Arts in Education

Bringing new ways of learning — and teaching — to Maine schools

The Maine Arts Commission's Partners in Arts & Learning program works to make arts education part of every Maine student's education, every day.


	A drawing created by a student after Mohamed Kalifa Camara's residency.

In-school artist residencies are one of the most exciting ways the program meets this goal.

Through the residencies, artists work in particular schools or school districts for an extended period of time - anywhere from a few days to several weeks. They teach dance, visual art, music, storytelling and more to students and teachers.

Maine School Administrative District 57 has been involved in the Partners in Arts & Learning program since 1999. The program has helped to bring a wide range of artists into the five elementary schools in the Southern Maine district: Line Elementary School, Shapleigh Memorial School, Waterboro Elementary School, Alfred Elementary School and Lyman Elementary School. All third graders in the district participate in the workshops. The artists and students often create a final performance to present to their school and community at the end of the residency.

Maine Arts Commission staff recently asked diana tomasello waterman, chair of the district's Partners in Arts & Learning committee and music teacher for two of the district's schools, what the program has meant for students and teachers in the district.

Q - Who are some of the artists who have visited the schools in your area?

A - Mohamed Kalifa Camara, an African dancer and drummer spent three solid weeks in residence in 2000, together with his brother Fode. Doctor Ann Ross — we called her "Dr. Dance" — taught Australian stick dancing in 2001. In the fall of 2002, the Wright Brothers taught students to balance feathers, twirl plates, juggle scarves and create illusions. In 2003 we had Barbara Gail and Jeff Hanna from the Rhythm Inlet, who shared percussion instruments from around the world. Our 2004 artist-in-residence is Calvin Earl, a musician, storyteller, dancer and historian. He will be teaching our students about the music and oral history of African American slaves in his clinic and concert, called Gifts From My Ancestors.


	Students work with Mohamed Kalifa Camara to prepare their costumes for a performance of traditional Guinean dance. Photo courtesy of School Administrative District 57.

Q - How did your first artist residency affect the others?

A - Mohamed performed himself and then worked with the students, teaching them about the traditional costumes from Guinea. The students learned drumming concepts and were taught to listen for changes in the rhythm and to change their improvised dance steps with the changes in the music. They also learned how drum and dance were part of communication in the culture of West Africa, as contrasted with the western concept of patterns and choreography. Teachers also came up to learn the dances and the kids loved seeing that.

Each child was coached in the final, costumed choreographed piece. A very interesting point in the residency with Mohamed happened when it came time for the students to put on their costumes for the performance. Mohamed had earned such respect with the students that all hesitancy and embarrassment was absent when the third-graders put on the costumes, including the lapas, which is a traditional West African wrap worn around the hips. Mohamed was really thrilling and he set a precedent for what we came to expect and look for in subsequent residencies. Today everyone knows what a Partners in Arts & Learning artist does and they look forward to it.

Q - How have teachers and students responded to the program?

A - Teachers continually tell me of things they have done in their classes because of their experience with the Partners in Arts & Learning program. Months after one of the residencies, one teacher took it upon herself to have all the kids make rhythm instruments to use in her class.

Our experience emphasizes how important it is to correlate learning with the arts. Feedback from the teachers mentions how the residencies not only coordinated with the third grade curriculum but also helped to meet the Maine learning standards in several areas including social studies, dance, theater, music and performance.

One reason the program works so well is because the artists are coming into the classroom to help the teacher teach the arts. The teachers that get the most out of the programs are the ones that participate along with the kids.

In the questionnaires that we handed out after the residencies, one teacher commented that the program allows the class to bond quickly. And because it's done in September, it helps teachers to get to know students on a different level. The kids are always asking, "When can we have them back again?"