An art teacher can end up wearing an assortment of hats! School teacher With credentials in Elementary Education, secondary French and Spanish and Art Specialist (preschool to grade 12), I taught three years in White Plains, NY and a fourth in San Francisco, CA before settling in Maine. For 20 years, I traveled by boat a day a week to teach in the one-room schoolhouse on Isle au Haut and for several years taught in Frenchboro on another outer island as well.
Touring Artist In 1993, the Maine Arts Commission included me in its roster of Touring Artists. I have worked in over 50 schools in Maine, offering school residencies and in-service professional development for staff. Residencies may last a day or a week; they may target a single grade level or an entire school system--faculty, administration and students (i.e. School Union 122 residency cited in an MAC publication on exemplary inclusionary practices.)
Conference Presenter I have been invited to present at a number of conferences in New England: for arts educators, librarians, artists, foreign language teachers. In 1998, I taught a workshop at the Science, Mathematics and Technology Education National Conference at the Park School, Baltimore, MD.
Private Instructor For seven years, I ran a state-licensed bilingual preschool and program for home-schooled children in a cottage behind my home. I worked with dedicated children afterschool through the school year and had faithful groups of adults for periods of several years.
Mentor We were fortunate on Deer Isle to have organizations such as Haystack Moutain School of Crafts and the Healthy Island Project which sponsor mentoring projects in local artists' studios. One is for area youth (grades 11 and 12) who are especially motivated and responsible students. Another seeks to bridge the island community with the community of artists on Deer Isle by offering a series of classes free of charge.
Community Artist / Volunteer Venues are abundant for working as an artist in the community: I have worked in hospitals, churches, school and summer festivals and a number of community arts programs.
In 1998, I was awarded an Arts and Healing Community Grant for one of nine projects nationwide funded by the Institute for Noetic Sciences. My year-long project was entitled Deer Isle: A Whole Island Celebration.
Administrator and Arts Advocate I have served on boards and staffs of various arts organizations, holding such titles as president of the local artists association, education coordinator of the Maine Crafts Association and executive director of the Hancock County Cultural Network.