Tag: Hampton National Historic Site

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Hampton National Historic Site Art

Watercolor Workshop

On Sunday, I taught an online watercolor workshop as a fundraiser for Hampton National Historic Site, through Historic Hampton Inc.

This was our first zoom art workshop, and I have to say it went really well. There were 19 participants that created beautiful paintings of spring flowers, inspired by the watercolor paintings of Helen Ridgely.

Helen Ridgely’s Watercolor Paintings

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In many ways, this lady was a model of the modern woman during her time. It was said that she could work at the farm tending chickens all morning, go back to the Mansion and change clothes, then catch the train for Washington and have tea at the White House with her friends, the President and Mrs. Theodore Roosevelt.

She traveled independently, continued her studies, managed the estate and its finances, formed her own opinions and expressed them openly, was active in civic endeavors, kept an apartment in Baltimore, was Chair of the Ladies Auxiliary for the Maryland Delegation to the 1907 Jamestown Exposition, had a telephone installed in the mansion, and learned to drive an automobile.

She took great interest in the natural world, whether depicting landscapes nearby and abroad; in the science of botany, taking courses in the subject; managing, reorganizing and enhancing the formal gardens at Hampton with an astonishing array of varieties; participating in gardening clubs, including founding the Amateur Gardeners; or simply observing local plants and flowers. She used her great interest and knowledge to manage the flower and vegetable gardens, orchards, and trees at Hampton. Years later, Helen was awarded a Diploma from the prestigious Maryland Academy of Sciences based on her studies and achievements in botany and horticulture which she had put into practice at Hampton.

https://historichampton.org/

After discussing Helen Ridgely and looking closer at her watercolor paintings, we dove into watercolor tips and techniques. Participants became familiar with different ways to use watercolor and everyone created their own flower paintings.

Thank you to everyone who participated, and thank you to HHI board for being such a wonderful team to work with! Together we raised almost $400 for Hampton!

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Hampton Art Experience

For the past 6 years the Historic Hampton Inc. non-profit has hosted an art show for any Maryland students and teachers to submit work inspired by Hampton National Historic Park.  It was always a wonderful show, however this year we decided to work with BCPS Visual Arts office to create our first Hampton Art Experience at the historic site.  I took my 8th grade GT students!

Teachers in Baltimore County signed up to bring 20 of their students to the Hampton mansion for a full day art experience.  Students rotated between 2 of the 3 art stations which included:

  • Gardens & Light where students learned about the history of horticulture at Hampton Mansion, and about the properties of light as they created cyanotypes using natural objects located on site.
  • Understanding Architecture where students learned about the history of the architecture and engineering at Hampton Mansion, and were able to work on creating their own mansion, or recreating the Hampton Mansion in a drawing like an architect.
  • Fibers on the Farm where students learned about life on the Farm at Hampton Mansion and used fibers to create artworks that were inspired by Hampton.

My students attended the Understanding Architecture station, lead by architect Anne Boyce and Gretchen Maneval.

and Gardens & Light station, lead by Carroll Cook.

On Saturday, the student work was on display in the orangery for a reception.  Families were able to come and see their students work, as well as take a tour of the Mansion!

This was by far the best art experience and we are looking forward to hosting our second experience next year.

<3

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Plein Air Painting

For the first three days of summer break, I participated in a Baltimore County Public Schools Art Educator workshop at the Hampton National Historic Site.

The first workshop was “Painting with Pastels. We got an overview of some of the history of the site prior to choosing where and what to create and were able to roam where we pleased to create art inspired by the park.

We gathered together around 2pm to discuss all of the work we’ve created! The workshop was scheduled to be over at 3 but we didn’t even finish our talk until 3:40! Art teachers really like to discuss each others work.

 

The next workshop was Plein Air Painting for 2 days! The weather was gorgeous and I surely got some vitamin D. I love being able to create art inspired by a place I am drawn to. The Hampton National Historic Site is one of those places. Baltimore County Teachers have come to Hampton for the past 4 years to practice our skills using our very own National Park.  Most teachers use this workshop to create their own art for the Student/Teacher Art Exhibit the Hampton Historic Inc. facilitates in April. Teachers also take their inspiration back to their classroom and teach their students about Hampton while creating art that is inspired by the site.

Last year there were over 100 submissions into the 4th Annual Student/Teacher Art Exhibit. This is a perfect opportunity for teachers and students to be recognized for their amazing work.

This year I decided to do an intuitive painting for the plein air workshop. I used tools, and my color combination layer to create an emotionally fill painting.

When I first started painting I was drawn to the Bee Balm flowers, so I started with them in mind. After making my first two layers of colors I noticed a mark that looked like a woman! I knew I had to keep her, as I felt like maybe she was Eliza Ridgely or her daughter.

 

Eliza Ridgely was an avid gardener, and in the 1830s and 1840s she improved the gardens and enhanced the landscape at Hampton, planting exotic trees such as the Lebanon Cedar which still stands on the house’s south lawn. She is said to have brought this herself as a seedling from Europe, carrying it in a shoebox. She did a lot for her slaves, was which was unheard of in her time. She took care to make sure they were clothed, fed, given gifts during Christmas, church services on Sunday and even marriages between the slaves, not caring that slaves weren’t able to actually be apart of a civil act.

Eliza’s daughter, Eliza, did not want to be the lady of the house and take over the duties her mother had so willingly adopted. Her daughter wanted to be friends with the slaves, and to be free to be a normal girl. She felt trapped in the life she was born into.

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While I was painting I kept hearing, “everyone has a story.” A lot of times the major story focused on at the mansion is the story of the enslaved people at Hampton. I appreciate the awareness and knowledge I gain from the park rangers about the life of the enslaved. I know their story is vital to the Ridgely family history… without their slaves, life for the Ridgely’s wouldn’t have been the same. But it is also important to see that within every experience, there are multiple perspectives, there are multiple stories to be told.

The Ojibwe teach that not one road is higher than the next…that each road shines light on the others. Each of our perspectives, each of our stories are valuable and vital to the totality of our life experiences.

I am grateful to be able to learn multiple perspectives about the history of the Hampton National Historic Site, from life as an enslaved person to the life of the family. I am able to learn about plants, flowers and landscaping along with art and culture in the 1800’s. There is still much to uncover and learn about Hampton and I look forward to how the history at this location resonates with experiences I have in my life.

<3 Migwetch
Raine Dawn

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Schools out in 20 days!

I can hardly believe that this school year will be over in 20 days!
This year has been full of adventure for me and my students.

I realize looking back, that there was a lot that I have not written about!
Here’s a little update on all the amazing work my students have been doing!

Two of my students won prizes in the Anti-Drug Poster Contest held by the Baltimore County States Attorney’s Office.  Sophia won First place in the middle school division and is featured in the 2017-2018 Anti-Drug poster calendar, and Kathy won recognition and is featured on a poster made up of honorable mention art posters.

Two of my students won prizes in the 5th Annual Hampton Mansion Student/Teacher Art Exhibit hosted by the Historic Hampton Inc.! We have the pleasure of being the namesake middle school of the Hampton National Historic Site, as the Ridgely Family owned most of the land surrounding our area. Our mascot is the stag because the family’s crest from England had a stag in it.

My 8th grade gifted and talented art students were asked to paint our school’s steel drums to make them more aesthetically pleasing! They did an awesome job!

We had a great Arts in Action night this year!! There were lots of changes to how we used to do things, but it turned out fantastic! We had a juried art exhibit in the art hallway, a community Flower of Life mural, paper weaving positive intentions, and decorative tile making.

So many amazing things happen here in our ART world!!

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Finding The Story

A few Fridays ago I was given the opportunity to take my GT art students to Hampton National Historic Site to see plays that were being put on by students at The Baltimore School for the Arts. Sophomores at the school are asked to develop a project that shows history through drama. These students used the Hampton National Historic Site for historic research and inspiration to create plays based on the theme “Find your Park.”

 

 

My 8th grade students enjoyed watching the plays, and hearing from the students afterwards about everything that went into completing their project. The quality of the story line, character profiles and costumes made this an amazing event to attend. Thank you so much for sharing this wonderful experience with Ridgely Middle School.

 

 

 

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Painting with Paul session 1

A few teachers attended the first ever teacher workshop at Hampton National Historic Site. At this workshop, teachers were given a tour of the mansion and grounds, an adaptable lesson plan, as well as a presentation from our first ever artist in residence, Paul Moscatt. After the workshop we decided as an extra bonus, teachers would have two sessions with our artist in residence, to learn some techniques as artists which we can inturn share with our students.

The first painting day with Paul was on January 31st, 2016. Three of the teachers were in attendance, and created three beautiful paintings of a costume model in order to help us with our narrative ideas for our Hampton inspired paintings. These paintings will be submitted into the HHI juried student/teacher art exhibit in April!

When we first arrived at Paul’s studio it was like I was in a movie. The elevator in this older warehouse transformed into an amazing LLC. Cork Building that artists of multiple styles call home.

Paul is gracious host, providing us with coffee and coconut chocolate bars in the morning when we arrived.  We talked for a little while about his studio space, and his ambitious and artistic daughter. He even had prosciutto ham bread with olives for lunch!

Painting model Deviana was such a pleasure. The atmosphere of the studio, along with Paul’s ability to teach new techniques in a manner that gets an artist excited about painting. He has a genuine enthusiasm for the act of painting that is contagious.

Thank you, Paul, for a wonderful day of learning and painting! Looking forward to our next paint session on February 28th, 2016.

 

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Reflect and Create again

2015 was a year of progress, it felt as though I sprinted to the end! Everything moved forward and fast.

I like to write down all of the amazing things I’ve done in an ending year as  a reminder to be grateful for what I have and to be excited for what’s to come in the new year.

As I sit here and make a list in my head, I realize I did a lot in 2015.

Such beautiful art!

I taught amazing adults how to let their creative self out and go with the flow. Meeting so many new people and making some really close friends.

The networking I did at events opened up doors and gave me new inspiration. My creativity really exploded into making new pieces of art and selling a lot of it.

I’ve learned that I really enjoy making grow with me chalkboards, and personalized art. Looking to make more art in 2016 and really market my work as well as my abilities as an artist and an instructor.

I see many opportunities to share what I know with people everywhere and amplify the creative energy in the world! In April I will be teaching a continuing education dreamcatcher class at Catonsville Community College, and have been asked to do a dreamcatcher workshop at a friends yoga studio. In July I will be teaching two classes during summer camp at the community college as well.

Brass Performance Hall

There were a few unexpected professional development travels. In March I went to the National Art Education Association Convention, and learned all about new art supplies and networked with new friends from twitter. The 2016 NAEA convention will be held in Chicago on Saint Patrick’s day weekend…and I will be there! I have already registered for the artisan gallery where art educators set up and sell their personal work! I visited Fort Worth Texas in June for the Balfour Advisor Workshop and Malibu California in July to attend the Balfour Ignite Journalism Workshop. I am also looking to take some students to Malibu this year for the workshop!

This year I had the privilege to become a new board member for Historic Hampton Inc.. So far this experience has been one of the best, working with amazing people to represent art and education at a national historic site! We’ve teamed up with our first artist in residence, wrote an arts integrated lesson plan to use with the site as well as held our first artist educator workshop! There is so much to look forward to in 2016…another artist educator workshop before spring, and a painting day with our artist in residence.

 

2015 started with a great softball season as my first year coaching my middle school’s girls softball team and in August I began my 7th year teaching at Ridgely Middle School, with a new principal and a whole new way of doing things. Learner centered environments are the way to go, and digital technology really does enhance learning. I am really enjoying the kids having devices available. The Seesaw app is really turning out to be a great way to keep portfolios! I can not wait to do more projects with my students and see how they use the C.E.E.Q.E.R. model to find solutions to the curriculum! Soon I will have completed my department chair training and I will be applying for the pool of candidates. Perhaps there is something new waiting for me at the end of 2016.

I also started blogging more. I made it a point to at least write once a month; I will be making it a goal in 2016 to write once a week. Using instagram to share our students awesomeness, along with what’s happening in the school, was a huge success. I also started tweeting more, and building my #PLN (professional learning network.) #k12artchat has been my favorite thing to do on Thursday nights, and has even inspired me to create a chat of my own (keep an eye out for more details coming.)

I spent a lot of time with my two amazing children this year, watching them grow and learn. They have really been a light and joy. We made a lot of crafts and went on many new adventures. I am so excited to see what we do in 2016!

I feel like I might be leaving things out, but man was that a lot!

 

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Artist Educator Workshop, HHI.

Introducing the first ever Artist Educator Workshop at Hampton Historic National Site.  I am so fortunate to be able to work with such an amazing group of individuals, from fellow board members to artist educators.

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Historic Hampton Inc. has had a vision for bringing together art, education, and the Hampton Historic National Site. Recently this vision has begun to bloom. The first workshop for artist educators was held on December 5th, 2015.

10 teachers from all over Maryland attended to hear more about how they can incorporate the wonderful historic site into their curriculum.  The workshop began with light breakfast provided by Danielas in Hamden, and a short talk from Park Ranger Vince Vance. Then I presented the adaptable lesson plan that was created to use in tandem with a field trip to Hampton and the virtual photo gallery.

This lesson is based off of the narrative that is a requirement for the Baltimore County Public School Art program. It can be altered to work with any grade k-12, and has arts-integration options as well.

After discussing the lesson plan, we took a tour of the grounds and the mansion…which was amazing because they let us in the front door (which is very rare!)

When we returned to the orangery, our first ever artist in residence Paul Moscatt presented a little gallery talk of his artwork and shared what he did as an artist and an educator. Paul was born in Brooklyn, New York and went to Yale University Art School from 1959-63.  He also attended The Cooper Union Art School, NYC from 1956 to 59. As an educator, Paul worked at Maryland Institute, College of Art (1967 to 2000), currently a Professor Emeritus.

The teachers had such an amazing time, and learned so much! We are currently in the process of scheduling a Painting Day with Paul for those who attended, as well as a second Artist Educator Workshop in the beginning of 2016.

If interested please contact me by commenting below with your email address and I will send you more information!

 

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Hampton National Historic Site, Artist in Residence

I have recently been honored by being elected to the Board of Directors for the Historic Hampton Inc. non-profit organization. HHI works with the National Parks Service for the Historic Hampton Site. Their mission:

…to promote directly the historical, scientific, educational and interpretive activities of Hampton National Historic Site and to accept gifts, contributions, or loans and otherwise engage in fundraising to finance and pay for the above mentioned activities in respect to which no funds from the Federal Government or other sources are available.

I am working with a few lovely ladies on the Arts Initiative, bringing art and education together using the collection at the Hampton National Historic Site. The mansion was preserved mainly because of its art collection, mostly due to the piece “Lady with a harp” by Thomas Sully, a great american painter. portrait-of-eliza-ridgely-the-lady-with-the-harp-056

This past weekend HHInc. hosted its first Boutique Art Show in the Orangery, at the Hampton Historical National Site featuring our first artist in residence at Hampton, Paul Moscatt.

Paul is a very talented and expressive plein air painter. I laughed many times this past weekend, Paul has a wonderful sense of humor. He will be holding a workshop for educators at the Hampton site, date to be announced. Check Paul out on his facebook page!