By Kara McCrimmon

Last October, Cobscook Experiential Program (CEP) traveled through the lower Penobscot River Watershed, from Orono to Belfast, for a learning expedition on regional history and culture through the lens of the river. As part of that learning journey our students visited Linda G. and Donald N. Zillman Art Museum University of Maine (ZAM) and enjoyed a tour with executive director and curator George Kinghorn.

That visit was the catalyst for what’s now a year-long project with ZAM; Amber Roth, Assistant Professor of Forest Wildlife Management at University of Maine; and Cobscook Experiential Program.

“I was interested in learning more about you because I loved the kinds of questions you asked when you visited,” said George on a March 16th visit to Cobscook. “And then I heard about your model of education from your teachers, and when an opportunity came up in the university to work with a community partner, I knew exactly who I wanted to work with – you!”

During the spring semester, students are working to curate an exhibit on the work of Walter Rich, a renowned Maine artist known for his marine and bird illustrations. ZAM has a selection of those works on loan, and CEP

students are writing the captions that will accompany each work in the exhibit. That exhibit opens to the public on May 20th and will be on display in Bangor through August. “This project is profoundly exciting to me as an interdisciplinary educator,” says CEP director Kara McCrimmon. “Students will be writing short pieces that will be on display in public describing an artwork featuring a native Maine bird. This is a language arts, art, and biology project all rolled into one!”

In addition, students worked with museum educator and artist Rochelle Lawrence to create their own relief prints of Maine birds. Students researched Maine birds, picked one to illustrate, carved their images on linoleum blocks, and printed images over the course of a two-day workshop. “This project had several steps, which gave me an opportunity to focus on the details. It was a drawing project, and it was also a carving process. And unlike drawing or carving, this wasn’t a one and done project. With printmaking we could make more than one piece, and each time we could look deeply and think about the details. It really helped me think about the story of the piece, which I really liked,” described senior Emrys McDonald.

The community will be invited to view student prints, which will be on display in the Commons lobby from mid-April through May.