Kristen Levesque
Director of Marketing and Public Relations
Seven Congress Square
Portland, Maine 04101
(207) 775-6148 ext. 3223
klevesque@portlandmuseum.org
Release: May 3, 2007
Portland Museum of Art’s Education Initiative Receives Award
(Portland, Maine) The Portland Museum of Art’s educational initiative Look at ME: Reading Art and Stories with the Portland Museum of Art has been awarded the 2007 Excellence in Published Resources Award by the American Association of Museum’s Standing Professional Committee on Education. This award recognizes outstanding publications and multimedia project that are based upon the professional standards of accessibility, accountability, and advocacy to serve teachers, families, children or adults. Look at ME received the award as a superb example of resources developed for teachers based on the professional standards outlined in Excellence in Practice: Museum Education Standards and Principles.
A curriculum book and poster set, Look at ME was written in 2005 in partnership with 22 kindergarten, first, and second grade teachers from across southern Maine. Look at ME integrates language arts and visual arts lessons aligned with the state-mandated Maine Learning Results by pairing 11 works of art from the Museum’s collection with high-quality children’s books, building visual and verbal literacy for young students. The Look at ME project included professional development workshops for teachers, innovative integrated curriculum design, and an exhibition of student artwork. The Museum also produced Look at ME Kid Cards, a set of six interactive family guides for use in the Museum’s galleries based on the Look at ME works of art.
Look at ME completes the Museum’s K-8 curriculum series which includes Looking to Learn (winner of the 2003 Excellence in Published Resources Award), for grades 3, 4, and 5; and ACCESS, for grades 6, 7, and 8, with its companion interactive website, AccessOnline.
Teachers and schools who participated in Look at ME are: Lyseth Elementary School (Ellen Hanelman and Heidi Almy, teachers), Presumpscot Elementary School (Sally Rodstrom and Beth Linevitch, teachers), Breakwater School (Kelly McConnell and Judy Kennedy, teachers) in Portland; Woodside Elementary School (Brian McPherson and Kathleen Carey, teachers) in Topsham; Mildred L. Day School (Audrey Grumbling and Cathy Bansmer, teachers) in Arundel; Fairview School (Melinda Rose and Kathy Martin, teachers) in Auburn; Harpswell Island School (Betsey Bailey and Pamela Estrella, teachers) in Harpswell Island; Stevens Brook Elementary School (Cathy Grigsby and Pamela Anderson, teachers) in Bridgton; North Berwick Primary School (Bonnie D’Abate and Stephanie Morneault, teachers) in Berwick; Village Elementary School (Althea Woolf and Josette Ceglia, teachers) in York; and Great Salt Bay School (Karen Hight and Paula Spector, teachers) in Damariscotta.
Founded in 1906, the American Association of Museums is the largest cultural organization representing the museum industry. It serves more than 17,000 members, including museum professionals and a wide variety of cultural and science institutions from historical societies to botanical gardens and art museums. Since 1983, the Standing Professional Committee on Education has recognized outstanding contributions to museum education by individual practitioners and museums offering distinguished programs and published resources. Three Awards of Excellence will be presented at the 2007 AAM annual meeting in Chicago on May 13.
Museum Information
The Portland Museum of Art is located at Seven Congress Square in downtown Portland. The Museum is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday, and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Friday. Memorial Day through Columbus Day, the Museum is open on Mondays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Museum admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors and students with I.D., $4 for youth ages 6 to 17, and children under 6 are free. The Museum is free on Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Museum Cafe and Store. For more information, call (207) 775-6148. Web site www.portlandmuseum.org.