Ticket to Ride

Funding available once again

Great news for Maine educators seeking funding for field trips. Ticket to Ride, the Maine Arts Commission grant program that provides funding for schools wishing to travel to arts based venues and events is back! Grant applications are administered on a first come first serve basis, so don’t delay.

Ticket to Ride provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well-rounded curriculum. The goals of the travel should support student learning and be aligned with the visual and/or performing arts standards. Applications are accepted throughout the year. Funding will be made available approximately one month after an application is submitted. Schools may apply more than once a year as long as they are applying to attend a different event, bringing a different student population, or have not expended their eligible amount.

Any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population between 30 and 49 percent is eligible to receive support of up to $300 each school year. Any PK-12 school population of 50 percent or greater is eligible to receive up to $500 per school year. Schools are welcome to use Ticket to Ride funds in combination with transportation funds that may be available from individual Maine arts based venues and events.

Eligibility Requirements

All applicants must have an active Maine Arts Commission account and current Vendor Code to receive funding.  A school district is eligible to apply if they meet the following criteria:

• Is a public school district in the state of Maine.

• Is in compliance with Final Reports required by the Maine Arts Commission for previous awards.

For more information and to apply go to the TICKET TO RIDE grants page on the Maine Arts Commission website.

Maranacook Middle School

The Labor Mural

Best known as the Labor Mural, artwork created by Judy Taylor, now hangs in the entrance to the Maine State Museum in Augusta. Dan Holman, a team leader for the Acadia Team at Maranacook Middle School applied for the Maine Arts Commission Ticket to Ride funds for a trip to the State Museum. After reviewing the application I was curious about the trip and the details of the lesson/unit.

Dan worked with Joanna Torow the Chief Educator at the Maine State Museum to design a field trip that would coincide with the studies back at school. They took a deep dive look at the meaning behind each of the murals panels.

BACKGROUND

The museum has been working with outside contractors to create a digital kiosk that will allow visitors to have a more in-depth interpretive experience in regards to the mural using additional museum objects, photographs, documents, and oral history. They are interviewing the artist, Judy Taylor, and will include a video of her talking about her process and goals for creating the work.  Through this work, the curator and the museum’s educators have made more connections to the artwork and the exhibits on display, it is these insights they hope to share with the students visiting.

IN PREPARATION

To prepare of the trip, the students read short essays (200 words or less) they have written about each panel. They were excited to hear their personal thoughts on the panel, as an artwork with a very specific goal and as a historic document.

Museum Curator of Historical Collections, Angela Goebel-Bain and Joanna lead a discussion with the students (based on discussion and emails with Dan Holman) in front of the Maine Labor Murals. They talked about the subjects as well as the choices the artist made in what she included in each panel, what she left out, how she choose to depict the subject, tools, and people, and how she deliberately used the foreground and background to extend the storytelling.

BACK AT SCHOOL

Dan plans to have the students work on an journal activity in response to the mural after the discussion at the mural. The students will also be took part in two 30 minute gallery programs focused on either Ice Harvesting, Granite Quarrying, Logging & Lumbering, and a guided tour of the Made in Maine exhibit (19^th century work and life in Maine with a focus on textile productions and waterpower).

The mural provides first hand knowledge from an artists’ perspective of so much history – granite quarrying, textile industry, child labor, and wood industry all included images in the mural. It provides the opportunity for the educators – museum and school – to reinforce student learning.

If you’d like to learn more about the museum programs please contact Joanna Torow. If you’d like to learn more about the unit that is underway please contact Dan Holman. Thank you to both for providing information for this blog post and the opportunity to be at the museum during the presentation.

The Maine Arts Commission Ticket to Ride program provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well-rounded curriculum. The goals of the trip should support student learning and be aligned with the Maine Learning Results Visual and/or Performing Arts standards. Any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population between 30 and 49 percent is eligible to receive support of up to $300 each school year. Any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population of 50 percent or greater is eligible to receive support of up to $500 each school year. Applications are accepted throughout the year and funding will be made available approximately one month after they are submitted. Schools may apply more than once a year as long as they are applying to attend a different event, bringing a different student population or have not expended their eligible amount. 

Retired Art Teachers

What are they up to?

Thanks to retired visual art teacher Diane Noble for providing the following information. In her own words…

The MAEA Retired ART Teachers, along with some family and friends, enjoyed a morning at the Bernard Langlais Sculpture Preserve in Cushing on Friday, September 21. We were greeted by Annette Naegel, Director of Conservation for the Georges River Land Trust, that is in charge of the property and Cynthia, the Education coordinator, and Doug, Conservationist of the sculptures.

Seventeen of us heard from each about how the Langlais sculptures came to be renovated with the aid of the Colby College and the Kohler Foundation, then turned over to the Georges River Land Trust as stewards of the works and property of 160 acres.

We toured his studio, workshop, the barn, the education area and the house.

It’s an amazing place, visited by many school groups. If any Art teachers are interested in visiting the preserve with students please contact Annette Naegel, annette@grlt.org, Georges River Land Trust, Director of Conservation, 207-594-5166.

Ticket to Ride provides funds to travel to places like the Bernard Langlais Sculpture Preserve in Cushing. Please learn more about the Ticket to Ride program on the Maine Arts Commission website. 

Ticket to Ride Funds Available

Online application

Unveiling of the Rob Shetterly portrait of Kelsey Juliana at the Samantha Smith Challenge called The Synergy of Change: Children and Adults Inspiring Each Other, participation by Leonard Middle School students. Ticket to Ride funds provided.

The Ticket to Ride program provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well-rounded curriculum. The goals of the trip should support student learning and be aligned with the Maine Learning Results Visual and/or Performing Arts standards.

Any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population between 30 and 49 percent is eligible to receive support of up to $300 each school year. Any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population of 50 percent or greater is eligible to receive support of up to $500 each school year.

Follow up work from trip by Laura E. Richards Elementary School Kindergarteners to Public Theater in Lewiston to see Everybody Loves Pirates. Ticket to Ride funds provided.

Applications are accepted throughout the year and funding will be made available approximately one month after they are submitted. Schools may apply more than once a year as long as they are applying to attend a different event, bringing a different student population or have not expended their eligible amount.

This program is currently funded thanks to the generosity of the Betterment Fund and proceeds from The Art of Giving Gala sponsored by DownEast Magazine.

Submission Instructions

NOTE: The Ticket to Ride application is now located in the Grants Management System (GMS).

Please apply for the funds at least 3 weeks before the trip you are planning to take.

1. Download the Ticket to Ride Application Help Sheet for helpful instructions on completing your application.
2. To access the Ticket to Ride Application Form log into our Grants Management System. If you do not have an account click “New User?” to create one. The account is free and you can browse application requirements without applying.
3. When you have logged in, locate the Ticket to Ride grant description.
4. Read the guidelines, complete and submit the application. After your application has been submitted you will receive a confirmation email.
5. Completed applications must be submitted at least 3 weeks before the scheduled trip in order for the application to be processed in time.

Parties interested in funding or partnering on the Ticket to Ride program are asked to contact Argy Nestor at argy.nestor@maine.gov or 207/287-2713.

Ticket to Ride

Research supporting Field Trips

The Brookings Brown Center Chalkboard posted information on research that is underway about the positive impact of arts-centered field trips. Part of the piece is below and you can access the entire article at THIS LINK.

No reason like the present for planning trips with your students to arts venues in Maine. We are fortunate to have so many learning opportunities that take place across the state that are focused learning in and through the arts. In addition, the Maine Arts Commission (MAC) has funding to help defray the cost of transportation to these venues.

Learn more about the Ticket to Ride program at THIS LINK and apply for the funding to hop on the bus with your students! It’s a fairly simple process – please let me know if you have any questions by emailing me at argy.nestor@maine.gov.

In a new experiment, we are conducting on the effects of arts-focused field trips—and we have a positive result that we totally did not expect. The study is funded by the National Endowment for the Artsand examines long-term effects of students receiving multiple field trips to the Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta. The Woodruff Arts Center houses the High Art Museum, Alliance Theater, and Atlanta Symphony, all on one campus. We randomly assigned 4^th and 5^th grade school groups to get three field trips per year–one to each of Woodruff’s arts organizations–or to a control condition in which students received a single field trip. We administered surveys to collect a variety of outcomes from students at the beginning and end of the school year, and also collected administrative data from the participating school district. We are currently examining the results after a single year, but some students will get a second treatment of three field trips, and we will continue tracking students over time.

READ MORE!

Ticket to Ride Funding

It’s back!!!

The Maine Arts Commission is once again accepting applications for Ticket to Ride thanks to the generous support of the Betterment Fund and proceeds from The Art of Giving Gala sponsored by DownEast Magazine.

PLEASE NOTE

The application process has changed!! Applications will be submitted using the Maine Arts Commission Grants Management System (GMS). Please do not use old Ticket to Ride applications. Tips for applying are below!

DETAIL OVERVIEW

The Ticket to Ride program provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well-rounded curriculum. The goals of the trip should support student learning and be aligned with Maine’s Visual and/or Performing Arts Standards.

Any PK-12 school in Maine is eligible to receive support of up to $300 each school year and any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population of 50 percent or greater is eligible to receive support of up to $500 each school year.

TICKET TO RIDE PATHWAY TO APPLYING

Students at the Portland Museum of Art from the Self Directed Studio Art class at Gardiner Area High School

IMPORTANT DETAILS

• Completed applications will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis and will be approved by the Maine Arts Commission’s Director of Arts in Education upon receipt.
• Applications are accepted throughout the year and funding will be made available approximately one month after they are submitted.
• Within three weeks following your trip, the Maine Arts Commission requires the submission of follow-up documentation that includes teacher feedback and student work samples of the experience. A link to the Follow-up Form is provided in the Ticket to Ride funding approval email.
• Alert your district that you’re submitting an application
• Schools may apply more than once a year as long as they are applying to attend a different event or bringing a different student population. And, provided there is funding still available for your school.

INELIGIBLE EXPENSES

The Maine Arts Commission respectfully requests that Ticket to Ride funds not be used to replace existing transportation funds in school budgets but rather to supplement them when necessary. Schools are welcome to use Ticket to Ride funds in combination with transportation funds that may be available from individual Maine arts based venues and events. Be sure and check with the venue for funding.

TIPS FOR APPLYING

The following tips will help when you get to the application in the GMS. Please gather the information needed so when you get to the application you’ll have it ready. The system is designed to accommodate all the grants the Maine Arts Commission awards, so some terms and fields may seem not descriptive for schools.

• Email – Person with whom we will contact throughout the grant process
• DUNS Number – Does not apply to schools – please enter “0”
• First Name, Last Name – Contact person at the school
• Contact Email – Same as above email
• Address, City, State, Zip, Phone – Of the school that will receive the funds
• % of Free & Reduced Lunch – This information is available in your school or district
• Vendor Code – Check with your school or district office to obtain

TICKET TO RIDE PATHWAY TO APPLYING

For questions and assistance, please contact Argy Nestor, Director of Arts Education, Maine Arts Commission at 287.2713.

Ticket to Ride

Funding

Many of you are familiar with the Maine Arts Commission Ticket to Ride program. Our funding at the moment has been depleted but the good news is that more funding is on its way.

Down East Magazine will be hosting the 4th annual Art of Giving Gala at the Stroudwater Lodge in Westbrook on October 26, 5-8 p.m. The event is free to attend, but guests must RSVP at events@downeast.com. The event’s art sale has raised almost $100,000 in the past three years.

We’re excited that part of the funds raised from the Art of Giving program will support the Ticket to Ride program.

An aerialist performed last year at Down East Magazine’s Art of Giving Gala.

“We’ve had fantastic response year after year to our Art of Giving program,” Down East Editor-In-Chief Kathleen Fleury said. “We’re proud to support the Ticket to Ride Program and four talented artists again this year.”

Ticket to Ride is a program of the Maine Arts Commission that helps fund travel for Maine students visiting art venues and events. Money is raised at the event through art sales, with 20 percent going to Ticket to Ride and the rest going to the artists.

Four artists will be chosen by a panel of judges to participate in the gala. According to the press release, the judges will consider the artists’ technique, aesthetics and biography. The deadline to apply is Sept. 30 and artists can apply on the Down East website.

Last year’s event included art by R. Scott Baltz, Therese L. Provenzano, Matthew Russ and Roland Salazar.

Guests at the gala will be served food and drink and there will be live entertainment.

Ticket to Ride Funding Available

Just in time

We’ve just learned that funding is once again available for the Maine Arts Commission Ticket to Ride program. If you are unfamiliar with the program below is the information.

The Ticket to Ride program began in 2010 with start up funding provided by the Jane B. Cook 1992 Charitable Trust and matched by the Maine Arts Commission. In 2011, the agency received support from the Betterment Fund that will allow the program to continue for an additional three years.

The program provides funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well rounded curriculum. Any PK-12 school in Maine is eligible to receive support of up to $300 each school year and any PK-12 school in Maine with a documented free and reduced lunch student population of 50 percent or greater is eligible to receive support of up to $500 each school year.

Ticket to Ride is the Maine Arts Commission’s response to the decline in school day student attendance at Maine arts based venues and events. This decline has been directly linked to the increase in cost of transportation and has impacted both Maine students as well as the venues and organizations that rely on the sale of student tickets to fuel the creative economy and to provide out of school arts education.

Ticket to Ride is designed for ease of administration; school personnel need only download and complete a two-page document to be eligible for funding. The only other requirement is the submission of follow-up documentation that includes teacher feedback and student work samples of the experience. This final report helps the Maine Arts Commission secure funding to continue the Ticket to Ride program.

The Maine Arts Commission respectfully requests that Ticket to Ride funds not be used to replace existing transportation funds in school budgets but rather to supplement them when necessary. Schools are welcome to use Ticket to Ride funds in combination with transportation funds that may be available from individual Maine arts based venues and events.

For program guidelines and access the application please CLICK HERE.

 

Visiting Colby College Museum

MAC Ticket to Ride funding

For a handful of years the Maine Arts Commission has provided funding to defray the cost of travel for Maine schools wishing to visit Maine arts based venues and events as part of a well rounded curriculum. Below is information provided by Jeremy Smith who teaches visual art at Maranacook Community High School.

Recently Mr. Smith took my students on a field trip to Colby College Art Museum to view the contemporary sculpture on exhibit there.  There were some remarkable works on view by artists such as Maya Lin, Glenn Ligon, Jenny Holzer, Claes Oldenburg, and Louise Nevelson.  Also currently on view at Colby were many pieces by renowned Maine artist, Bernard Langlais. 

The tour was excellent and the guides were informative and interactive.  Students were asked to participate in thoughtful critiques of several works on display.  When Mr. Smith’s students returned back to the classroom, they were asked to write hypotheses about the elements of visual communication they experienced while at Colby.  Students used a wiki that Mr. Smith created to help them remember the visual narratives from each sculpture.  Through their further investigation and discussions, the students collaborated in small groups to analyze one particular work and form opinions about their chosen artist’s intent, social relevance, and message. 

Afterwards, Smith’s students turned their work toward creating a narrative sculpture about bees, using personal influences and collaboration.  Using found objects to create hive structures and working with aluminum foil, students in Smith’s classes worked to create several collaborative pieces that will be installed into the school’s vegetable garden during the spring of 2015. 

Smith was pleased to have his students’ Colby visit funded through the Ticket to Ride program from the Maine Arts Commission which helped provide the opportunity!  Thanks also to Colby for their remarkable staff and volunteers! 

Wikis have multiple uses and are a great technology tool to utilize in the Arts classroom. To view the one used in Jeremy’s class please click here. 

Please Note

At this time, the Maine Arts Commission is unable to fulfill Ticket to Ride funding requests.  The Maine Arts Commission expects that additional Ticket to Ride funding will be available in the near future. We recommend visiting this site periodically for an update on funding and possible program modifications.

Viles Arboretum Art Symposium

Invitation to Maine Art Teachers and Students for a unique opportunity

The Viles Arboretum is pleased to extend an invitation to all elementary, middle and high school art teachers to sign up for a unique learning opportunity to be held at the Arboretum in Augusta from September 12 – 21, 2014. We will be holding the first Viles Arboretum Art Symposium on our grounds with eight nationally known artists creating stone sculptures from start to finish. The theme will be nature inspired art. During the week days, we will have five very special opportunities for Maine schools to participate in a private audience with one of the artists and to learn first-hand about the artists’ background, involvement in art, source of inspiration, and much more. In addition to this, each field trip class will be able to meet the other artists, ask questions and observe the various techniques for taking raw stone and turning it into a piece of beautiful art. There is no cost to participate. You just have to schedule your bus and students. Staff at the Arboretum will work with you to be sure all the opportunities you wish to create for your students are available. Please call the Arboretum at 626-7989 for more details or to schedule your group.

The Viles Arboretum is centrally located in Augusta, Maine on 224 acres of fields, forests, wetlands and with botanical collections from around the world. We offer an ever-changing selection of inspirational exhibits, educational and practical programs for the general public and for schools. We focus on interactive, creative and hands-on teaching with a focus on botany and natural history. Our goal is to unlock everyone’s natural ability to understand the nature of our world through your own eyes and by using your own intellect.

We strive to make our 224 acres of fields, forests and wetlands, play a key role in contributing to the quality of life for Maine citizens and visitors from every corner of the world. Our presence contributes significantly to the quality of life in and around Augusta and beyond and our newly installed Art Trail presents the largest publicly accessible display of outdoor art sculpture in Maine.

You can learn more about the Arboretum and its programs, or how to become more involved by checking our website at www.vilesarboretum.org, checking our Facebook page or simply by stopping in or calling us at 626-7989.

Your school can apply for the Maine Arts Commission Ticket to Ride funding to use for this opportunity. Please click here to  learn more and download the application. The process is fairly simple and there is a quick turn-around once the application is submitted.