Leaps’ Art at Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Visitor Center

“I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way–things I had no words for.”~ Georgia O’Keeffe

April 7, 2024

Dear Friends of Leaps of Imagination,

Children’s art will make you smile. The complexity of it. The simplicity of it. The tone it sets. The messages it sends. The amazement it brings. And, just imagine, the deep-down feeling of delight young artists experience throughout their art making process.

Come by to see Leaps’ kids’ masterpieces at Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Visitor Center from April through May. We ‘re featuring artworks from Leaps’ programs in Year 1, Year 5, and Year 10.

In our founding year, we asked children to imagine. We gave second graders a round piece of cardboard and a slew of fun materials, and they designed a nest with a bird inside. Kids used scissors and glue and combined shapes to make an image that was entirely their own. Then they printed it with black ink.

(Above: a second grader at work in Lura Libby School, Thomaston, Year 1.)

Excited to see Friday night’s visitors, we got lots of questions and comments. “Is the art for sale?” “What’s a collagraph?” And“How did they make these prints?” And “My daughter loved Leaps. It’s such a fantastic program.” “I can’t believe children made these. I would hang any one of them in my living room!” Two St. George School families, whose children, once fourth grade Leaps of Imagination participants, now ninth graders, dropped in at Friday’s opening. It was a gift to catch up with them.

(Above: a Leaps participant checking out his collagraph from 2018, created with his kindergarten partner.)

If you are in Rockland any M-F, between 8:30 AM and 4:30 PM, stop by the gallery on the second floor of Maine Coastal Islands National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center and take a look!

(Above: parent of a Year 5 St. George School participant, right, with Leaps of Imagination Board member, left.)

A big thank you to all of our supporters, from families to classroom teachers, Board members, and our brilliant team of artists who make Leaps of Imagination possible in Rockland, Thomaston, St. George, and Vinalhaven.

Joyfully,

Nancy Harris Frohlich, Executive Director