2015 Westbrook Woman's Club Exhibition

1st Place Winner:

Haleigh B., Acrylic on Canvas

The General Federation of Women's Clubs Maine, Westbrook Woman's Club hosted their annual Westbrook High School Art Show yesterday. This very special celebration, to honor our talented art students, was held at the Westbrook-Warren Congregational Church, 810 Main Street, Westbrook, Maine in the upstairs Fellowship Hall at 2:45 PM.

Light refreshments followed the presentation of awards.

Winners will go to the District Art Show: Saturday, April 11 th, 2015

Where: Cressey Methodist Church in Gorham

The top three winners from the district meeting will go

to the spring convention in Augusta May 7th and 8th

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First, I would like to thank Ms. Roberta Morrill and Westbrook Woman’s Club for graciously hosting this exhibition and event; and for their continued support of high quality arts education at Westbrook School Department, and more specifically, Westbrook High School.

I’d also like to recognize the efforts of Mrs. Debra Bickford and Mr. Matt Johnson for their dedication to outstanding teaching and learning in arts education. After all, what you see before you in an extensions of their labors and dedication to the students of Westbrook. I’d also like to thank them for their hard work, preparing student pieces for this exhibition. I know first hand that is no simply task. And, as always, they’ve gone above and beyond— each piece looks amazing.

I’d also like to thank Dr. Gousse, Dr. Lancia (and the leadership team at WSD) for their support of our student artists, as well as for their understanding of the unique relationship to the essentialness of arts education and student achievement.

As many of you know, March is Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month is a great time to reflect on the purpose and impact of art in education in our community as well as globally.

Years of research show that art is closely linked to almost everything that we as a school, district, and even nation say we want for our students—academic achievement, social and emotional development, civic engagement, and equitable opportunities.

Aside from what we already know about involvement in the arts being associated with gains in math, reading, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill—Art learning also improves motivation, concentration, confidence, and teamwork— they keys to success in 21st century learning.

The intrinsic pleasure and stimulation of the art experience does so much more than sweeten an individual's life— it adds value. And, we as educators and consumers of art, know art connects us all, more deeply, to the world around us: it opens our eyes to new ways of seeing.

Strong arts programming, like what is reflected here today through the great work of Westbrook High School students’ represents the subtle redefinition of what it means to educate a student in the arts today. It represents the notion that every child, in every school, in every community, must have access to a balanced, comprehensive, sequential, high quality, well-rounded arts program.

So it is our collected challenge, and our collected responsibility to continue to value and promote art education programming in this manner. To meet the challenge with community support and engagement in venues such as this, with events this powerful.

Again, I would like to thank all that attended, students, parents, teachers, leaders, community members, and the Westbrook Woman’s Club for supporting the arts as an essential component of of curriculum and community identity here in Westbrook, and for meeting and exceeding the challenges faced by arts education.

Finally, I’ll leave you with a quote from art education scholar Elliot Eisner, Eisner contends, “The ultimate aim of education is to enable individuals to become the architects of their own education…

The arts enable us to have experience we can have from no other source and through such experience to discover the range and variety of what we are capable of.

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2015 Women’s Club Selected Student Works

student name

title of work

medium

FS / NFS

Sierra Cameron

Church

pen and ink

FS / NFS

Jenessa Corbett

Violet Grid

watercolor

FS / NFS

Shammah Gohomera

Portrait Grid

watercolor

FS / NFS

Andrew Henward

Tree Grid

watercolor

FS / NFS

Jasmine Im

Flowers / Grid

watercolor

FS / NFS

Aymen Kahleel

Perspective Scape

Soft Pastel

FS / NFS

Alaa Makki

Turtle / Grid

watercolor

FS / NFS

Caitlin Morgan

Perspective Interior

pen and ink

FS / NFS

Savahna Plummer

Fish Eye

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Dominic Creenan

Boat in the Ocean

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Maeve Harnois

Fantasy Waterscape

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Kelly Maguire

Vase and Flowers

Graphite

FS / NFS

Alex Phelps

Fantasy City Scape

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Sumayo Shute

Mystical Girl

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Marion Webster

Elephants Fly

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Kelsey Cavanaugh

Fall Leaves

graphite

FS / NFS

Sadie Dorn

Sugar Skulls

pen and ink

FS / NFS

Haleigh Barrett

Hummingbird

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Emma Berry

American Flag

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Dana Ledue

London

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Chelsea Tuttle

Cats Eye

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Lizzie Stalling

Marbles

Charcoal

FS / NFS

23

Isaiah Gava

Squid

Acrylics

FS / NFS

Kaitlynn Hutchins

Ice Castle

Photography

FS / NFS

Lea Hisch

Depth Scape

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Cameryn LePierre

Waterscape

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Sreyneang Sok

Star Gazer Profile

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Kai McGee

Depth Scape

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Daniella Gilman

Planets

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Natalie Brackett

Hamsa Hand

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Hiba Ahmed

Sundae Dish

Graphite

FS / NFS

Hannah Griffin

Apples

Graphite

FS / NFS

Alisha Aube

Hamsa Hand

Pen and Ink

FS / NFS

Kelly Dyer

Marbles

Colored Pencil

FS / NFS

Noor Abulabas

Pitcher

Graphite

FS / NFS