Saturday, July 11 , 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Catamount Arts Center

Instructor: Abby Maier Johnson

Explore the work in the Catamount Arts galleries by making your own art creations! Classes will meet once a month. Students will spend time looking at the work in the galleries and then create projects inspired by a piece in the show. 

Class fee: $20 per session. Registration in advance is required. We are committed to offering high quality arts experiences for all students, regardless of ability to pay. If you need financial assistance, please contact Anne Campbell at 802-748-2600 ext 109 to learn about scholarships.

Abby Maier Johnson has over 20 years of experience working with children in libraries, schools, museums, and community centers. Her work as a teaching artist has often focused on using everyday materials to create sculptures, puppets, and masks. She currently works with students in PreK through 8th grade as the art teacher at The Riverside School in Lyndonville, and loves exploring all kinds of visual art with her students.

For early childhood educators

Sound: Thursday, July 23, 6-8pm

Light: Thursday, July 30, 6-8pm

Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, Main Street, St. Johnsbury

Instructor: Rebecca Mack

*Both workshops are FREE, but advance registration is required*

Sound and Light are ephemeral materials, moving and changing just like young children! Like kids, these materials have incredible potential for scientific exploration and creative expression. And they’re all around us! In these workshops, teaching artist Rebecca Mack leads early childhood educators in reimagining ordinary objects and circumstances in the classroom for their creative potential as tools to manipulate sound and light. Both workshops understand sound and light as waveforms of energy. 

The Light Workshop on July 23 evaluates commonly available materials for transparency and opacity, imagining possible uses for creative expression. Classroom applications include projection, movement in light and dark, shadow play, tracing and light sculpture.

The Sound Workshop on July 30 introduces activators and resonators as basic components for understanding and creating with sound. Classroom applications include mindfulness, mapping, listening walks, music, and descriptive language.

Both workshops are supported by Rebecca’s illustrated book, A Handbook of Sound and Light. It is aimed at scientific understanding of these waveforms, along with applications in creative expression and the arts, and is in simple, general language. They will use examples from the book to spark thought, conversation and creativity. Educators will plan simple, elegant documentation of the children’s encounters with sound and light, ready to capture those poetic expressions of foundational concepts in science.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe opportunities for using sound and/or light in their classrooms to guide creative expression and scientific understanding in very young children.

2. Design rich encounters with sound and light using materials already available in the classroom.

3. Work with a peer to identify the TSG/VELS standards that fit their designed encounters.

4. Include the design of compelling documentation at the outset of the encounter.

FREE, but advance registration is required. You may register for one or both workshops. Those who attend will receive Documentation of Professional Development. Workshops are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council.

Rebecca Mack is a musician and visual artist teaching, living and working in the Old North End neighborhood of Burlington, Vermont. A former preschool art teacher, they are the author of Handbook of Sound and Light, a creative companion for curious minds.

For early childhood educators

Sound: Thursday, July 23, 6-8pm

Light: Thursday, July 30, 6-8pm

Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, Main Street, St. Johnsbury

Instructor: Rebecca Mack

*Both workshops are FREE, but advance registration is required*

Sound and Light are ephemeral materials, moving and changing just like young children! Like kids, these materials have incredible potential for scientific exploration and creative expression. And they’re all around us! In these workshops, teaching artist Rebecca Mack leads early childhood educators in reimagining ordinary objects and circumstances in the classroom for their creative potential as tools to manipulate sound and light. Both workshops understand sound and light as waveforms of energy. 

The Light Workshop on July 23 evaluates commonly available materials for transparency and opacity, imagining possible uses for creative expression. Classroom applications include projection, movement in light and dark, shadow play, tracing and light sculpture.

The Sound Workshop on July 30 introduces activators and resonators as basic components for understanding and creating with sound. Classroom applications include mindfulness, mapping, listening walks, music, and descriptive language.

Both workshops are supported by Rebecca’s illustrated book, A Handbook of Sound and Light. It is aimed at scientific understanding of these waveforms, along with applications in creative expression and the arts, and is in simple, general language. They will use examples from the book to spark thought, conversation and creativity. Educators will plan simple, elegant documentation of the children’s encounters with sound and light, ready to capture those poetic expressions of foundational concepts in science.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe opportunities for using sound and/or light in their classrooms to guide creative expression and scientific understanding in very young children.

2. Design rich encounters with sound and light using materials already available in the classroom.

3. Work with a peer to identify the TSG/VELS standards that fit their designed encounters.

4. Include the design of compelling documentation at the outset of the encounter.

FREE, but advance registration is required. You may register for one or both workshops. Those who attend will receive Documentation of Professional Development. Workshops are presented with support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Arts Council.

Rebecca Mack is a musician and visual artist teaching, living and working in the Old North End neighborhood of Burlington, Vermont. A former preschool art teacher, they are the author of Handbook of Sound and Light, a creative companion for curious minds.

Tuesday, August 4, 5:30-7pm

St. Johnsbury Town Forest

Instructor: Sonia Scherr

FREE - donations welcome

Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan and today inspires poems from many cultures. Before venturing out in the St. Johnsbury Town Forest, join 560 Railroad Community Artist Sonia Scherr at the pavilion to read a variety of haiku and discuss the characteristics they have in common. We will then walk a roughly mile-long portion of the trail network, gathering images that we will use to write our own haiku when we return to the pavilion. There will be time to share our poetry-in-progress and offer constructive feedback. This activity is offered free of charge, thanks to generous support fr; om an anonymous donor; donations are gratefully accepted to support future 560 Railroad Community Artists.

Advance registration required. 

Sonia Scherr writes fiction and nonfiction and enjoys creating opportunities for people to connect with their community through the arts. Now an educator at the nonprofit Egan Maritime Institute on Nantucket, she previously worked as community coordinator at central Vermont’s Cabot School to expand out\-of\-classroom learning. She has a background in journalism and communications and has published short stories in literary journals, including Gargoyle Magazine, Jabberwock Review, Blue Earth Review and poemmemoirstory. Having grown up in Norwich and lived in the Northeast Kingdom, she is excited to work with the St. Johnsbury community as a 560 Railroad Street Community Artist.

Tuesday, August 4, 5:30-7pm

St. Johnsbury Town Forest

Instructor: Sonia Scherr

FREE - donations welcome

Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan and today inspires poems from many cultures. Before venturing out in the St. Johnsbury Town Forest, join 560 Railroad Community Artist Sonia Scherr at the pavilion to read a variety of haiku and discuss the characteristics they have in common. We will then walk a roughly mile-long portion of the trail network, gathering images that we will use to write our own haiku when we return to the pavilion. There will be time to share our poetry-in-progress and offer constructive feedback. This activity is offered free of charge, thanks to generous support fr; om an anonymous donor; donations are gratefully accepted to support future 560 Railroad Community Artists.

Advance registration required. 

Sonia Scherr writes fiction and nonfiction and enjoys creating opportunities for people to connect with their community through the arts. Now an educator at the nonprofit Egan Maritime Institute on Nantucket, she previously worked as community coordinator at central Vermont’s Cabot School to expand out\-of\-classroom learning. She has a background in journalism and communications and has published short stories in literary journals, including Gargoyle Magazine, Jabberwock Review, Blue Earth Review and poemmemoirstory. Having grown up in Norwich and lived in the Northeast Kingdom, she is excited to work with the St. Johnsbury community as a 560 Railroad Street Community Artist.

Saturdays, July 11, August 15, 10am-noon

Catamount Arts Center

Instructor: Abby Maier Johnson

Explore the work in the Catamount Arts galleries by making your own art creations! Classes will meet once a month. Students will spend time looking at the work in the galleries and then create projects inspired by a piece in the show. 

Class fee: $20 per session. Registration in advance is required. We are committed to offering high quality arts experiences for all students, regardless of ability to pay. If you need financial assistance, please contact Anne Campbell at 802-748-2600 ext 109 to learn about scholarships.

Abby Maier Johnson has over 20 years of experience working with children in libraries, schools, museums, and community centers. Her work as a teaching artist has often focused on using everyday materials to create sculptures, puppets, and masks. She currently works with students in PreK through 8th grade as the art teacher at The Riverside School in Lyndonville, and loves exploring all kinds of visual art with her students.

Thursday, August 20, 6-8pm

Catamount Arts Center

Instructor: Sonia Scherr

FREE - donations welcome

How can the work of others guide our own writing? In this workshop, led by 560 Railroad Community Artist Sonia Scherr, we will read aloud a short story with a strong sense of character and place — “Chrysanthemums” by John Steinbeck. We will discuss our responses to the story, then take a closer look at what we can learn from it about the craft of writing fiction. Finally, we will each choose a prompt inspired by “Chrysanthemums” to start work on an original piece, which we will have an opportunity to share with the group for feedback. This workshop is offered free of charge, thanks to generous support from an anonymous donor; donations are gratefully accepted to support future 560 Railroad Community Artists.  

Sonia Scherr writes fiction and nonfiction and enjoys creating opportunities for people to connect with their community through the arts. Now an educator at the nonprofit Egan Maritime Institute on Nantucket, she previously worked as community coordinator at central Vermont’s Cabot School to expand out\-of\-classroom learning. She has a background in journalism and communications and has published short stories in literary journals, including Gargoyle Magazine, Jabberwock Review, Blue Earth Review and poemmemoirstory. Having grown up in Norwich and lived in the Northeast Kingdom, she is excited to work with the St. Johnsbury community as a 560 Railroad Street Community Artist.

Sunday, August 23, 9-10:30am

St. Johnsbury Town Forest

Instructor: Sonia Scherr

FREE - donations welcome

Haiku is a form of poetry that originated in Japan and today inspires poems from many cultures. Before venturing out in the St. Johnsbury Town Forest, join 560 Railroad Community Artist Sonia Scherr at the pavilion to read a variety of haiku and discuss the characteristics they have in common. We will then walk a roughly mile-long portion of the trail network, gathering images that we will use to write our own haiku when we return to the pavilion. There will be time to share our poetry-in-progress and offer constructive feedback. This activity is offered free of charge, thanks to generous support fr; om an anonymous donor; donations are gratefully accepted to support future 560 Railroad Community Artists.

Advance registration required. 

Sonia Scherr writes fiction and nonfiction and enjoys creating opportunities for people to connect with their community through the arts. Now an educator at the nonprofit Egan Maritime Institute on Nantucket, she previously worked as community coordinator at central Vermont’s Cabot School to expand out\-of\-classroom learning. She has a background in journalism and communications and has published short stories in literary journals, including Gargoyle Magazine, Jabberwock Review, Blue Earth Review and poemmemoirstory. Having grown up in Norwich and lived in the Northeast Kingdom, she is excited to work with the St. Johnsbury community as a 560 Railroad Street Community Artist.