Art Education Students, Shaw House Team Up for Fundraising Project

University of Maine students in an advanced art education course are facilitating an art-making and fundraising project to aid the purchase of musical instruments for a Bangor organization that works with youth who are homeless or are at risk of becoming homeless.

Students in Constant Albertson’s Topics in Art Education class are teaching teen Shaw House residents how to use art in a beneficial way. UMaine students are helping the youth make ceramic pins that will be sold for $5 at The Rock and Art Shop and Metropolitan Soul in downtown Bangor. All proceeds will go to the Shaw House to buy instruments for the many residents who take music lessons from the staff and volunteers.

The UMaine students involved in the art service learning project are Charlotte Gaylord, Julie Roach and Lowansa Sprague Tompkins. The goal of the future art teachers is to work collaboratively in the community to spread knowledge while inspiring creative, positive action.

Last year, students in the class created and sold ceramic mugs to support educational programs for children at Hirundo Wildlife Refuge in Alton, Maine.