It Starts With ME: General Overview
Maine Seeds of Peace has partnered with the Maine College of Art (MECA) to develop a project called, It Starts With ME. The project, facilitated by Abigail Maycock, a former Seeds of Peace camp counselor and facilitator, aims to give Seeds and their peers a public place to express themselves, tell their stories, and exhibit their artwork to the greater community of Maine and the world. The intention of this project is to strengthen relationships between Maine Seeds while also breaking down barriers that traditionally divide them. The Seeds hope that by displaying, and celebrating, positive images of Mainers from all different backgrounds, cultures, beliefs, religions, and races, they will be able to start a larger community dialogue about the barriers that divide the people of Maine as a whole. In addition, the project aims to develop Seeds' skills and knowledge of art and media as a tool for social change.
The first stage of this project began by introducing, teaching and practicing portrait photography as a tool for identity development within the Seeds' local communities. Seed photojournalists have gone out into their school and home communities to shoot portraits of their peers and record how they identify in relation to the 3 part statements, “I am…I want to…I will…” Each Seed photographer has chosen one portrait to invert (photo negative effect similar to an x-ray) that pairs with a colorful more traditional print. The text will soon be used to merge the two images and reveal an "inside" into the youth of Maine while giving voice to their aspirations and dreams for the future. Eventually, these photos will be published in an online book as well as an actual book of the compiled images and words.
Throughout the year, the Maine Seeds have met, and will continue to meet, frequently in order to organize the project as well as to participate in different workshops at the Maine College of Art that help them through the artistic process of using various art and media outlets as tools for social change.
In November 2014 the Seeds, with the help of MECA, will have an art exhibit where they display their artwork from the past year of this project. The exhibit will aim to be as interactive as possible and will ideally involve the local community in the artistic and peace-building goals of the Seeds of Peace project, It Starts With ME.
Read on to see more about the various workshops the Seeds have participated in!
The first stage of this project began by introducing, teaching and practicing portrait photography as a tool for identity development within the Seeds' local communities. Seed photojournalists have gone out into their school and home communities to shoot portraits of their peers and record how they identify in relation to the 3 part statements, “I am…I want to…I will…” Each Seed photographer has chosen one portrait to invert (photo negative effect similar to an x-ray) that pairs with a colorful more traditional print. The text will soon be used to merge the two images and reveal an "inside" into the youth of Maine while giving voice to their aspirations and dreams for the future. Eventually, these photos will be published in an online book as well as an actual book of the compiled images and words.
Throughout the year, the Maine Seeds have met, and will continue to meet, frequently in order to organize the project as well as to participate in different workshops at the Maine College of Art that help them through the artistic process of using various art and media outlets as tools for social change.
In November 2014 the Seeds, with the help of MECA, will have an art exhibit where they display their artwork from the past year of this project. The exhibit will aim to be as interactive as possible and will ideally involve the local community in the artistic and peace-building goals of the Seeds of Peace project, It Starts With ME.
Read on to see more about the various workshops the Seeds have participated in!
printmaking workshop at maine college of art
On Saturday, April 12th , Seeds participated in an all-day printmaking workshop at the Maine College of Art (MECA) for the It Starts With ME project that Abi Maycock is facilitating. The Seeds were able to work with Elizabeth Jabar, a professor at MECA, and with Shawn Brewer, a graduate of MECA, to learn printmaking techniques. The photographs they printed were ones that they had taken following the prompts, “I Am…” “I Want to…” “I Will…”. This part of the production involved various steps to print the pictures. The next phase will involve embedding the text that answers the three prompts on to the photos themselves. The Seeds had a great time learning how to print the images, working in the darkroom, and using various methods of printmaking in order to accomplish their desired outcome for their project. The Seeds had a lot of freedom to play with the images and create their own personalized works of art based on their photographs.
We had lunch together at a local restaurant and continued our conversations about art, photography, and printmaking. During the meeting, we also had time to discuss the goals of the project and what our hopes are for the final It Starts With ME gallery show that will take place in November.
We had lunch together at a local restaurant and continued our conversations about art, photography, and printmaking. During the meeting, we also had time to discuss the goals of the project and what our hopes are for the final It Starts With ME gallery show that will take place in November.
photography workshop at meca photographer's studio
In February, Seeds participated in an all-day photography workshop at Séan Alonzo Harris' photography studio. Sean, who works closely with MECA, taught the students how to use professional photography equipment in order to take digital portraits of one another. During this stage of the project, the Seeds brought photographs of themselves when they were children as well as items that mean something to their identity. With the help of Sean, the Seeds took photographs of one another holding the photographs of themselves as children, as well as photographs of the items that mean something to their identity.
This workshop was a great way for Seeds to learn about one another while also learning how to use professional photography equipment.
This workshop was a great way for Seeds to learn about one another while also learning how to use professional photography equipment.