Side x Side empowers youth through the arts by working side by side with teachers, artists, and students to strengthen academic achievement, cultivate creativity, and build community.
How does the partnership with Portland Public Schools work?
1. Select “Side x Side” from the PPS Arts Partnership: A Visiting Artists Program
2. Schedule time with Side x Side staff to individually customize your program including:
- Matching you with a specialized teaching artist
- Identifying learning objectives, aligned with the Maine Learning Results
- Outlining deliverables (final products, celebrations of learning, etc.)
- Facilitating logistics (dates and times, space needed at the school, supplies, etc.)
For more than ten years, we have successfully conducted arts-integrated programs in preK–12th grade classrooms in Portland and Lewiston.
A Side x Side classroom program is a collaborative project designed by the classroom teacher and teaching artist to deliver standards-based classroom curriculum in an engaging, inclusive way utilizing different artistic mediums. Each program is unique, flexible, and creative—built to the needs of the students, teacher, and curriculum. We include visiting experts and professionals related to the curriculum or artistic medium to give students a new perspective on possible career paths and how their unique personality, interests, and skill sets might serve them in the future.
What is arts integration?
Arts integration brings artists into the classroom to co-teach art and core content subjects through creative programs. Side x Side facilitates research-based programs that support and enhance school curriculum, deepen learning, and bring joy into the classroom.
Pre-K–12 SCHOOL PROGRAM EXAMPLES
Building Bridges: Perspectives and Prototypes (Elementary School)
Fifth graders at Ocean Avenue Elementary School participated in a Side x Side STEAM program that integrated mixed media sculpture with engineering, urban design, and practical problem solving. As part of a classroom unit called “Building Bridges: Perspectives and Prototypes,” and led by teaching artist Posey Moulton, the program began with an exploration of extraordinary bridges from around the globe. Students then collaborated in small groups to design a bridge using popsicle sticks, pasta, paper clips, paper, and markers. These bridges were tested during a weight bearing challenge to see how they held up. During the second part of the program, students worked individually or in small groups to create a bridge with a purpose. During this process, they explored various art-making techniques and then designed a creative solution to meet a specific community need. The program culminated with a Celebration of Learning where students presented their bridges to peers, families, and school staff.
Take Me to the River (Elementary School)
Third graders at Rowe Elementary School participating in a Side x Side program that is integrating drawing and sculpture into a Wabanaki studies unit called, “Take Me to the River.” During the program, students learned about the Presumpscot River, the ecological makeup of the surrounding areas, and the profound impact of dams on migratory species of fish and people who utilize our waterways. Focusing on Atlantic salmon, students learned about their anatomical structure and reproductive life cycle, created scientific drawings with the school’s art teacher, and then worked with Side x Side teaching artist Cat LaBarre to create lifelike sculptures of salmon using paper-mâché and paint. This program was supported by Side x Side, the Maine Humanities Council, the Maine Arts Commission, and the Portland Public Library.
A Long Walk to Water (Middle School)
Seventh grade ELL students at Lewiston Middle School participated in a Side x Side program integrating a literacy unit based on the book “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park with mixed media bookmaking. Led by teaching artist Jill Osgood, students learned how to use watercolors with crayon resist and collage to depict a favorite scene from the book. The program culminated with a Celebration of Learning that included a performance by Side x Side teaching artist and award-winning, multilingual storyteller Antonio Rocha as well as a sharing of the students’ handmade books.
A Sense of Place (Middle School)
Sixth and seventh grade students at Lincoln Middle School participated in a Side x Side mural program in collaboration with art teacher Sara Gimeno and teaching artist, mapmaker, and geographer Molly Brown. With the theme: A Sense of Place, students reflected on representation, inclusivity, and building community. There were lively discussions on how the middle school community can be equitably represented through art. Students then helped Brown to design and paint a permanent mural in the hallways of the school.
ARTronics: Interactive Sculpture (High School)
Students at Casco Bay High School participated in a week-long intensive Side x Side program called ARTronics that focused on enrichment and career exploration in the STEAM arena as they explored the intersection of art and technology. This program provided an introduction to computer programming as a foundation to challenging, meaningful learning layered with art making to allow for self-discovery and self-expression. The program began with discussions with engineers, teaching artists, and USM faculty on “the intersection of art and technology,” concepts of consumer and industrial design and cross-discipline collaborations, particularly among arts and sciences. It also combined lectures and fieldwork at the Creative Intelligence CI2 Lab at USM with studio work at Side x Side’s Oak Street Studios. Students wrote journal entries throughout the week reflecting on group discussions and individual process and projects, as well as wrote artist statements to accompany their work.
> Find out more about our Teaching Artists
> View more Side x Side programs
Our programs are made possible thanks to generous support from individual donors, corporate sponsors, and grants.
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