Annual Report to the Town - 2024
BURLINGTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS ART & DESIGN PROGRAM
George Ratkevich, Visual Arts Director
WEBSITES
www.burlingtonpublicschools.org/bps_departments/art_design
bpsk12art.weebly.com/
www.burlingtonhighschoolart.org
DEPARTMENT STAFF
George Ratkevich - Art & Design Program Coordinator
Sarah Baldwin - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Christina Chang - art teacher, Burlington High School
Alexandra Djordjevic - art teacher, Burlington High School
Courtney Fallon - art teacher, Pine Glen Elementary School
Kerry Flaherty - art teacher, Francis Wyman Elementary School
Chelsea Friberg - art teacher, Francis Wyman Elementary School
Lindsay Janco - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Mojdeh Kazem - art teacher, Burlington High School
Stephen Scarpulla - art teacher, Fox Hill Elementary School
Lindsay Shepard - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Donna York - art teacher, Memorial Elementary School
PURPOSE
The Art & Design program helps students develop their visual literacy (an understanding and appreciation of guiding concepts such as the elements and principles of design), creative problem solving, design thinking (a focus on steps in the process of making), and technical skills (craftsmanship). Students develop their Studio Habits of Mind (which comes out of the framework of Studio Thinking designed by practitioners at Project Zero at Harvard’s School of Education.). They develop their craft, becoming more technically skillful in using a wide range of tools, materials, and artistic processes, and they learn to take care of those tools and their studio workspaces. They begin to see and embrace problems as opportunities, develop focus, and they learn to persist and persevere at tasks. Art students learn to envision and imagine, thinking creatively, developing their ability to come up with new and better ideas. They learn to plan well and work through the many, sometimes messy, stages of the creative process. They express themselves, making art that conveys ideas, feelings, or personal meanings. They observe, looking closely and carefully at things, attending to nuance, noticing the small things that the casual observer won’t. They become more and more sensitive to the natural environment as they work from observation, memory, and imagination. They reflect on what they and their fellow artists have done, learning how to look at and talk about art, to defend their work, to take in and process constructive criticism from their peers. They stretch and explore, reaching beyond what they thought they could do. They learn to embrace opportunities, discover through play, and learn from their mistakes. They work and interact with one another in the community that is the art class, and they share their work with their school, family, and community. They make connections, learning about culture and history, current practices and innovation, and interacting with others through their study of art and art-making. We believe that students’ art classes help balance their academic classes, and that art-making is an essential, enriching experience that helps to more fully develop a well-rounded person.
HIGHLIGHTS
Student work was published or displayed in Collab, the high school’s literary magazine, the BHS yearbook, and in the high school’s Cambridge Street Gallery, which continues to provide exhibition space to BHS alumni artists, community members, students, and faculty. Student-made graphics were published for the high school graduating class (class logo), the high school’s Program of Studies cover, and the school musical. Clay Studio students once again created and sold ornaments as part of a fundraiser for a local charity organization. This interaction made the experience even more meaningful, as the students saw firsthand how their work could contribute to a larger cause and positively impact the community.
Burlington student artwork was entered in the 2024 Emerging Young Artists Juried Exhibition, a New England juried exhibition which celebrates the exceptional artistic merit of New England’s high school students, hosted by UMass Dartmouth's College of Visual and Performing Arts. University of Massachusetts Dartmouth College of Visual and Performing Arts invited students, family, relatives, and guests to attend the reception to celebrate these talented students and their accomplishments. Students attended an online opening reception and awards presentation. EYAD 2024 received submissions from over 800 young artists, from which the juror, CVPA’s Associate Dean Ann Kim, selected 200 works for the exhibition. The result, available at https://www.umassd.edu/cvpa/galleries/campus-gallery/exhibitions/2024/emerging-young-artists-and-designers-2024.html, is a marvelous online showcase that offers an inspiring glimpse into the unique perspectives of New England's young talents.
BHS art students were recognized by the regional Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, sponsored by Tufts University and the School of the Museum of Fine Arts.
Works by BHS student artists were also on display at the Lexington Arts and Crafts Society (LexArt) for the 28th Annual Regional High School Exhibit. This annual exhibit continues to showcase the creativity and innovation of area students and high school art programs. The work of students from Burlington, Lexington, Minuteman, and Waltham High Schools was on view from February 10 to February 25 with a reception for artists, teachers, family & friends on Sunday, February 11 (This was followed by an exhibit of the work of Bedford High School, Concord-Carlisle High School, and Winchester High School.)
https://www.lexart.org/post/28th-annual-regional-high-school-exhibit-feb-10-to-mar-17-2024
Artworks by Burlington High School students were selected for inclusion in this year's Sixth Congressional Art Show hosted by Seth Moulton. The 6th District Congressional Art Show, sponsored by Congressman Seth Moulton and hosted at Montserrat College of Art, was held March 14-16 in the main gallery of Montserrat College of Art. The show closed with an awards reception with Congressman Seth Moulton, and Montserrat Interim President Brian Pellinen. During the reception, certificates were awarded by Congressman Moulton and winners received varying amounts of scholarships to Montserrat College of Art’s summer Pre-College Program.
Annual art shows were held at our high school, middle school, and elementary schools. Burlington High School hosted its annual art exhibition in March during the school’s Open House, while elementary schools held theirs in the spring. Marshall Simonds Middle School hosted its second annual Spring Arts Festival, presented by MSMS music and art students. The event included an art show reception, a concert by the school band and orchestra, and a chorus concert.
Advanced photography students once again collaborated with students in the Winchester High School photo program in an exhibition entitled “Photosynthesis” at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester. In February, a professional photographer presented to the Burlington High School and Winchester High School honors photography students. This was part of Photosynthesis—a collaboration between the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester High School photo students, and Burlington High School advanced photo classes run by Ms. Lexi Djordjevic. This was the seventh year that Burlington has had the opportunity to be part of this amazing collaborative program that included artist talks to help inform and inspire the students' personal portfolios of photographs. Student photos were curated and presented at the Griffin Museum of Photography in June.
High school art teachers hosted a number of student interns as part of the school’s Senior Internship program. Seniors worked on murals for the school hallways, designed graphics to be used as visual dividers and illustrations for an art & design curriculum book, and designed and painted one of the fiberglass pigs for the Sculpture Park fundraiser.
Art clubs and photography clubs run at several schools. Pine Glen elementary art teacher Ms. Courtney Fallon is involved in the high school’s Evening Academy as well. Mr. George Ratkevich serves on the Burlington Sculpture Park Committee, and some Burlington classes at all grade levels continue to be involved in the Burlington Sculpture Park (burlingtonsculpturepark.org). Burlington students were again involved in voting on a third series of sculptures to be displayed in the park. High school students were involved in creating graphics and working on public art to raise funds for the park, and they collaborated on painting a series of fiberglass pigs as the core of that fundraiser. Their participation also raised funds for the high school’s scholarship foundation.
The Cambridge Street Gallery, our in-school exhibition space, exhibited nine beautiful paintings by the late artist Phil Young (www.philipeyoung.com). Phil taught painting and drawing for over thirty years at Burlington High School, and served as chair of the art department until his retirement. Following his retirement, Phil supervised student teachers for The Museum School and Tufts University and exhibited his paintings around the New England area. His wife Lorraine Sullivan, who was also an art educator at Burlington High School, generously donated any sales of the paintings to the Burlington High Art Department Art Scholarship Fund.
Ms. Chelsea Friberg, a Burlington resident, joined our ranks as an art teacher at Francis Wyman Elementary School.
The Art & Design program is grateful for the continued support of the Burlington Community, and we look forward to another year of teaching children the importance of close, careful observation, creative thinking, planning, focus, and craftsmanship.
January 2021
Annual Report to the Town - 2020
On the Web:
http://bpsk12art.weebly.com/ (a resource for district art teachers, and the site for our online art exhibition)
www.burlingtonhighschoolart.org (for students, parents, and the community)
www.facebook.com/burlingtonhighschoolart
Staff:
George Ratkevich - Visual Art Program Coordinator
Lindsay Appleby - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Sarah Baldwin - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Christina Chang - art teacher, Burlington High School
Alexandra Djordjevic - art teacher, Burlington High School
Courtney Fallon - art teacher, Pine Glen Elementary School
Mojdeh Kazem - art teacher, Burlington High School
Keith March Mistler - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School & Remote Academy
Stephen Scarpulla - art teacher, Fox Hill Elementary School
Lindsay Shepard - art teacher, Marshall Simonds Middle School
Lauren Vigneau - art teacher, Francis Wyman Elementary School
Joanne Vigneau - art teacher, Burlington High School & Remote Academy
Donna York - art teacher, Memorial Elementary School
The Art & Design program helps students develop their visual literacy (an understanding and appreciation of guiding concepts such as the elements and principles of design), creative problem solving, design thinking (a focus on steps in the process of making), and technical skills (craftsmanship). Students develop their Studio Habits of Mind (which comes out of the framework of Studio Thinking designed by practitioners at Project Zero at Harvard’s School of Education.). They develop their craft, becoming more technically skillful in using a wide range of tools, materials, and artistic processes, and they learn to take care of those tools and their studio workspaces. They begin to see and embrace problems as opportunities, develop focus, and they learn to persist and persevere at tasks. Art students learn to envision and imagine, thinking creatively, developing their ability to come up with new and better ideas. They learn to plan well and work through the many, sometimes messy, stages of the creative process. They express themselves, making art that conveys ideas, feelings, or personal meanings. They observe, looking closely and carefully at things, attending to nuance, noticing the small things that the casual observer won’t. They become more and more sensitive to the natural environment as they work from observation, memory, and imagination. They reflect on what they and their fellow artists have done, learning how to look at and talk about art, to defend their work, to take in and process constructive criticism from their peers. They stretch and explore, reaching beyond what they thought they could do. They learn to embrace opportunities, discover through play, and learn from their mistakes. They work and interact with one another in the community that is the art class, and they share their work with their school, family, and community. They make connections, learning about culture and history, current practices and innovation, and interacting with others through their study of art and art-making. We believe that students’ art classes help balance their academic classes, and that art-making is an essential, enriching experience that helps to more fully develop a well-rounded person.
In January, the Burlington High School Art & Design Department hosted its semi-annual Alumni Artist Day. For many years we have welcomed back former students to discuss their careers as artists. Alumni in college talk about their experiences at art school and share their portfolios, senior college students talk about how they are preparing to enter the workforce, and alumni who are working as designers, artists, and architects share their experiences and day-to-day activities at their jobs. Current art students have a chance to see the professional work and ask questions of alumni. They're able to learn about art careers directly from the artists who are members of their extended school community. A few art colleges had representatives present at tables in the main lobby as a "mini" college fair.
The year 2020 brought with it the Burlington Sculpture Park (burlingtonsculpturepark.org). The new park is located to the left of Grandview Farm and Marion Tavern, across from the corner of the town common. There are now six sculptures in all for this first phase of the Sculpture Park. The selection of the works was greatly informed by student participation. Students in many of Burlington's art classes from grades 1-12 voted on over 40 works submitted to The BSP Committee through the New England Sculptors Association. Several students also helped present the proposal to the town's Board of Selectmen.
The park's official logo was a collaboration/combination of graphic work by Burlington High School students Serena Hawkins and Hunter Robson, both Class of 2022. Burlington Cable Access Television (BCAT) shared a video story about the logo design for the Burlington Sculpture Park.
Student work was published or displayed in Collab, the high school’s literary magazine, the BHS yearbook, the Regional High School Art Exhibition hosted by the Lexington Arts & Crafts Society (LexArt), in other competitions and exhibitions such as Emerging Young Artists and the Scholastic Art Awards at the high school level and The Future of Work at the middle school level, and in the high school’s Cambridge Street Gallery, which continues to provide exhibition space to BHS alumni artists, community members, students, and faculty.
The Art & Design program posted Burlington Public School's first district-wide art show online. The Burlington Art & Design program had intended to hold its first district-wide art show in the real three-dimensional world at the town library in June. The school-based shows typically run at different times throughout the year: the annual Art Exhibition and Fashion Show at the high school happens in March, and it was up and ready to go but was cancelled just prior to the full school closing; the middle school art shows are art-room displays during the school's Open House; the elementary schools each have theirs in the Spring; the high school Portfolio show in the Spring features the works of our advanced students. At the beginning of last school year, the district's art teachers committed to investigating the possibilities and formats for a district-wide art show to share their students' work with the greater Burlington community. In early March the art program coordinator met with town library director Michael Wick about a district-wide show using the library as a venue and all the art teachers were on board for arranging a small selection of work to represent each school. With the changes in circumstances, in lieu of an actual in-person exhibition the art teachers gathered what images they could to put together this selection of student work from the 19-20 school year.
At the end of the 2019-2020 school year, the AP Studio Art students held an online exhibition reception of their portfolios, to which parents and teachers were invited and at which each student discussed their oeuvre.
Advanced photography students once again collaborated with students in the Winchester High School photo program in an exhibition entitled “Photosynthesis” at the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester. In February, photographer Bill Franson presented to the Burlington High School and Winchester High School honors photography students. This was part of Photosynthesis—a collaboration between the Griffin Museum of Photography, Winchester HS, and Burlington HS. This was the fourth year that Burlington has had the opportunity to be part of this amazing collaborative program that included artist talks to help inform and inspire the students' personal portfolios of photographs. Student photos were curated and presented at the Griffin Museum of Photography in June.
The Area Solutions team of PNC Bank worked with the high school program to select six large art pieces for permanent display in their new Burlington branch. Several BHS photography students had their work blown up on canvas, and are now on display at PNC bank to give some local flavor from the town. The PNC Solutions Center team created promotional materials to highlight the work of the students.
MSMS 7th grade art students completed a project in collaboration with an art contest hosted by Swissnex Boston, a part of the local Swiss embassy in Cambridge. Five students were chosen to have their work displayed on Swissnex's website under the "Boston" section.
The program began developing lessons and gathering resources around anti-racism and equity. At the high school level, the curriculum map format was redesigned to include cultural diversity connections.
The Art Department is committed to elevating and highlighting the work and voices of Black, African American, and African Artists. As a starting point we are highlighting artists. The first artist that was featured was alumna Gam Dhliwayo (BHS Class of 2013) (website - Gam.design; instagram page @africangraphicdesigner). After graduating from the Massachusetts College of Art and Design with a degree in Graphic Design, Gam moved to New York City to work for Isaiah King Design, Sundial Brand, Blink, and now Group Nine media. She has worked on international and nationwide client work designing corporate identities, animations, product designs, marketing campaigns, and advertisements.
Just prior to the Thanksgiving break, Tarish Pipkins a.k.a. Jeghetto, a painter, poet, street performer, puppet-maker, and puppeteer, conducted at BHS a virtual puppet-making workshop and a talk about his experiences as a black artist. He demonstrated how an unconventional material (Tarish makes his ghostly, large-scale puppets out of cardboard.), in the hands of an enthusiastic artist, can give life to a story which addresses controversial issues and can create a space where contemporary audiences can reflect, bear witness, and engage in radical honesty.
With the change to remote and hybrid learning, the Art & Design teachers took to heart the guidelines and recommendations of the Massachusetts Art Education Association in planning and revising curriculum for the 20-21 school year, to do fewer things and do them well:
- Make strategic reductions across the curriculum
- Focus on fewer standards more deeply
- Create a smaller number of well-crafted lessons and experiences that nurture relationships, support youth resilience, and build knowledge and skills.
- Blend synchronous and asynchronous learning
- Provide access to ALL learners
- Temporarily shift focus from the Creating standards of the MA Visual Arts Frameworks to the other three standards: Presenting, Connecting, and Responding.
The department compiled an interactive list of Art & Design Online Resources for Enrichment and Independent Learning and developed more robust program websites for the district and high school programs to share these resources and other information with students and families.
To eliminate the need to share tools and materials during the pandemic, art teachers assembled individual art kits for every student, providing supplies to be used in either the classroom or at home. Elementary and middle school teachers travelled from classroom to classroom to teach lessons.
The program also budgeted for Adobe Creative Cloud Access to be made available to every art student in BHS and MSMS as needed. Students were able to get one-year named-user licenses to the Creative Cloud to be installed on one computer in the school and another at home, allowing courses such as Computer Graphics and Photography to be taught more smoothly during hybrid learning.
To address remote learning needs at the elementary level during the pandemic, BHS art teacher Joanne Vigneau and MSMS art teacher Keith March Mistler are working in the Remote Academy for the 20-21 school year, teaching fully remote elementary grade students. Mojdeh Kazem and Lindsay Shepard joined the BHS and MSMS faculties, respectively, to fill the temporarily vacated positions.
In the fall, Laura Godinho served as a student teacher from Salem State College with George Ratkevich and Lexi Djordjevic. Laura is an alumnus of the Burlington Public Schools and the art program, a current Burlington resident, and the mother of a current BHS student. Kristen Barrett (School of the Museum of Fine Arts) student taught with Sarah Baldwin at Marshall Simonds Middle School. Nathaly Davis (The Massachusetts College of Art & Design) student taught with Courtney Fallon at Pine Glen Elementary School.
In memory of Cynara F., a recent graduate of the high school and a mainstay in the art program who passed last year, an art scholarship was created due to the efforts of Cynara’s friends and family. The Cynara F. Scholarship, which will be first awarded at the end of the 2020-2021 school year, will be awarded to a “BHS student who shows a passion for fashion or art as Cynara did, and would like to further their education at a college/university focused on art.”
For the 2020-21 school year, the high school changed its course offerings for incoming freshmen to include Studio Art, Studio Art Honors, Photography I, Computer Graphics I, and Web Design.
Contact:
George Ratkevich
Visual Art Program Coordinator
Burlington Public Schools
Office: Room 213, Burlington High School
123 Cambridge Street
Burlington, MA 01803
(art office) 781.273.7024
[email protected]
www.burlingtonhighschoolart.org
http://bpsk12art.weebly.com/
www.facebook.com/burlingtonhighschoolart
August 2020
Burlington Sculpture Park
The summer of 2020 brought with it the Burlington Sculpture Park. The new park is located to the left of Grandview Farm and Marion Tavern, across from the corner of the town common. Peter Dellert’s Truth #1 was the first to be installed, followed by Mark Wholey’s Follow Your Heart and Philip Marshall’s Next Stop Shibuya. There will be six sculptures in all for this first phase of the Sculpture Park.
Visit the website for the Sculpture Park at burlingtonsculpturepark.org
Burlington Sculpture Park Committee chair Jon Sachs created this video about the park.
The selection of the works was greatly informed by student participation. Students in many of Burlington's art classes from grades 1-12 voted on over 40 works submitted to The BSP Committee through the New England Sculptors Association. Several students also helped present the proposal to the town's Board of Selectmen (The proposal starts around 15:30 in this YouTube video. Students start at 31:14.).
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Burlington-Sculpture-Park-112169947249852
Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/burlingtonsculpturepark/
BSP Logo
The park's official logo was a collaboration/combination of graphic work by Burlington High School rising juniors Serena H. and Hunter R., both Class of 2022. Burlington Cable Access Television (BCAT) shares this video story about the logo design for the Burlington Sculpture Park by students.
Visit the website for the Sculpture Park at burlingtonsculpturepark.org
Burlington Sculpture Park Committee chair Jon Sachs created this video about the park.
The selection of the works was greatly informed by student participation. Students in many of Burlington's art classes from grades 1-12 voted on over 40 works submitted to The BSP Committee through the New England Sculptors Association. Several students also helped present the proposal to the town's Board of Selectmen (The proposal starts around 15:30 in this YouTube video. Students start at 31:14.).
Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/Burlington-Sculpture-Park-112169947249852
Instagram is https://www.instagram.com/burlingtonsculpturepark/
BSP Logo
The park's official logo was a collaboration/combination of graphic work by Burlington High School rising juniors Serena H. and Hunter R., both Class of 2022. Burlington Cable Access Television (BCAT) shares this video story about the logo design for the Burlington Sculpture Park by students.
June 2020
District-Wide Online Art Show
We are happy to share Burlington's first district-wide art show. The Burlington Art & Design program had intended to hold our first district-wide art show in the real three-dimensional world at the town library in June. Our school-based shows typically run at different times throughout the year. The annual Art Exhibition and Fashion Show at the high school happens in March, and it was up and ready to go but was cancelled just prior to the full school closing. The middle school art shows are art-room displays during the school's Open House. The elementary schools each have theirs in the Spring. We also have a high school Portfolio show in the Spring featuring the works of our advanced students. At the beginning of last school year, the district's art teachers committed to investigating the possibilities and formats for a district-wide art show to share their students' work with the greater Burlington community.
In early March we met with town library director Michael Wick about a district-wide show using the library as a venue and all the art teachers were on board for arranging a small selection of work to represent each school.
The art teachers gathered what images they could (after the pandemic hit and schools closed) to put together this selection of student work from the past year. It's an incomplete work; we unfortunately weren't able to include every one of our students and many works are missing student names. Much thanks to the art teachers for finding the time to work on this during their last few very busy weeks.
We hope you enjoy your visit.
In early March we met with town library director Michael Wick about a district-wide show using the library as a venue and all the art teachers were on board for arranging a small selection of work to represent each school.
The art teachers gathered what images they could (after the pandemic hit and schools closed) to put together this selection of student work from the past year. It's an incomplete work; we unfortunately weren't able to include every one of our students and many works are missing student names. Much thanks to the art teachers for finding the time to work on this during their last few very busy weeks.
We hope you enjoy your visit.
