Who Are They?: Schoodic Arts for All, Part 6

Intern program

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the sixth and last blog post of the series highlighting the work of Schoodic Arts for All located in Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor. This area is called Downeast Maine and Schoodic Arts for All is at the intersection of Hancock and Washington Counties. Schoodic Arts for All is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest and involvement in the arts for all who wish to participate.

A special THANK YOU to Mary Laury and Anna Woolf for providing the content for the six blog posts on Schoodic Arts for All. These posts have provided a clear picture of the depth and breath of the programming that is offered. This post is especially fascinating and I am sure you will agree once you read it that, the future is in good hands knowing the opportunities and experiences that Schoodic Arts for All provides to young people as interns.

“Interning at Schoodic Arts For All has been an incredible opportunity. During my internship (along with technical skills such as working the lights and the sound board for performances) I learned how to work collaboratively with my coworkers, how to set goals and eventually reach them, and how to positively approach problems with innovative and creative solutions. Besides looking incredible on a resumé, interning and working at Schoodic Arts has given me the experience and skills necessary to survive in any work environment because of the broad amounts of tasks I was expected to complete. Working effectively in an office environment, getting out in the community through events and programs, and working with artists from around the state have made me incredibly confident and prepared for any and all directions I might go in the future.” 

Hannah Gignoux

Schoodic Arts for engages youth in leadership roles as Junior Interns (ages 12–15) and then as (paid) Summer Interns (ages 16 – 21). Many of these interns have moved on to become very successful, including 3 who have gone on to become executive directors before reaching the age of 25.

2001-RIVERA SUN COOK, Executive Director Rising Sun Dance Theatre

Rivera Sun Cook was the very first Schoodic Arts intern. Her job description as the very first intern consisted of “moving chairs, doing everything and anything, and having fun!” She is now a successful Executive Director of her company, Rising Sun Dance Theatre, and has written two novels, “Steam Drills, Treadmills, and Shooting Stars” and “The Dandelion Insurrection.”

 

 

 

 

2003-SHELBY HOWE GREENE, Executive Director Eastport Arts Center

Shelby Howe Greene became an intern with Schoodic Arts for All, shortly after graduating from high school in 2003. After interning, she continued to return during the summers for summer programming.

After graduating from college, she began working at the Eastport Arts Center in Eastport, Maine for 3 years. She wrote grants and worked with volunteers and the community. She left the Eastport Arts Center in 2011, and eventually became an Americorps member with the Washington County Food and Fuel Alliance in 2012, and Maine Sea Coast Mission EdGE after school program in 2013. She currently operates her own cloth diapering business, The Meanie Greene on Etsy.

 

 

2004-JEFFE GREENE, Engineer

Jeffe Greene was an intern at Schoodic Arts for All in 2004 after finishing high school. He attended Maine Maritime Academy and received a degree in Engineering with a BA in Science and Technology.

2006-CHARLOTTE GUERTLER, Yale

Charlotte attended many Schoodic Arts for All festivals, and took lots of workshops before becoming an intern. Schoodic Arts for All classes have helped her become a better artist and observer, and being an intern has helped her improve her job skills. One of the most important things she learned from her internship was how to overcome her shyness.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007- BREANNA PINKHAM, Executive Director of Our Town Belfast

Breanna Pinkham was involved with Schoodic Arts for All from a very young age in workshops and performances. She joined Schoodic Steel and, shortly after, the Meetinghouse Theatre Lab. She began working as assistant and year-round helper at Schoodic Arts for All on her 21^st birthday. She began by using adobe design programs, and slowly took over graphic design and website duties as well as managing the office. She worked at Schoodic Arts for All while going to school for an undergraduate degree in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts. She became Executive Director of the Main Street program, Our Town Belfast in Belfast, Maine.

 

 

2010-LEILA SAAD, Director and Publisher, Maude Magazine

Leila has been involved with Schoodic Arts for All from a very young age. Raised in the festival, she was always involved in workshops, which eased her into becoming a staff member.

 

2011-2013-NICK RUCKER, Tech specialist

Able to sculpt and define his job, Nick Rucker was mainly involved with web design, lights and sound. He loved the freedom and macromanaged environment in the Schoodic Arts for All office. Trust was a big part of his job, being handed a task, and having the freedom to accomplish the task in his own way.

 

 

 

 

2011-OREN DARLING, Designer

Oren Darling is a Web and Graphic Design Associate for the Purdue Research Foundation, which works to improve Purdue as a world-class university by aiding in scientific investigation, research and educational studies, maintaining facilities, grounds, and equipment, and managing intellectual property. His work at Schoodic Arts for All helped him become familiar with promoting and organizing events.

 

 

2012-ELIZA HUBER-WEISS, student

Eliza Huber-Weiss, a talented cellist, was a summer intern for Schoodic Arts for All in 2012. She was often in charge of organizing events and publicity. Eliza is a very artistic young lady, and even designed the 2012 and 2013 Schoodic Arts for All festival t-shirts. She now attends Bowdoin college and studies Liberal Arts.

 

 

2012-ALEXANDRA BROWN, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

When Alexandra joined Schoodic Arts for All she was very interested in history. She decided to create a special summer project in her time as an intern, which was to curate a show of historic photos of Winter Harbor. The exhibit was displayed where people could go and write down any memories they had of these historic buildings. With these comments, she compiled a book called “Historic Photographs of Winter Harbor” which was registered with the Library of Congress. Her internship and printed book helped her resume grow, and as a result she moved on to get a job in the museum of Fine Arts in Boston.

 

2012-2014-BELLA DESISTO, Student

Bella DeSisto became involved with Schoodic Arts for All from a young age, starting as a volunteer and working her way up to become a staff member. She was mostly involved with the junior interns in Prospect Harbor and as the logistics person on staff.

 

 

 

 

 

2013-2014-HANNAH GIGNOUX, Student

Hannah Gignoux has been involved with Schoodic Arts for All from a very young age, taking a wide variety of workshops, performing at Brown Bag Lunches, opening for Last Friday Coffee Houses, and as a member of the Pandemonium steel band.

She worked at Schoodic Arts for All for two years as a summer intern, then as a staff member. Her main projects during her time here mostly involved organizing the annual Silent Auction and Final Showcase, and managing lighting for performances.

The arts are a big part of her life, and she plans to remain involved with the arts all the way through her college career.

 

 

2013-2014-PEPIN MITTELHAUSER, Musician and performer

Pepin became involved with Schoodic Arts for All through several performance groups, including the Schoodic Summer Chorus, Steel Pan groups, and eventually his own performing group. He is now a program assistant for Schoodic Arts for All, and is also in charge of Pecha Kucha presentations, and performance managing such as running lights and sound.

 

2014-HANNAH WOODWARD, Student

Hannah Woodward has been involved with Schoodic Arts since 2001. She began her relationship with Schoodic Arts by taking workshops and attending performances. She was a member of the original Pandemonium Steel Band. She became a junior intern in 7^th grade, and became a part time summer intern as a Summer Program Assistant. She has always had a steady relationship with Schoodic Arts for All and the festival.

 

 

 

2014, ELLEN JOHNSON, student

Ellen Johnson has been a junior intern since the age of 12. She is a member of the original Pandemonium steel band, and has been with Schoodic Arts for All from a very young age. She became a summer intern, in charge of press releases and organizing junior interns and Brown Bag Lunch, and is now summer staff.

2014-SINAI HERRERA, student

Sinai Herrera began her relationship with Schoodic Arts for All when she joined the Pandemonium Steel drum band in 7^th grade. She became a summer intern in 2014 and is now summer staff. She is mostly in charge of publicity but also compiled this biography of interns.

 

 

Intern positions give young community members an opportunity to have a fun, rewarding job involving the arts.

If you have questions about the Schoodic Arts for All Intern program or any of their other programs please contact the Executive Director, Mary Laury, at marylaury@schoodicartsforall.org.

Who Are They?: Schoodic Arts for All, Part 4

Schoodic festival

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the fourth blog post of the series highlighting the work of Schoodic Arts for All located in Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor. This area is called Downeast Maine and Schoodic Arts for All is at the intersection of Hancock and Washington Counties. Schoodic Arts for All is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest and involvement in the arts for all who wish to participate.

Schoodic Arts for All evolved out of an organization called Maine Futures, in 1998. The first year of the festival was 1999 when we had around 65 workshops and seven or eight performances. That year we had no office, a small grant from the Maine Community Foundation, a few volunteers, and a part time director. Most of the work was done at Darthia Farm, even to using the farm’s credit card machine to sign up students.

It has grown over the years but we try to maintain the “grassroots” feeling of workshops and performances and to keep the tuition and admission charges low through donations and grants.

We are presenting many workshops in a number of categories. We have craft, visual art, cooking, writing, fiber, clay, dance, jewelry, music, and several free classes. The workshops are held throughout the entire Schoodic Peninsula in various venues in the many villages.

We also present 14 evening performances at Hammond Hall in Winter Harbor including music, theater, dance, film, and puppetry.

In Prospect Harbor, every day at noon, we have a free “brown bag” performance ranging from guitarists, reptiles, kids playing music, lectures.

During the two weeks of the Schoodic Arts Festival, the Schoodic Peninsula is transformed into a hub-bub of children and adults making and doing and observing art in all genres.

If you have questions about the Schoodic Arts for All Festival or any of their other programs please contact the Executive Director, Mary Laury, at marylaury@schoodicartsforall.org.

Who Are They?: Schoodic Arts for All, Part 3

Art club

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the third blog post of the series highlighting the work of Schoodic Arts for All located in Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor. This area is called Downeast Maine and Schoodic Arts for All is at the intersection of Hancock and Washington Counties. Schoodic Arts for All is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest and involvement in the arts for all who wish to participate.

Schoodic Arts for All’s after school Art Club is a once a week hands-on experiential arts lesson for

In March, Art Club was all about Pottery: What a messy, fun time throwing clay on the wheel!

Peninsula School children enrolled in the EdGE program.

EdGE (Ed Greaves Education) is an innovative youth development program of the Maine Sea Coast Mission for students in grades 4-8 in coastal Washington County. It is designed to encourage youth to stay engaged in school, aspire towards and attain higher levels of achievement, and develop the personal skills that will enable them to achieve success. These goals are pursued using a wide range of interdisciplinary and experiential curriculum.

The Schoodic Arts for All Art Club program brings students in the EdGe program together with

local professional artists and crafters who teach clay, metal, paint, paper, fiber, and more. Students in the club are encouraged to help choose upcoming guest artists by sharing their ideas of topics they would like to explore.  Art Club’s lead teacher, Anna Woolf records the students’ ideas and searches for local artists who will visit as guest artists.

This spring students in the Art Club are enjoying:

• Pottery: on the Wheel and Hand-Building
• Sumi-e: Japanese Brush Painting with Wendilee Heath O’Brien

Asian Art – Sumi – e, or dancing brush painting, is the art of making each brush stroke important. Students learn how to grind pine pitch ink, charge the brush, and capture the essence of what you paint on tissue fine paper.

• Illustration with Bill Davis
• Clay Pens with Mary Lyman

Many Art Club sessions have time dedicated to “Open Studio” to work on continuing projects and experimenting with new media. At this time, pottery is the foundation since the lead teacher is a professional potter. Other media that is openly available include any materials introduced while learning from the guest artists: polymer clay, a wide variety of drawing materials, painting materials, bookbinding, papermaking and marbling, and sumi-e brush painting.

Guest artist Wendilee Heath O’Brien gave a wonderful lesson on Sumi-e, complete with inks and brushes from Japan.

Wendilee even taught a portion of lesson in Japanese!

For more information about Art Club and/or if you would like to visit as a guest artist e-mail anna@schoodicartsforall.org.

Who Are They?: Schoodic Arts for All, Part 2

Museum Trips

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the second blog post of the series highlighting the work of Schoodic Arts for All located in Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor. This area is called Downeast Maine and Schoodic Arts for All is at the intersection of Hancock and Washington Counties. Schoodic Arts for All is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest and involvement in the arts for all who wish to participate.

Colby Museum of Art field trip

This past winter the staff at Schoodic Arts for All had an idea.  Members of the Painting group brainstormed ideas to get ourselves and our neighbors out of our homes, out of the dreary winter rut, to engage in socially and creatively enriching activities.  The Museum Field Trip was born: the plan was to provide transportation and museum fees for folks to travel to a new museum each month!

The response to the first trip to the Farnsworth Art Museum, was overwhelmingly positive. Schoodic Arts for All is committed to building on the popularity of this new winter program to create a truly unique and engaging experience for our participants.

Participants Feedback

“Winter days are short.  This trip was a brilliant idea.  It recharged creative minds on many levels and was a good day long social event.”  -Ann Dederer

“This kind of trip fulfills part of the mission of SAFA by enabling people who enjoy art an affordable way to engage with it.” -Anonymous

Ken Kelly at Portland Museum of Art

We all know that Maine has a significant number of “aging” residents.  Our field trips are aimed at gathering folks together who would not, on their own, consider taking a 12-hour day trip. After all, many wouldn’t feel comfortable driving 2 or 3 hours to visit a museum ALONE, stopping to have lunch ALONE, and driving all the way home, often in the dark, ALONE.  By providing the transportation, in groups of 6 passengers, participants were engaged in a variety of conversations and community building happened during the ride. Friendships are made, and information about the area is shared between people who otherwise may never have met.

As another participant stated:  “Community lives when people come together to share, laugh and explore.” -Anonymous

The monthly “Field Trips” to area art museums kicked off in January 2015 with an overwhelmingly positive response, drawing three times the anticipated attendance!  The museums were selected based on the current exhibits and interests of our participants. For example, in January, the Farnsworth Art Museum with the Shaker Exhibit was the first museum trip. Participants enjoyed the docent lead tour of the Shakers exhibit which included a documentary film by Ken Burns.

Winter Field trips included:

1. Farnsworth Art Museum
2. Portland Museum of Art
3. Colby College Museum of Art
4. University of Maine Museum of Art and the IMRC (Innovative Media Research and Commercialization Center)
5. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (still upcoming as of the publish date of this post)

Karen and Mazouz Hussein at Colby College

A Survey/Written Evaluation follows each trip which provides insights into how the experience. Strengths and weaknesses are included which provides direction for improvements for future Field Trips. These trips are a valuable resource for many who would not ordinarily experience the arts in this way. The goal is to make these trips enriching, comfortable and affordable for all.

For more information on Schoodic Arts for All Museum Field Trips visit www.schoodicartsforall.org or e-mail anna@choodicartsforall.org

 

 

 

Who Are They?: Schoodic Arts for All, Part 1

Introducing: Schoodic Arts for All

This blog post is part of a series called Who Are They? where information is provided for the Maine Arts Ed blog readers to learn about community organizations and institutions that provide educational opportunities in the arts. You will learn that they are partnering with other organizations and schools to extend learning opportunities, not supplant. Please consider ways in which you can collaborate to provide excellent arts education for all learners.

This is the first blog post of the series highlighting the work of Schoodic Arts for All located in Hammond Hall, 427 Main Street in Winter Harbor. This area is called Downeast Maine and Schoodic Arts for All is at the intersection of Hancock and Washington Counties. Schoodic Arts for All is a non-profit organization dedicated to fostering interest and involvement in the arts for all who wish to participate.

Mission

The mission of Schoodic Arts for All is to bring together and provide opportunities for people of all ages to experience and appreciate the arts. Since our beginning in 1999, Schoodic Arts for All has been an integral part of our community as an arts presenting organization. In addition, we also area centerpiece for the downtown renovation, a positive influence on the economic situation, a resource for the schools in our district and a venue for the community events in our town.

History

Schoodic Arts for All was born in 1999 as a grassroots citizen’s group (Schoodic Futures) to address the dire economic impact on the town due to the closure of the Winter Harbor Navy base.  The loss of $11.5 million dollars in payroll and another $9 million in losses to vendors of equipment, supplies, and services to the navy cut the population by half, leaving only 23 students in the school and 100 empty buildings in town. Our task was to bring back life and vitality through increased visitation and economic opportunity.

One early answer to the question of how to save the community was to hold a two-week arts festival. In a region with little industry, most of the people who live here are engaged in creative occupations. These include the visual arts, music, craft, writing, design, architecture, and organic agriculture. After that first two-week festival, and following a two-year planning and data gathering process, one wish of the community that consistently surfaced was to provide increased “live arts” opportunities for participation and performance.

The Schoodic Arts Festival is the best known program that we do – it’s our signature program and begins in a few weeks. This year we have 85 workshops and 26 performances in 14 days! It’s our flagship program.

Schoodic Arts for All Programs

Art Club

Our Afterschool Art Club activities connect children with local professional artists who’s experience and passion for their craft inspire our club members to aspire to a life in the arts.

Schoodic Summer Chorus 

A multi-generational a capella community chorus devoted to nurturing musicianship and community, in residence at Hammond Hall. Directed by singer and composer Anna Dembska, the chorus is open to anyone who loves to sing.

 

Museum Field Trips  

One of our first participants had this to say about our January trip to The Farnsworth Art Museum: “Winter days are short.  This trip was a brilliant idea.  It recharged creative minds on many levels and was a good day long social event.”

Union of Maine Visual Artists (UMVA) 

If you are interested in the arts, if you are an artist, if you have a friend who is an artist, or if you want to know about what’s going on in the arts community, come and join us. All are welcome!

Pandemonium Steel Pan Band 

Our youth steel drum band, Pandemonium (intermediate), rehearses throughout the year and have performance opportunities annually at the Schoodic Arts Festival as well as at local school assemblies.

 

Schoodic Arts for All Meetinghouse Theatre Lab

The Meetinghouse Theatre Lab is dedicated to creating a yearly ensemble of performance artists who come together to excite the senses, push the limits, and explode the definition of “create” with the aim of growing as performers and enriching the humanity of all involved. The Theatre Lab has presented readings, staged readings, and full productions, both classic and contemporary.

If you have questions about Schoodic Arts for All please contact the Executive Director, Mary Laury, at marylaury@schoodicartsforall.org.

hART rocks Professional Development

Hancock county art teachers gather for professional development opportunity – March 28