What a pleasurable morning!
Last week I had 3 glorious hours with a small group of arts teachers, their administrators and a hand full of other folks dedicated to arts education including Carl Little, Carol Trimble and David Lamon.
The 2009/10 Maine Arts Teachers Fellowship Convening took place at the Farnsworth Art Museum in Rockland. The program is funded through several organizations with the lead organizations being the Maine Community Foundation, the Maine Alliance for Arts Education and on the national level the Surdna Foundation.
Nine arts educators were selected to “follow their dreams” that ranged from traveling to Ghana studying music to participating in the Split Rock Arts Program in Minnesota to study digital printing and hand embellishment. The artwork, artifacts, photographs and stories were very moving. Many brought tears to my eyes.
This is the third year for the program. The search is on for funds to continue with this valuable opportunity for Maine arts educators.
The following arts educators and their projects:
- Joanne Maloney from Wentworth Intermediate School, Scarborough studied mosaic tile production at the Mosaic Art School in Ravenna, Italy.
- Caitlin Ramsey from Massabesic Middle School, East Waterboro participated in the Conductors Institute at the New England Conservatory of Music and studied privately with mentor Frank Battisti and attended the Mid-West Clinic: an international band and orchestra conference.
- Kristin McKinlay from Edmunds Consolidated School in Washington County studied digital printing and hand embellishment at the Split Rock Arts Program in Minnesota with artist Susan Brandeis.
- Linda Phillips from Maranacook Community Middle School, Readfield traveled to Ardeche, France to study at the TASES Art Teacher workshop.
- Rebecca Bean from Cape Elizabeth Middle School traveled to Ghana, West African to study music, dance and culture.
- Shira Singer from Islesford Elementary School, Swan’s Island School studied fabric design and surface embellishment with Dorothy Caldwell at Quilting by the Lake in Syracuse, NY and she did a mentorship with Natasha Kempers-Cullen in Topsham, ME.
- Debra Susi from Warsaw Middle School and Maine Centraol Institute, Pittsfield attended the La MaMa International Symposium in Spoleto, Italy to study theater production.
- Pam and Kevin Rhein from Messalonskee Middle and High Schools, Oakland, James Bean School, Sidney, Belgrade Central School paricipated in the Choral Arts International Festival of the Aegean in Syros, Greece.
me arts ed 