Conference boosts Very Special Arts

Educators from throughout the state gathered Saturday at the Bangor Theological Seminary to learn how better to help the disabled through an ancient, yet somewhat threatened, means: art.

The daylong event, sponsored by the Very Special Arts Maine, the Maine Arts Commission, and the Maine Division of Special Education, was designed to introduce innovative arts programming to artists, art teachers, special-education teachers, parents, and others for their use in working with people with special needs, according to a press release and David C. Webster, executive director of VSAM. Those who attended the conference, an encore of one held last Wednesday in Portland, also participated in discussions about mainstreaming — bringing special-education students into “regular” programs and adults into community life.

The Very Special Arts program was founded by Jean Kennedy Smith, sister of the late President John F. Kennedy, who hoped to mainstream mentally challenged people through dance, drama, music, literature and the visual arts. The non-profit organization began in Maine “as an idea” in 1977, according to Webster, and a board of directors was formed in 1985. Each year, he said, the program continues to grow, although VSAM has had a difficult time meeting the large amount of requests for programs from Maine schools, he said.

Since its inception, VSAM has focused its efforts on festivals, residencies, special projects, and training programs throughout the state, pairing artists, art educators, and special-education specialists, the release said.

Webster said that VSAM has been working in recent years to increase the effort in the Bangor area by attempting to form a group to direct art programs here.

Although some educators tend to view art and art education as extracurricular and expendable in the face of budget cuts in education, Webster said, art, such as the papermaking and clay sculpture classes taught Saturday, help to increase learning in every area, including physics, hand-eye coordination and teamwork.