University of Maine Art Education Community Outreach

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AED 474/ 574:  Our Projects

These projects are possible through the generous support from grants from the Maine Humanities Council, the University of Maine McGillicuddy Humanities Center and the Dept of Art.

 

Service to Bangor Land Trust’s Edible Landscape Project

Our coursework this year has a particular focus on learning Indigenous perspectives and becoming mindful of Indigenous wisdom.  In our pre-term reading, Braiding Sweetgrass, by Robin Wall Kimmerer, we were introduced to concepts such as reciprocity among all life, and the role of plants as both teacher and life sustainer.  We came to appreciate the wisdom of acknowledging human beings as an integral part of life on Earth; each life form affecting the others by virtue of our own gifts and responsibilities.  Kathy Pollard, of Know Your Land Consulting and project leader for Bangor Land Trust’s Edible Landscape Project, spoke to our class about the Land Trust’s role in the preservation of Maine wilderness and its inhabitants by conserving land threatened by development surrounding the critically important Penjajawoc Marsh habitat in Bangor, and improving wildlife habitat through this project. Within this space, an abundance of sustainable food-producing permaculture plants such as blackberry bushes, walnut trees, and highbush blueberries will grow alongside existing plant life, to increase the abundance of food for all, including human visitors. Given the wild nature of Bangor Land Trust’s preserves totaling 800 acres, educational materials will be key in helping people wishing to partake in the free food to identify which foods are edible.  As a service to the Edible Landscape Project, and through the lens of plants as teachers, we are creating a series of botanical drawings which will be used in strategically placed signage throughout the landscape, aiding visitors in identifying the copious edible berries, nuts, greens, and grains. In acknowledgement that this conserved land is part of the extensive Penobscot Nation Homeland, Penobscot Elder and Language Keeper Carol Dana, will render Penobscot language words for each permaculture plant so that signage will be bilingual.

 

BDN Article about the Edible Landscape: https://bangordailynews.com/2019/09/10/act-out/bangor-trails-to-become-edible-landscapes-abundant-in-berries-nuts-and-fruit/

 

Educational Outreach to Educational Community

At heart, we are teachers.  Our mission, passion, and gift/responsibility lie in the process of learning and the myriad consequences thereof.  It’s the lighting of a fire, the pebble in the pond; it’s what we do. As a result of the current COVID-19 distancing our teaching project plans have significantly changed. However, the spirit of our intention to serve the teaching profession remains. We have been working on remote lessons that will be shared not only on the UMAECO Wix site, but with the original school children, local chapter of the Maine Art Education Association (Art in the Heart), and the Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator in the Maine Dept. of Education. 

 

In these cross-curricular sessions, we will partner with Kathy Pollard, of Know Your Land Consulting, project leader Bangor Land Trust’s Edible Landscape Project, to facilitate learning experiences in both sustainable planting and visual arts.  We hope to foster an understanding of the reciprocity that exists in human/ non-human relationships and encourage the development of visual perception.  In these difficult times, it is perhaps even more important to renew our connections with each other and with the natural world. Further, we are raising awareness of our local conservation efforts (Bangor Land Trust, and Edible Landscape Project), and doing our small part to provide some comfort and relief to those teaching and learning from home at this time.

 

Gratitude

Many thanks to Kathy Pollard, for her invaluable insight on human-land reciprocity and advice on how best to serve Bangor Land Trust’s Edible Landscape Project.

 

Our deep appreciation to Penobscot Elder and Language Keeper, Carol Dana, for her contributions to our botanical identification signage, that all may know the names of those whose gifts we enjoy when we visit the Edible Landscape.

 

Thank you to our local schools and local Art Teachers.  Without their efforts and participation, the scope of our educational outreach would not be possible!