major topic of interest at our first meeting was how to be inclusive of MAEA members across the state – not just in the Southern Maine area. An interest in alternating in person meetings with Zoom meetings was established, with a possibility of alternating in-person locations as well to allow for more involvement from rural and Northern educators.
Summer reading… The group decided to host a summer book club with a goal of both entertaining and educating at our own pace. Interest group members collated a list of possible titles, and MAEA membership was polled to choose the top 2 books.
Fall meeting… We had a small but mighty book club Zoom meeting on September 12th where we discussed Elliot Page’s memoir Pageboy and Elvin Mensah’s novel Small Joys. A takeaway we focused on was a greater understanding of the physical and emotional struggles Trans+ youth face, and our desire as educators to have safe spaces for students to figure out who they are. Our other big discussion topic was a desire to balance potentially painful reading/media with uplifting options; two talking points included queer representation in the media used to only end in grief – now that media shows more nuance, let’s include more queer joy and what positive media can we watch/read/listen to include in the classroom, but also to have as recommendations for youth who want something to read?
Looking ahead… Going to Haystack this weekend?
You are invited to keep an ear out for a small mealtime gathering to establish more goals and possible meeting times and to socialize. If you are interested in joining, or curious what we are up to, please join us! You can check in with Cory Bucknam or Philippa Adam for more information. If you won’t be at Haystack but are interested, please email Cory Bucknam or Philippa Adams.
Established at our September meeting
We want to be both a social group and a support group where folks can get creative problem solving support.
We want to share our struggles but also our joys of educating and supporting LGBTQIA+ students.
We are interested in getting nerdy and developing/curating resources for lesson plans and inclusivity in the art room.
We are interested in action and other tangible steps – we just don’t fully know what that might include yet.
We want to be inclusive of MAEA members across the state in how we structure and schedule meetings.
Thanks to Phillippa Adam, visual art teacher, Mount Desert Island High School, for writing this blog post.
At the end of the 2022-23 school year MAEA president Cory Bucknam provided several book titles for independent reading during the summer. At the next LGBTQIA+ meeting on Monday, September 11th at 5:00 over Zoom the participants will discuss these two books.
Fiction:Small Joys, Elvin James Mensah
Non-fiction:Pageboy: A Memoir, Elliot Page
The MAEA LGBTQIA+ Interest Group was Inspired by the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) LGBTQ+ Interest Group. A few passionate MAEA members wanted to create a version of that in Maine. Not all MAEA members are NAEA members, and the organization wanted to give teachers access to a group that supports those who identify as LGBTQIA+ and also help all teachers to support their LGBTQIA+ students and coworkers.
The LGBTQIA+ Interest Group will meet monthly, with virtual meetings to prevent excluding members because of geography, and possibly a few in-person meetings throughout the state for fostering connections and socializing. The LGBTQIA+ Interest Group has three main goals group:
Continue developing a vision and mission for the group
Learning for ourselves (example: the summer reading group)
Sharing learning with others (example: creating a resource page on the MAEA website)
Below, a list of books MAEA provided members.
Heart Stopper by Alice Oseman
Baby by Torrey Peters
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Late Americans by Brandon Taylor
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender
Juliet Takes a Breath by Gabby Rivera
Small Joys by Elvin James Mensah
All My Mothers Lovers by Ilana Masad
Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin
Grace Needs Space! by Benjamin Al Wilgus and Rii Abrego
The Lesbiana’s by Sonora Reyes
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas
While we’re on the topic, the state professional organization representing music educators, Maine Music Educators Association (MMEA), created this Pride statement:
As Pride Month draws to a close, MMEA shines a light on LGBTQ+ artists and music educators and all their contributions within our classrooms. While Pride is the focus during the month of June, our LGBTQ+ colleagues, students, families, and community members value representation and affirmation within the education community all year long. Thank you for continuing to create an inclusive music classroom where all individuals feel welcome.
Each Spring the Maine Art Education Association (MAEA) presents awards to individuals who are committed to quality visual art education. Some of these educators have been in the ‘trenches’ with ‘kids’, of all ages, for many years. Others are just beginning their careers, and yet others support quality art education from a distance impacting the lives of learners. Each individual is to be commended for their contributions to the profession.
At a recent ceremony each individual was honored for their service. Below are the recipients with their ceramic awards made by Carolyn Brown.
CONGRATULATIONS!
The awardees
Iva Damon, Leavitt Area High School, Turner
Kaleigh Jones, Carl J. Lamb Elementary School, Sanford
Jessica Nadeau, Boothbay Region Elementary School
Kari McCarthy, Brunswick Junior High School
Elise Pelletier, Scarborough High School, Scarborough
RSU 40, Assistant Superintendent
Pamela Moulton, North Bridgton
Abigail Newkirk, Colby College Museum of Art, Waterville
Teaching Truth, Hope, and Creativity: How the ARTS can deepen any curriculum
During the last 7 months a group of committed educators have been planning, writing grants, communicating with each other and many other educators to plan the conference being held tomorrow, November 4, at Thomas College. Those of you who have planned conferences know of the thousands of details that it takes to pull together a successful conference. Those of you who have attended education conferences know how critical they are to advancing teaching and learning.
The Teaching Truth, Hope, and Creativity conference is for all Maine educators and is supported by many organizations through funding and planning. We are fortunate to have Connie Carter, Education Director from Americans Who Tell the Truth AWTT, take the lead on many of the details. Connie is amazing and knowledgeable about what is needed to face the tough conversations in schools today. Karen MacDonald from the Maine County and State Teachers of the Year Association has been involved in planning several conferences since her retirement as a middle school Language Arts. She is great at taking on responsibilities and at asking the questions to continue moving forward in the planning. Chelsea Fay representing the Maine Math and Science Alliance has been a top notch planner and she along with her colleague at MMSA Emma Carey will be presenting a workshop at the conference. Iva Damon representing the Maine Arts Education Partners in Leadership has wowed us with her technology skills setting up the Padlet and the jam board participants will use. Hope Lord representing Maine Art Education Association has been instrumental in many of the hundreds of details. Sooooo grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with this amazing group of educators!
The conference couldn’t happen without the cooperation and generous support of many organizations. Unum, Veterans for Peace, Farnsworth Art Museum, and Kane-Lewis Productions. Thomas College is a wonderful organization to work with and has a beautiful campus. Staff member Darren has been excellent every step of the way!
The conference is scheduled for 8:45-3:00, tomorrow, November 4. We have 130 registered. If you’re interested in attending we have a few spaces available. Register at the link below OR show up at the door with cash or a check for $25.00 made out to Americans Who Tell the Truth. Included in registration is light breakfast, full lunch, an AWTT book, a padlet filled with resources, amazing workshops presented by Maine educators, access to two films: Truth Tellers and Natasha Mayers: An Un-still Life, wonderful gifts, and contact hours. There will be the opportunity to purchase the film Truth Tellers at a special conference price. Briar Patch books will have books to purchase. The door prizes are amazing!
I’m looking forward to seeing old friends at the conference and making new ones. YAY!
RSU #40 Art teachers Brooke Holland and Anthony Lufkin have been busy planning the annual Maine Art Education Association Fall Conference at Haystack Mountain School of Crafts and Monson Arts. This is the first conference being held at Haystack since September 2019, hence the theme. The conference is scheduled for September 16-18, at both Haystack and Monson locations. Registration opens on June 1 and you can prepare by reviewing the workshops that are being offered and the conference details. The cost is $295.00 (for MAEA members) and includes workshop, room, and delicious food. Some workshops have an additional materials fee. Registration opens June 1st so get ready! Studio descriptions are on the MAEA website now and are looking for volunteers to be studio assistants. If you are interested in being an assistant please respond to this google form. Assistants will be assigned on a first come first serve basis and will receive priority registration.
Workshop Sessions at Haystack
Carved Alabaster – Anne Alexander
Relief Printing: Playing with Layers – Holly Berry
Mixed Metals – Maggi Blue
Ceramics, Form & Surface – Carolyn Brown
Large-Scaler Prints – Alexis Iammarino
Digital Fabrication – James Rutter
Tapestry Weaving – Bobbie Tilkens-Fisher
Pewter Casting – Simon ‘Siem’ van der Ven
Workshop Sessions at Monson
Ceramics, Wheel-Throwing – Jemma Gascoine
Wood Engraving – Lisa Pixley
The descriptions, material lists, and facilitator biography’s for all the workshops are on the MAEA website.
Argy Nestor
Arts Educator, Blogger, Artist, Connector meartsed@gmail.com
https://sites.google.com/view/anestor/
Argy’s Blog
The purpose of this blog is to share stories about people and places; and to celebrate the amazing work (and play) that students, educators, and organizations are doing in and for arts education. In addition, the blog has a plethora of resources and innovative ideas. This forum gives blog readers the opportunity to learn from each other. It is essential that we listen, learn, and collaborate in order to build on teaching practices for the benefit of every learner in Maine and beyond.
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