Portland, Maine — To mark the end of a year-long arts project, the Ocean Avenue Elementary School PTO will hold an Arts Celebration on Wednesday, May 29 at 6:30 p.m. The event will feature songs written by students with the help of award-winning singer-songwriter Emilia Dahlin, dance performances led by Lisa Hicks, the longtime director of the dance program at Portland Arts and Technology High School, readings from the Dolphin Press, the school magazine led by writer Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, and student artwork. The Arts Celebration is free and open to the public.

The year-long arts project, “Model, Create, Perform, Celebrate,” included workshops in dance, writing, songwriting, and performance:

• Dahlin visited music classes throughout the year and, in collaboration with teacher Dr. Paul McGovern, helped students write their own songs.
• In addition to Dahlin’s work, made possible by a partnership with the Maine Academy of Modern Music, several local bands and musicians—including the Fogcutters and hip-hop artist Sontiago—visited the school throughout the year to perform and talk about music.
• Writer and illustrator Anne Sibley O’Brien visited OAES for two days to share her work and talk about writing and illustrating stories. 
• Writer and school parent Gibson Fay-LeBlanc led afterschool writing workshops and helped students produce three issues of Dolphin Press, a school magazine featuring student stories, poems, artwork, interviews, reviews, comics, editorials and more. 
• Dance instructor and school parent Lisa Hicks led a series of workshops linking literacy and dance throughout the year. 
• Award-winning teaching artist Gretchen Berg will be leading a series of performance residencies with the third grade in June, helping students to create their own performances synthesizing what they’ve learned about Portland this year.

All of this work was made possible by a generous grant from the Maine Arts Commission’s SMART (Schools Make Art Relevant Today) Program. “Model, Create, Perform, Celebrate” was created by the PTO as a way to enhance teaching in and through the arts at OAES and to help bring a new school community together.