Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts

Summer workshop offering for K-12 Art Educators

July 19 – 23 – $15 per session

Join teaching artists Martha Grover, Reeder Fahnestock, Liz Proffetty and Malley Weber in Watershed’s new studio for a week of learning and exploring with clay. Each day-long workshop will provide Maine art educators with an opportunity to develop and refine clay-based skills that can be used in the classroom. Workshops will cover surface decoration, Raku firing, slip casting, mold-making, and altering forms. Watershed Center for Ceramic Arts is located in Newcastle, Maine.

Sign up for one workshop or join for all four!

Session I: Open Studio

Monday, July 19, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Enjoy a day of guided independent practice in Watershed’s new state-of-the-art studio! Teaching artists Liz Proffetty and Malley Weber will demonstrate surface decoration techniques to explore in your work and Studio Manager Reeder Fahnestock will provide a tour of the facility. You’ll have the option to work on the wheel and/or experiment with hand building. Clay and glaze materials will be provided.

Session II: Techniques for Altering Forms

Tuesday, July 20, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Discover the idiosyncrasies of working with porcelain on and off the wheel as guest instructor Martha Grover demonstrates how to make her signature undulating functional forms.  Working with a variety of bottomless wheel-thrown forms and slabs in both the soft and leather-hard stages, Martha will demonstrate various altering techniques and additions of slabs, handles, and spouts to create an assortment of functional forms. Forms will include cups, bowls, vases, pitchers, lidded forms, and baskets.  The session will include demonstrations and hands-on studio time with support from Martha. Clay will be provided.

Session III: Raku Firing #1

Wednesday, July 21, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Join Watershed Studio Manager Reeder Fahnestock to experience the drama of Raku. The small group of six participants will fire Watershed’s new commercial propane-fired kiln and learn about the steps needed for a successful Raku firing. 

During the workshop, Watershed staff will be available to talk about options for bringing students to Watershed for a Raku experience during the 2021-2022 school year.

Please bring 6 -10 small to medium sized bisque pieces of work to fire.  Watershed will provide glazes.

Participants are encouraged to view Watershed’s new Raku video and review the guidelines for Raku firing at Watershed. 

This session is limited to six participants. We want to offer the opportunity to participate in a Raku firing for as many  as possible. If you already registered for the Friday Raku firing, please do not sign up for this one as well.

Session IV: Plaster Molds & Slip Casting

Thursday, July 22, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Learn to make one-piece plaster and bisque molds to be used for decorating and embellishing ceramic objects, or simply as objects themselves. Session leader and Watershed Studio Manager Reeder Fahnestock will discuss how to select or make objects from which multiples can be reproduced in clay; how to prepare objects to be molded; how to prepare clay for use as mold material; how to mix and pour plaster for mold making; as well as how to make, and then use, the molds.

Participants should bring one or two small items from which they think they might want to make a mold. Reed will discuss the suitability of the objects with participants. Objects will also be on hand from which participants may make molds. This should be considered a hands-on workshop and participants may anticipate taking several molds home with them.

Session V: Raku Firing #2

Friday, July 23, 9:00 am to 4:00 pm

Join Watershed Studio Manager Reeder Fahnestock to experience the drama of Raku. The small group of six participants will fire Watershed’s new commercial propane-fired kiln and learn about the steps needed for a successful Raku firing. 

During the workshop, Watershed staff will be available to talk about options for bringing students to Watershed for a Raku experience during the 2021-2022 school year.

Please bring 6 -10 small to medium sized bisque pieces of work to fire.  Watershed will provide glazes.

Participants are encouraged to view Watershed’s new Raku video and review the guidelines for Raku firing at Watershed. 

This session is limited to six participants. We want to offer the opportunity to participate in a Raku firing for as many as possible. If you already registered for the Wednesday Raku firing, please do not sign up for this one as well.

REGISTRATION

Workshop Details (for all sessions) 

• Payment for workshops is due online with registration. Watershed can provide you with a receipt to submit for reimbursement.
• Watershed will offer a light breakfast and lunch during the workshops. Food will be individually served outside under tents.
• Dinners and overnight accommodations on campus will not be available.  Participants will be responsible for dinners and arranging their own overnight accommodations.
• See our FAQs for a list of area lodging options.
• Watershed will provide proof of contact hours for participants.

Narraguagus Jr/Sr High School

6th Annual Student Art Exhibit

MAEA Spring Conference

A HUGE SUCCESS

Congratulations to the Maine Art Education Association for a successful virtual conference held this past Saturday. Iva Damon was the chair who waited an entire year to complete her task. Last year the conference was canceled thanks to the pandemic. Every aspect of the conference entitled Perceptions 2021 went really well. If you’re working on the planning of a virtual conference or workshop I suggest you reach out to Iva who is an art teacher at Leavitt Area High School. Conference planner Extraordinaire!

The conference opened with a keynote provided by Natasha Mayers and Rob Shetterly. She often explores themes of peace and social justice. Recently the film on Natasha’s life as an artist was released called Natasha Mayers: an Un-Still Life. Natasha founded ARRT! (the Artists’ Rapid Response Team) in 2012, an artists’ collective that meets monthly, creating over 400 banners, props and yard signs for most of the progressive organizations in Maine. She co-founded and is editor-in-chief of The Maine Arts Journal: Union of Maine Visual Artists Quarterly. Learn more about how Natasha has contributed to so many meaningful projects and made a difference in Maine practicing her art in a collaborative way. You can read about her contributions since 1976 at THIS LINK. Conference participants had a chance to view the film before the conference.

“…an engaging and lively portrait of an engaged and lively artist who uses her talents in the service of truth and justice, rather than fortune”
— Edgar Allen Beem

Natasha Mayers

Artist Rob Shetterly founded Americans Who Tell the Truth (AWTT) and has painted over 250 portraits of ‘truth tellers’. The Samantha Smith Project is part of the AWTT work where middle and high school students use art to build a bridge between the classroom and the world to create curious, courageous, and engaged citizens. SSC projects teach students that, no matter what age, they can be part of solving the challenges and problems they see around them.

One of the portraits that Rob has created is of Natasha so it was a delight to have them both share their stories and inspire art educators to make a difference in their classrooms.

Participants had a chance to attend three workshops throughout the day and meet with colleagues informally. The workshops were:

• Evaluating Creativity with music educator Joe Cough
• Update your Advocacy: New Ways of Promoting and Expanding Your Impact Beyond the Art Room with Brunswick Middle School teacher Cory Bucknam
• Neurographic Art with Maranacook Community School art teacher Hope Lord
• Teaching and Learning with Natasha Mayers: An Un-Still Life with Argy Nestor, Sweetland Middle School
• AP Art and Design Network Discussion with high school art teachers Lori Spruce and Holly Houston
• Hand-Build a Tour Up & Stamped Mug with Bioddeford Middle School art teacher Samara Yandell

The day ended with a gathering and door prizes presented. It was very clear that teachers missed seeing colleagues from other parts of the state and making art together. Comments around the challenges of the year and that the value of the art classroom became more clear to educators. Participants said what a great conference it was. More people attended the spring conference than has been the case in the last several years. The comment that placed clarity on our important roles as art educators this year was stated by Rangeley Lakes Regional School Art Teacher Sonja Johnson:

“The Art classroom is a place of awakening this year”.

Art Teachers Studio

Maine Art Education Partners in Leadership

The Virtual Open Art Teachers Studio is back, starting May 13! For and by Maine teachers. Open to anyone involved or interested in arts education – visual, literary and performing arts educators, teaching artists, administrators, community folks. This is a time to set aside and activate your own creativity. In this long year, we have learned that self-care is critical for those supporting others, such as arts educators. Please give yourself one hour a week to dive into your own imagination with us!  Four sessions, free. To register click here.  Article about past sessions can be read in the winter edition of the Maine Arts Journal here. 

For more information: martha.piscuskas@maine.gov 

REGISTER HERE

Maine Farmland Trust

Opportunity for children

Young artists age 18 and under are invited to submit farm-inspired artwork for an upcoming virtual gallery exhibit.

The Maine Farmland Trust welcomes submissions for a children’s art exhibit to be held virtually this spring through the MFT Gallery. Looking for children’s artistic creations that address or are inspired by any of the following questions:

• Do you have any farm or farm stands near you?
• What do they look like, and what do they produce?
• What animals do you like on the farm?
• What is your favorite food from the farm?
• What do you like, or what would you like, to do on a visit to the farm? 

Learn and submit artwork HERE. DEADLINE: MARCH 28, 2021

Possible subject or media matter ideas: Vegetables; animals on the farm; fiber (sheep, llamas or alpacas, rabbits); barns or other farm buildings; fields, crops, gardens; helpers on the farm; tractors or other equipment and tools.

Submission guidelines:

The artwork can be any media, 2D or 3D. We are accepting up to 5 submissions per artist. Since the show will be virtual, all submissions should be high quality photos of the original artwork.

Tips for taking a high quality photo with your camera or phone: use a high resolution setting on your device; hold the device steady or use a tripod or brace so the image is clear, not blurry; place the work (one at a time for multiple submissions) in good, even, natural lighting; make sure the edges of the image are square to the edges of the work so there is no distortion; crop the image to clear any distracting background; save as a .jpg file.

Please send an email, subject Farms for ME, with up to 5 high resolution jpg images attached, labeled with Artist First Name_Age_Title of the work_medium_dimensions_price.

In the email please include parent’s full name, email address, and phone number, name of the artist, age, medium, title of the work, dimensions of the work, and price if the work is for sale (or NFS if not).

If you have questions please contact Karen at karen@mainefarmlandtrust.org

Youth Art Month

Maine Art Education Association

For almost 30 years, the Portland Museum of Art (PMA) and the Maine Art Education Association (MAEA) have collaborated to bring National Youth Art Month to Maine. We are happy to announce that this tradition continues. This year marks the first time that Youth Art Month at the PMA will be digital.

This annual exhibition emphasizes the value of art education and encourages support for quality school art programs through a month-long exhibition of artwork by K-12 students throughout the state. The exhibition will begin digitally on March 1, 2021 on the PMA’s website.  
This year, registration will be open longer and without the hassle of framing or dropping off artwork. 
Registration will be open from 9 a.m. Wednesday, January 20, 2021 through 5 p.m. Wednesday, February 24, 2021.  

• To submit student work, you must be a current member of MAEA. Check your membership status, email membership chair Hope Lord before completing the online registration.
• You may submit one artwork per teacher per school.
• Artwork created by multiple students or work with multiple teachers is not permitted.
• Artwork must be photographed properly (see our Guidelines for Photographing Artwork ) and will only be accepted if proper protocol is followed.
• Because it is a virtual exhibition, we hope that teachers submit a wide array of media. 2D, 3D, animation, short film and video are all able to be submitted. We also will be accepting artist statements.

REGISTRATION LINK

All artists and their families are invited to the Youth Art Month digital celebration on Saturday, March 13th: K-4th grade at 3:30pm; 5th-8th grade at 4:30pm; 9th-12th grade 5:30pm. More information coming soon.  

If you need to make special arrangements, email Meghan Quigley Graham.
For all other questions, please contact the MAEA Youth Art Month chair, Elise Pelletier.

VIRTUAL YOUTH ART MONTH – NATIONAL ART EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

There is one more opportunity to showcase your student artwork during the month of March. As you may know, NAEA conference is virtual this year. That means the YAM Museum will also be virtual. We would love to have a variety of student artwork across all grade levels, representing Maine at this year’s conference. 
If you are interested in participating please submit one artwork/per grade that you teach. 
Please email Elise Pelletier at epelletier@scarboroughschools.org the following information by Wednesday February 24th:

• Your name and school
• Student’s names & grades
• Photos (please rename each photo studentname_grade.jpg)*
• Please review the guidelines (attached) for taking quality photos)

Depending on the number of submissions, Elise may not be able to include every student’s artwork. She will let you know what submissions will be included in the final exhibit.

Getting There, Part III

MECA MAT students

This is Part III of a blog post about the Masters in Arts and Teaching (MAT) students at Maine College of Art (MECA). Together with Part I and Part II you can get a snapshot of their program this fall. Students presented their work in an exhibit called “Getting There“, November 28 – December 7 at the college in Portland. The last two days of Maine Arts Ed blog posts include images from the show, their thoughts on visual art education, and their role as artists and future teachers. It also includes their successes and challenges, and their hopes for the future, post pandemic. I hope I am able to have a more personal conversation with this group of people in the near future. They have so much to offer, are is very articulate and thoughtful, and are bright lights during this dark time.

These MAT voices are strong and I’m sure you’ll agree with me that the future is in good hands. I’ve mentioned over the years how important our role is as educators to mentor, encourage and seek out the future teachers to insure that arts education continues moving forward to provide an excellent education for all students. Here is an opportunity for veteran teachers – read and listen carefully and if you’re inclined, reach out to these students.

In the Part I post there are examples of each students work. In Part II you can hear their voices and below are the responses to questions that I asked the students.

What do you see going on or what are you doing right now (in the midst of Covid) that is so dynamic and creative and alive that you hope doesn’t go away once Covid does?

• Even though so much of education and the world is in a precarious state, the pandemic is helping me realize how important grounding learning with an arts education is for kids. I’m happy that there’s new energy being channeled into making education more accessible for everyone, and it’s amazing to be in a cohort of teacher candidates as we are all so eager to bring fresh perspectives to classrooms. ~ Philippa Grace, Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Sculpture, 2016
• Education and healthcare seem to be never quite completely accessible. During the pandemic, when everything moved online, we evolved in creating tools of still allowing these things to happen and even flourish virtually. Though an end to the pandemic seems to be in the foreseeable future, I hope to see a continued mix of virtual and in person experience. It allows for more voice and choice. School and doctors are more accessible to those without cars through virtual platforms and if we made decent internet connection a necessity, we could be a lot more productive and connected from within our homes where we are most comfortable. ~ Audrey Robidoux, Maine College of Art
• Oh gosh great question! I have caught myself noticing the present SO much more- the color of a meadow this fall after a recent rainfall, how this random lady sitting on a bench laughed exactly the same way that my roommate does, the soul settling experience of paddling in a canoe on a lake. I hope to maintain this awe of the moment, (and teach others to do the same!) once quarantining ends. ~Sophie Olmsted, Bates College, Lewison, Studio Art (ceramics), 2018
• I don’t think I’m doing anything in my personal life that I hope continues after Covid. I do see a silver lining when it comes to my teaching practice. I was blessed enough to get a teaching job that both supplements my student teaching requirements and my wallet during this time. This type of experience would not have happened if it was not for the circumstances that we are in. ~Cooper Binette, Maine College of Art, Portland ME, BFA in painting 2020
• Refining skills as an artist and a teacher is my life’s work. I am grateful for the time and opportunity to study at Maine College of Art even if we work remote. Allowing me to continue to create an enriching environment for Maine’s youth. It is during the epidemic that I am able to work harder than I ever have to make this a career. ~Seth Baron, Maine College of Art, BFA in Illustration 2020
• I unfortunately don’t feel that I have achieved anything so dynamic or exciting that it is going to stick around post Covid. I have found myself feeling trapped inside, and uninspired/overwhelmed due to the stressful climate of my surroundings. One positive thing that has come  out of the situation is that I have had a lot of time to sit and work inside of my sketchbook, something I usually do despite Covid times but it feels very accomplished to be able to sit and just draw for hours while being stuck inside. These sketchbooks will be reminders of this unexpected situation, and bring a sense of accomplishment to these hard times. I will then be able to share this experience with my future students, so I guess you could say there’s a small sliver of a silver lining there. ~Lauren Ashlee Anderson, Maine College of Art, BFA in Ceramics 2020
• I am feeling so inspired by food right now and have been pouring all of my creative energy into cooking and baking. Since the pandemic began, my partner and I have started growing our own vegetables and herbs and have had a lot more time to experiment with new recipes. I never would have guessed I would be so excited about street corn or heirloom tomatoes! ~Madison Mahoney, University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, BA in Studio Art, 2019
• Unfortunately as of right now, I don’t have any creative and dynamic practices that will stay with me post Covid. My ceramics practice was cut short due to Covid and I do not have the means to continue it right now. In all honesty, I hope for things to go back to a seminormal if/when Covid is gone. The silver lining for me is that I’m thankful to be in the Master’s of Art in Teaching program to become an art educator. I will be able to share my passion for art to students and hope to inspire them to achieve their dreams. ~Shelby Pyrzyk, Maine College of Art, BFA in Ceramics 2020 
• When Covid first hit back in March, I didn’t make any art for 4 months. I was newly unemployed, broke, and depressed. However, about a month before I moved to Maine from Kentucky, I started doing all these paintings of retro video game covers for my friends, and it helped me rejuvenate my creative confidence. Throughout the MAT program I have been able to keep doing these video game commissions for friends, on top of many other creative endeavors, and so I have been able to sustain that motivation to create, but it wasn’t easy. I think that being an artist during a pandemic has reminded me that there are always ups and downs, but art will always be there for me when I’m ready. ~Trent Redmon, Transylvania University, Lexington, KY, BA in Studio Art 2016
• Storytelling is very important to my life and work as an artist. Traditionally, I tell my stories through comics and graphic novels. Since Covid, however, I’ve invested myself more in the creation of artifacts and life size set pieces from out of my fictional worlds. I’m hoping in the coming years I continue to expand on the idea of bringing the fictional into the real world. ~Sean Dillon, Eastern University 08-12, Exercise Science

What has it been like jumping from student to teacher while continue to nourish your own creative practices?

• I audited a porcelain class taught by Cathy Hammond at MECA this fall. When I was a few years younger, I was so afraid of failure, but now that I’m learning about mindfulness and bringing our whole selves to the classroom, I was so eager to show Cathy my failures and ask her “what do I do now?!” I learned so much about the materials just by being in a classroom (albeit masked and distanced!) with BFA students at all levels, and Cathy was always willing to share her decades of ceramics teaching experience with us. It was so powerful to be able to fail in front of her and have that be an empowering experience of growth. ~Philippa Grace (favorite color: orange)
• The journey from artist to teacher has expanded my perspective on the world. As a working artist, I often felt isolated, deeply buried in late studio nights and internal thought. I love to create but it wasn’t enough. I couldn’t invest every piece of myself into it. I felt as though it wasn’t a sustainable practice for myself or my well being. As much as I loved it, I needed something different, a different purpose. After four years of focusing on the art world, I felt the pull to come to the teaching program. Despite the pandemic, and the upheaval of the world around me, I knew that it was the right decision. ~Audrey Robidoux (favorite color: red)
•  I see the role of teacher and student as interchangeable hats- in one moment, I may have the teacher hat on, but I’m wearing the student one in the next. Flipping back and forth informs both experiences. I feel so lucky to be a student in my 800 studio class because it reminds me of the student experience- what it is like to not know what’s next, how uncomfortable it can be to not know, how to navigate teacher expectations and social interactions. The MAT program (so far) has been the perfect bridge between feeling mostly student to feeling mostly teacher (I plan to identify as a partial student for the rest of my life). ~Sophie Olmsted (favorite color: lavender)
• Jumping straight from student to Teacher has been a crazy experience. I’ve had to strengthen my time management skills along with prioritizing my school and teaching over my personal practice without allowing it to fizzle out completely. ~Cooper Binette (favorite color: pastel purple)
• Starting my practice of teaching has been an incredible new experience. New experiences such as meeting a group of students for the first time will continue to inspire my digital paintings. ~Seth Baron (favorite color: cyan)
• Jumping from student to teacher while continuing to nourish my creative practices has been a big challenge for me. Coming out of quarantine to this program has to be the biggest challenge. My semester in undergrad was cut short due to Covid so all of my studio privileges unfortunately disappeared. I found myself in a creative slump with a lack of inspiring materials. I have worked my way out of the slump by creating awesome lesson plans for future students, and being able to create art while making lesson plans is exciting. I haven’t made much art for myself, but no matter what I still continue to doodle, work in my sketchbook, and pull from the world around me to inspire me. ~Lauren Ashlee Anderson (favorite color: terra cotta)
• It has been a transition for sure. Some parts of teaching have come easy to me, while others have been harder to grasp. Jumping into teaching after months of uncertainty and quarantine felt like a huge change of pace. But luckily this cohort has been able to offer me amazing support. I’ll admit, at the start of this program I found myself neglecting my creative practice. That quickly shifted when we were given the opportunity to join a BFA class to continue our making. It felt amazing to be back in the studio and since I have gained back more of my creative energy that had been lost in quarantine. ~Madison Mahoney (favorite color: slate blue)
• It has been interesting but I like the transition because I am able to apply my knowledge from when I was a student to what I am doing while teaching. It also has been helpful when creating lesson plans to have experience with some of the media. ~Shelby Pyrzyk (favorite color: teal or pink)
• It has been challenging to say the least. It requires so much discipline and drive to be able to change gears from academic work, to studio work, and back and forth. It’s taken lots of perseverance. ~Trent Redmon (favorite color: red)
• Teaching has gradually become a part of my practice as I’ve become closer with my audience.  I started doing art tutorials and live streams for my following a few years ago and educating others has become just another hat I wear. ~Sean Dillon (favorite color: green)

Was there evidence of the teacher as artist or artist as teacher in the show?

• Getting There is a time capsule of our cohort on the verge of student teaching with our mentors this winter, in the midst of this pandemic. We are all in different stages of discovering the balance of being a teacher and an artist (for me and some other peers, we have been out of school for a few years and are falling back in love with art and school–others are fresh out of their BFA programs). As we have grown together since August learning about art education, I am so grateful to be able to share this space as artists in our field as well. It is a potent reminder for me to never stop making–even as my creative practice shifts and changes, being an artist is what guides my teaching and grounds me. ~Philippa Grace (pronouns: she/they)
• For my exhibit I created a sketchbook and a curriculum map, tying in all of the sketchbook prompts. It’s designed for high school students, based off a curriculum map that I dreamt up. High school education is a difficult experience in the current society, and art can teach the lifelong lessons of creative and critical thinking. Giving a young adult a sketchbook can awake a childhood passion that seemed lost and change their perspective on life. The sense of individuality that is born within a sketchbook can inspire. Art and creativity is what every student needs in this current world, where we have no idea what the next few years looks like, let alone the rest of our lives. I want to equip my students with skills that will stay with them no matter what path they take. And it takes an artist to teach these concepts. There really is an art to teaching. And I’m getting there. ~Audrey Robidoux (pronouns: she/hers)
• Yes, absolutely. I made some jars using a technique on the wheel that I had never tried before (or even heard of!). I absolutely plan to make jars in this way again and to teach others to give it a try. The process served as a reminder that you can always learn new ways to do things and you can always teach students to keep looking for those ways of making that spark energy and intrigue. I plan to hold this experience of discovery with me as I step into my role as a teacher. ~Sophie Olmsted (pronouns: she/her)
• I think there is evidence about the importance of the teacher as an artist in every piece in the shell. The artwork helps bridge the gap between what we are learning in class and what we are practicing in our studios. This information will only benefit our teaching practice. It will make all of our learnings more accessible to both the audience and the artist. ~Cooper Binette (pronouns: he/him)
• The show contains an array of illustrations, paintings, ceramics and sculptures. All of which are created by some incredibly diverse perspectives inspired by pedagogy based readings and studies. I highly recommend everyone follow meca.mat on instagram to see all of the pieces from the show. ~Seth Baron (pronouns: he/him/his)
• Getting There is a show depicting each of our individual journeys as artists and future educators. There is both evidence of teacher as artist, and artist as teacher. In my work specifically I have honed in on the idea of “Embracing being a novice”. My work displayed is a variety of new techniques I learned in my BFA class this semester called “The Sculptural Imagination”. As I am learning to be a teacher, I am still continuing to add new tools into my personal tool box that I will carry with me for the rest of my life. These new techniques are now some that I can share with my future students! Embracing being a novice not only means learning new things, but also means that I am learning things I can teach my students in the future.  ~Lauren Ashlee Anderson (pronouns: she/hers)
• Absolutely. In my work there is evidence of teacher as artist in the way I approach a new material; in this case, porcelain. For this exhibition I focused on play and embracing possibility in a medium that was brand new to me. As a painter, I primarily work 2D, but I wanted to get a feel for how my students might experience a 3D material. I was the only handbuilder in a class of wheel throwers and I wanted my pieces to reflect that. All of my pieces in this show are my firsts and many experiment with balance as well as glazes. ~Madison Mahoney (pronouns: she/her)
• Our show Getting There is centered around us as both artists and future teachers. We were tasked with continuing or learning a form of art while being able to tie it back to what we are learning in our program. Many of us have highlighted that in the pieces of our work in the show. I feel this show is important to the program to show us that we can continue our art practices while still being teachers. ~Shelby Pyrzyk (pronouns: she/hers)
• There is definitely evidence of that in our show. Just going around reading everyone’s artist statements is evidence that everyone put a ton of thought into what they made. Everyone’s perspective is so different, but all the work is still unified by our dual perspectives as both artists and teachers. ~Trent Redmon (pronouns: he/him/his)
• It’s a subtle message, you really have to look into the details of my piece to decode the artist-teacher relationship.  For me the piece is more of a physical waypoint in a mostly spiritual journey to become a teacher. ~Sean Dillon (pronouns: he/him)

Art and Climate Change

Student response 

Thank you to Cynthia Pease, art teacher at Deer Isle Stonington High School, for providing the information for this blog post.

The Deer Isle Stonington High School 8th grade Art students have produced a number of paintings reflecting their thoughts and feelings about climate change and their global concerns.  In this show, you will see hope, anger, humor, and a plea for everyone to wake-up and take action.  Above all else, the art show reflects the concerns our students have for their future.  This show is about raising awareness!

In order to achieve this level of work, students researched the topic they connected most with.  There were weekly critiques and class discussions on each topic chosen.  Sketches were created and refined with a focus on the Elements and Principles of Art and included Type Face as an element of their designs.  Color compositions and final drawings were created prior to the final work being painted.  These students “earned” a higher level of recognition because of the hard work, grit, awareness, and level of honesty they have portrayed in their final work. 

To bring this show into the public light, we give great thanks to the climate change organization, Climate Action Net (CAN), and to the DIAA Gallery for hosting this show.  Other elements of this initiative included a conversation with these young artists about their work and the climate situation they are inheriting. The interviews were conducted by Rob Shetterly of Americans Who Tell the Truth.  The paintings will be displayed on the CAN website in order to select a painting which  powerfully communicates a young person’s view of Climate Change. The most popular painting will be reproduced on ‘T’ shirts and offered for sale in order to raise money for school ecological initiatives, such as solar panels.

Special thanks to Tony Ferrara for his support, commitment and passion to inspire and motivate young people to take action.  From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!  Our deep gratitude goes to DIAA for hosting this event.

Cynthia expresses many thanks to Dennis Duquette for positive energy and support and Little Eagle for making all the frames.

Eco Artist

Krisanne Baker

Medomak Valley High School art teacher Krisanne Baker’s work as an eco-artist is documented in this movie called Ocean Breathing.

A science/art collaboration sharing the importance of phytoplankton in our lives. Maine ecological artist, educator and ocean advocate, Krisanne Baker created and installed over 100 recycled glass sculptures in the form of phytoplankton she studied with Dr. Michael Lomas at the National Center for Marine Algae and Microbiota within Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences. Many of the sculptures are Baker’s examples of phytoplankton mutating due to climate change and ocean acidification. There is an interactive identification sheet available for visitors to the Bigelow atrium. Baker uses glass as a metaphor for the fragility of these microscopic lives, and to protect the delicate balance of the ocean.

View the Vimeo OCEAN BREATHING.

Friends of Aomori

Berwick Academy

Hashi / 橋 Maine Aomori Student Art Exchange Press Release

Berwick Academy, partnering with Friends of Aomori, is pleased to host Hashi / 橋,the second annual Maine-Aomori student print exchange exhibit at the Jackson Library Gallery in South Berwick, Maine from March 27-April 12, 2019. Hashi means “bridge” in Japanese.

This exhibit at Berwick Academy will feature over 70 prints made by students in Aomori Japan. Raegan Russell, Visual Art Chair and art teacher at Berwick Academy traveled to Aomori, Japan as a teacher delegate in November, 2018 and that trip sparked Berwick Academy’s hosting this exhibition.The relationship between Maine and Aomori has been in place for over 20 years, but the fascinating connection between the two states goes back to a shipwreck in 1889. In addition to Hashi, Friends of Aomori sponsors MAPS (Maine-Aomori Printmaking Society), an exchange of work between professional printmakers in Maine and Aomori that is entering its fourth year, and has resulted in twenty exhibitions throughout Aomori and Maine. Friends of Aomori supports high-school exchange programs, educational events and programming about Japan, and economic development opportunities such as a delegation visit of Maine fisherman and aquaculture business leaders to Aomori in October 2016. Friends of Aomori is an all-volunteer nonprofit that supports the sister state relationship.