MICA major
We flew last week to our second Parents’ Weekend at Maryland Institute College of Art. Daisy is majoring in Printmaking, where we began with hugs galore. The former printmaking studios are under renovation, and have relocated to 1515 Mount Royal Avenue. Daisy showed us her recent monoprints made with a cut Mylar stencil. We also toured the silkscreen studio, where she laid out recent editions. I didn’t see it at first, but this is a family portrait. We went back to her dorm to find this papercut Daisy did of her roommate, who was dreaming in the next room. She proudly showed us...
Read MoreLand Ho, Island Explorers!
The Peaks Island Elementary School, also known as PIES, is brimming with curiosity even after the bell rings. I’m excited to share the latest Side x Side project I’m working on with fellow teaching artist, Pamela Moulton, as part of the school’s After School Academy. This arts integration is based upon one we did at Ocean Avenue Elementary School this past spring. Who knew geomorphology could be so much FUN? We kicked it off in theatrical style, thanks to Pamela’s bounty of hand-crafted costumes. Pamela and her performance collaborator, Sharoan Cohen, brought loud...
Read MorePeaks Island Sketchbooks Workshop
For the fourth summer, Judy Labrasca and I led a Peaks Island Sketchbooks Workshop through Maine College of Art’s Continuing Studies Program. This one day workshop is a fun meander of island views and wide open possibilities. Every year is a different group, paper skies, and new friends made. You can read about past ventures here, here, and here. Judy meets the group in Portland and ferries over on Casco Bay Lines. I meet them at the island dock where we share materials and our philosophy: sketchbooks are vessels for adventure! Thanks to The Sketchbook Project, I’ve developed a...
Read MoreSide x Side Slides into Summer
Working with Side x Side, Portland’s coup in the name of arts integration, has been truly satisfying, as well as a juggle. This spring I visited three schools, East End, Reiche, and Ocean Avenue Elementary, where our Land Forms project had a happy culmination. I attended last week’s Summer Arts Institute at the Portland Museum of Art along with a hearty crowd of teachers on their first day of summer vacation. Now that’s dedication! Mark Bessire, Director of the PMA, welcomed us and our coffee into the auditorium. He introduced Mayor Ethan Strimling, who supports the arts,...
Read MoreSide x Side at Reiche Elementary
As a Side x Side visiting artist, I made four visits to Reiche Elementary to spark their Moving Oceans program. The kick-off featured Mary Cerullo, non-fiction author and Associate Director of Friends of Casco Bay sharing her books. I was excited to finally meet her! She told a lively anecdote using this critter for emphasis. For the first visits to 4 second grade classes, I showed them my stash of sketches for the cover of Here Come the Humpbacks. I do LOTS of drawings! I also brought along my collection of natural objects, such as clam, mussel, and scallop shells, barnacles, sea urchins,...
Read MoreLand Forms Leap at Ocean Avenue Elementary
In the month since I drew with second graders at Ocean Avenue Elementary, my Side x Side colleague Pamela Moulton had been working with the students on creating sculptures of land forms based on their drawings and research. With every visit, the classes grew more curious about Professor Sneedlebaum. Good news! He would be stopping at the school on his way to a conference in Canada! She worked with the students to create a special celebration of their learning. Here she works out the sequence backstage on April 28 with Mia, intern art teacher and intrepid volunteer. How exciting when...
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