Slowing Down and Learning to Take Risks Through Art 

(above) Cardigan’s new Arts Department Chair Mike Tholen teaching ninth-grade digital photography.

From the woodshop to the stage, Cardigan art teachers foster a lifelong love of creativity. 

“We’re not trying to turn kids into greats; our goal is to foster a lifelong love of creativity,” says new Arts Department Chair Mike Tholen. Mr. Tholen is one of two new members of the Arts Department, and while both have brought new ideas and fresh perspectives, their ultimate goals remain remarkably similar to the goals of the school’s veteran teachers: get students to slow down enough to notice the extraordinary in the ordinary and to accept the challenges that come with taking risks.

Mr. Tholen, who is teaching ninth-grade digital photography and eighth-grade two-dimensional art, began his career teaching art in public elementary schools. But after four years in the classroom, his love of the outdoors drew him to environmental education programs, and he spent several decades working on farms and with schools that engage students in cultivating and producing their own food. While over the last decade Mr. Tholen has been teaching in more traditional classrooms, his love of the outdoors has continued; most recently, in addition to teaching art at Hebron Academy in Maine, he was the director of outdoor programming. He also often incorporated nature into the art projects he assigned students, including asking them to create sculptures in nature in the style of Andy Goldsworthy.

“I’d like to complete a similar project with my Cardigan students in the spring,” says Mr. Tholen. “It’s a project that gets them to slow down, see things differently, and think about process––what they like about what they have built, what they would do differently if they began again.”

“It’s exciting to have a room full of middle schoolers with their heads down, focused on their work and in the zone. I find it inspiring.”

Art teacher Barrett Capistran

New Director of Music Nate Plourde has a similar approach: “We’re an academic program but my goal is not to teach students traditional music theory but to provide them with the tools and the space to explore and create.” That has meant explaining to them the basics of rhythm and introducing them to audio editing software like GarageBand and other recording technology.

“I’m just a facilitator,” he says. “Once they have the basics, I give them as much freedom as possible to explore, so each project they complete is different for every boy.”

Mr. Plourde was trained classically and performed on the cello with the Southern Maine Symphony for four years, but he recognizes the careful balance he must strike when sharing his expertise. “I only see students for one term, and that’s not enough time to convince them to be passionate about classical music,” he says. “I’ve found if I share my knowledge in small doses and demonstrate my passion for the music, they often come along for the ride.” He also recognizes the value of meeting his students where they are: “Lately, I’ve been honing my ability on the guitar, an instrument many of them are interested in playing.”

“Once they have the basics, I give them as much freedom as possible to explore, so each project they complete is different for every boy.”

Director of Music Nate Plourde

Mr. Plourde has also been spending more time playing the piano. More specifically he has had to learn to play the “Cardigan Hymn,” so he is ready to lead the community in weekly chapel services: “As soon as I got to campus in August, I found a piano and started practicing,” he says. “My head is still spinning from my first fall here, but I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.”

That genuine desire to teach at Cardigan is echoed in the other Art Department faculty members who continue to reinvent their curriculum and share their own passions in order to engage students and help them to take risks in the creative process. For woodworking teacher John Burritt that has meant letting students choose their own independent projects, and for theater teacher Jeff Good that has meant introducing the boys to theater genres like Commedia Dell’Arte that explore comedy, improvisation, and pantomime. 

“We are lucky,” says Mr. Burritt. “The kids that come here are eager to learn.”

Art teacher Barrett Capistran agrees: “It’s exciting to have a room full of middle schoolers with their heads down, focused on their work and in the zone. I find it inspiring.” It’s inspiration that he uses to work on his own pieces alongside his students, modeling the creative process and the risks involved in success. 

“I’m always trying to get the students to slow down and pause before making a decision,” he continues. “When students encounter the unknown, they either get stuck there or figure out a solution. I want to build in them the resilience and perseverance to figure it out, whatever the ‘it’ might be.”

“We’re not trying to turn kids into greats; our goal is to foster a lifelong love of creativity.”

Arts Department Chair Mike Tholen

Teaching seventh grade this year, Mr. Capistran is excited to do a collaborative project with his students this winter that will involve each student designing and carving a linocut block and then combining them in different series. 

“Their individual blocks will be personal,” says Mr. Capistran, “but when they are printed in a series, I’m interested to see how their voices will work together.”

No matter the outcome of the project, it will offer students the opportunity to explore their ideas and provide them with the space to understand their identity. And as with other Cardigan art projects, the faculty will be right there with them, modeling what it means to take risks.