Welcome to Maine the Way Life Should Be
Welcome to Maine the Way Life Will Be
Monday, May 2, 2011
Wrap Up: Environmental Citizen
Currently there is an art exhibit in the hallway of 1B2B in the Student Activities Center. This is a finished prototype that will eventually be put up in Maine Audubon down in Falmouth, Maine. Students were very surprised to see this exhibit coming together; I think once they started making the art for it and we all started to put it together the class became one cohesive whole. They began to talk and work with one another and collaborate on what they think should or should not be done and by the last class on Thursday the 28th of April, we had a 99% finished exhibit standing.
Moving from the left to the right there are short student bios on their artworks, a sign that says "Welcome to Maine the Way Life Should Be" and then there is an introductory piece. This introductory piece has a drawn state of Maine map with some phrases from students on what Maine means to them. For example, one student said that "Maine is my rainbow" while another said "Maine is my sanctuary". Next is the first section of the exhibit; this includes art done by the students that portray how they feel about Maine and how they see it. Then there is a transition piece with students' human impact on the land observations from when they were watching their one acre of land earlier in the semester. And lastly is the second section of the exhibit with a sign that says "Welcome to Maine the Way Life Will Be". This second section has three panels with three different regulations and reforms from LePage's Phase 1 Acts and Reforms. Each regulation has several different pieces of artwork to show how the students think life in Maine will be affected by the reforms. For example, one art piece shown in the pesticides and toxins regulations is this:
It shows how the pesticides and toxins when leaked into the water could affect local fish populations if it doesn't kill them.
A lot of different mediums were used in the making, including different types of paints, charcoal and ink drawings, collages, sculpture and photography. Even live plants were integrated into the display. We are hoping that this exhibit will provoke people to contact their local senator or take action against LePage's reforms. At the end of the exhibit is a list of contact information for all the VIPs in the different towns throughout Maine.
Moving from the left to the right there are short student bios on their artworks, a sign that says "Welcome to Maine the Way Life Should Be" and then there is an introductory piece. This introductory piece has a drawn state of Maine map with some phrases from students on what Maine means to them. For example, one student said that "Maine is my rainbow" while another said "Maine is my sanctuary". Next is the first section of the exhibit; this includes art done by the students that portray how they feel about Maine and how they see it. Then there is a transition piece with students' human impact on the land observations from when they were watching their one acre of land earlier in the semester. And lastly is the second section of the exhibit with a sign that says "Welcome to Maine the Way Life Will Be". This second section has three panels with three different regulations and reforms from LePage's Phase 1 Acts and Reforms. Each regulation has several different pieces of artwork to show how the students think life in Maine will be affected by the reforms. For example, one art piece shown in the pesticides and toxins regulations is this:
It shows how the pesticides and toxins when leaked into the water could affect local fish populations if it doesn't kill them.A lot of different mediums were used in the making, including different types of paints, charcoal and ink drawings, collages, sculpture and photography. Even live plants were integrated into the display. We are hoping that this exhibit will provoke people to contact their local senator or take action against LePage's reforms. At the end of the exhibit is a list of contact information for all the VIPs in the different towns throughout Maine.
Internship Presentation
On April 27 I gave my internship presentation to Tom Mullin's Interpretive Methods class. Overall it went well; it was roughly 25 minutes long and I think the students got something out of it. I had honestly forgotten that I had to do a presentation as one of the final steps to the internship, but luckily Tom Mullin reminded me and I had time to prepare. However, I only went in with four power point slides, a handout for the class, and an article for the CMBG portion of the talk. When Tom asked me to do the presentation I thought to myself "what do I even say?" The reason for that is because we are still waiting to hear back from the director of CMBG on what she wants. The whole process for the past two months has been giving her what she asks for and then she turns around and decides she wants something different. Currently and most recently, she has finished texts from us but she doesn't want any graphics for her graphic designer to get ideas from, and she asked Catherine and I to come up with some inter-actives. At the beginning phase of all this she did not want graphics because they were going to be too expensive. So in my preparation for my presentation I had not idea how to explain what we were doing and had done because as of right now it is an unfinished process.
For the part when I talked about being the teacher's assistant for the Environmental Citizen class I simply took the class into the hall where the finished exhibit is being shown right now. I think having the exhibit in front of the class instead of just pictures was better overall for the students because they could actually see a finished product of the work that I was explaining. It was also good because it allowed for the students to ask more questions and to give feedback on it as a prototype.
For the part when I talked about being the teacher's assistant for the Environmental Citizen class I simply took the class into the hall where the finished exhibit is being shown right now. I think having the exhibit in front of the class instead of just pictures was better overall for the students because they could actually see a finished product of the work that I was explaining. It was also good because it allowed for the students to ask more questions and to give feedback on it as a prototype.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Speaking of Environmental Citizen,
The classes have been going well. While Cindy was gone I met with the class on the assigned class days and we worked together on the exhibit for Maine Audubon. The first segment of the exhibit will show deep connection and belief in the power of the Maine landscape. This first section of artwork will capture the sense of place and the spirit of Maine the way it is now. It will set the stage for visitors. It will remind visitors of their own connection and love for Maine. It nicely fits the mission of Maine Audubon. For this section we have a wall that is 10 feet long and 8 feet tall. A couple of students will be doing short documentary movies for this section. The other students have decided that they will place their artwork in windows or old window frames. This will give visitors the perspective of looking out their windows at Maine the way the students perceive it. Photography, painting, and drawing will be incorporated, and maybe even a car door.
The second segment of the exhibit will incorporate LePage's Phase 1 Regulatory Reform Proposals. Students will create a second piece of art that show how these reforms will weaken or eliminate environmental laws passed in 2000-2010. On April 2nd, the class will be taking a field trip to the Portland Art Museum and the branch of Maine Audubon where the exhibit will be placed.
Today the class will be meeting in the art gallery here on campus. I'm not sure what Cindy has up her sleeve but it will be interesting to find out.....
The second segment of the exhibit will incorporate LePage's Phase 1 Regulatory Reform Proposals. Students will create a second piece of art that show how these reforms will weaken or eliminate environmental laws passed in 2000-2010. On April 2nd, the class will be taking a field trip to the Portland Art Museum and the branch of Maine Audubon where the exhibit will be placed.
Today the class will be meeting in the art gallery here on campus. I'm not sure what Cindy has up her sleeve but it will be interesting to find out.....
A Realization:
The other week when I was thinking about writing some entries for this, I realized that while I was supposed to be writing daily reflective entries with photographs, I haven't been doing that. Upon further reflection I realized that I can't do those kind of entries because we haven't been doing work consecutively like I thought we would be. We don't meet everyday and there hasn't been anything to take pictures of.
When I started this internship I was under the assumption that I would be working on this project everyday and that it would be much more time consuming than it actually has been. I was even planning on writing down the hours that I worked on the project, but I haven't been doing that either. I figure that because Catherine, Cindy and I meet at least once to twice a week, and when Cindy is away, we communicate via email, that I will have logged the appropriate amount of hours by the end of the semester. Of course yesterday Catherine and I learned that Cindy is leaving just after the middle of April for good; she is moving to Detroit!!! So we need to have everything wrapped up by then. I wonder how the Env Citizen class is going to end......
When I started this internship I was under the assumption that I would be working on this project everyday and that it would be much more time consuming than it actually has been. I was even planning on writing down the hours that I worked on the project, but I haven't been doing that either. I figure that because Catherine, Cindy and I meet at least once to twice a week, and when Cindy is away, we communicate via email, that I will have logged the appropriate amount of hours by the end of the semester. Of course yesterday Catherine and I learned that Cindy is leaving just after the middle of April for good; she is moving to Detroit!!! So we need to have everything wrapped up by then. I wonder how the Env Citizen class is going to end......
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Now That Cindy Is In One Place For A Few Seconds....
Today the three of us met for an a hour and a half to go over the three different versions of all the signs. We got through a decent chunk but by 1:30 were not able to focus anymore so we adjourned. Instead Cindy is going to make one big thing of all the versions and then send it to me and Catherine one at a time. We will add/edit stuffs and pass it on to the next person, depending on who gets it first. This way we will have only one document floating around cyber space instead of three different ones.
Cindy's son, Jake, drew up designs for the plants we want on the signs, We are doing a birch tree, blueberry bush, beach pea and the Bosarge center with a tree coming out of the center of the building (this design will be used for the LEED Platinum sign). They look awesome!
Cindy's son, Jake, drew up designs for the plants we want on the signs, We are doing a birch tree, blueberry bush, beach pea and the Bosarge center with a tree coming out of the center of the building (this design will be used for the LEED Platinum sign). They look awesome!
Monday, March 28, 2011
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