Blogs → Just Looking: New England Art →
Practicing What They Preach
Art Teacher Art at the Saco Museum
by Edgar Allen Beem
Photo courtesy Maine Art Educators Association
Photo courtesy Maine Art Educators Association
Photo courtesy Maine Art Educators Association
Photo courtesy Maine Art Educators Association
When I was in public school in the early 1960s, art education was a redoubt of nonconformists. And that seemed to me a good thing. In a school system where everything was about the system - rank, class, grades, discipline, standards, dress codes - art class was about freedom and individuality. Our male art teacher was obviously gay and our female art teacher was something of a bohemian, given to wildly colorful scarves and ostentatious hair ornaments. Their mere presence in the midst of so much buttoned-down conformity suggested to me that there was life outside and after high school.
Art educators these days, when "thinking outside the box" has become a clichéd cultural norm and everyone tends to think of him/herself as an individualist, still serve much the same function as exemplars of and advocates for creativity. School systems give a great deal of lip service to honoring different kinds of intelligence, but the emphasis is still rigorously academic - math, science, languages, etc. The arts are extras. Ten years ago, when my oldest daughter wanted to drop a history course to take woodworking, school administrators frowned on the idea, but she eventually got into Rhode Island School of Design based largely on the lovely segmented wooden bowls she made in woodshop.
Art teachers are a potent and important part of any well-rounded secondary education, but I have a feeling they are not always as valued as they should be, especially as artists in their own rights. For that reason, I thought this week I'd call attention to "Practice What We Preach: Work by Maine Art Educators" at the Saco Museum. "Practice What We Preach" (January 16 to March 19) will feature art by some 70 members of the 232-member Maine Art Educators Association.
The MAEA show is an open invitational organized by Allison Price, an art teacher at Brunswick High School. Certain school systems, among them Brunswick, neighboring Topsham, Saco, and Waterville seem well represented, while others are less so. From the images I have seen online, the work varies as greatly in ambition as in medium, but all are evidence of the studio practices of artists who are full-time educators, ranging from a professor of art education at the University of Southern Maine to art teachers in public and private secondary and elementary schools all over the state.
"This show," writes exhibition chair Allison Price, "emphasizes the importance of our practicing what we preach to our students- to be curious, to experiment, to stay in pursuit, and to be fearless!"
But a few examples. Dan Dearing of Brunswick High School contributes a sweet acrylic on canvas painting of a little girl engrossed in a book. Barbara Berry-Palm of Brunswick Junior High shows a colorful fish motif fiber wall hanging. Christine DelRossi of Mt. Ararat Middle School in Topsham is represented by an organic abstraction in colored pencil. Maura McHugh, also of Mt. Ararat Middle School, exhibits a strong oilstick drawing from her extensive series on horses. And, just a guess here, Meryl Ruth of Deering High School in Portland will likely show some of the whimsical porcelain teapots for which she is well known.
The Saco Museum is emerging under director Jessica Skwire Routhier as an important venue for exhibitions in which the museum collaborates with outside groups to bring bodies of work to public attention. Recent past shows have included collaborations with Pastel Painters of Maine, New England Wax, Peregrine Press, Maine Literacy Volunteers Network, and VSA Arts of Maine (formerly Very Special Arts). The Maine Art Educators Association exhibition is both a celebration of some under-appreciated soldiers in the army of art and a commendable public service.
[Saco Museum, 371 Main St., Saco, ME, 207-283-3861.]
Reader Comments
Comment from Janet Peters on January 25, 2010
As a former resident of Maine, we have enjoyed Jill Hoy's work for many years and several of her paintings grace the walls of our home. We look forward to seeing Eric Hopkin's work and perhaps adding one of his pieces to our collection of Maine coastal art. (Read Ed Beem's blog entry, "Two of Maine's Most Popular Painters," for more information.)
Registered users can add comments.
Registration is free, and just takes a moment.
Login or Register.