Our Maine Street's Aroostook Issue 16 : Spring 2013 | Page 76
RESEARCH AND
HANDS ON LEARNING
#
- THEME FOR UMPI
A MAJOR
T
THIS SPRING AND SUMMER
he University of Maine at Presque Isle has been
working diligently to bring the arts, emerging
supply of qualified graduates for biotechnology sector employment in the state of Maine. The UMPI team leading this effort
trends in science, and research sharing opportunities
to campus and community members during the
includes Dr. Scott Dobrin, Dr. Rachael Hannah, and Dr. Judith
Roe, all Assistant Professors of Biology; and Dr. Linda Graves,
spring and summer of through some very exciting grant
projects, student and panel presentations, and even a couple of
book readings.
The University is pleased to be partnering with the Wintergreen Arts Center on a $, Maine Arts Commission Creative
Communities = Economic Development grant [CCED]. The
grant funds will be used to develop the second and third floors
of State Street into an UMPI
downtown art gallery and an emerging artists’ studio space, both
overseen by UMPI. With Wintergreen located on the first floor of
the building, this will create a new downtown cultural campus,
with three floors of arts-based activities that are expected to have a
significant impact on the community’s revitalization efforts. The
cultural campus will create a location of excellence that attracts
leaders to the local community, integrates the University into the
downtown district, and becomes an avenue for student engage-
Co-Director of the Medical Laboratory Technology [MLT]
Program of Maine. They expect the project to result in increased
grad school and job placement for UMPI graduates and a much
more tech savvy workforce that may open new opportunities for
the local economy.
In March, UMPI was pleased to welcome campus and
community members for several events connected with
Women’s History
Month. The Reed
Fine Art Gallery
hosted a monthlong celebration of
The County
Woman that included the
art exhibit Vera (it opened
ment and community development. Construction on the project
is expected to begin this summer.
A team of professors at the University also received a $,
journal of the same name,
a panel presentation, and
two art receptions.
Several women artists and
Maine Economic
Improvement Fund
grant that will allow
them to focus efforts on
preparing students for
emerging trends and careers
in the biomedical research
and healthcare industries.
The overarching goal of
the project, titled Developing
Maine’s Future Biomedical
Work Force, is to increase the
on March and runs
until April ), a literary
writers were invited to
share their work through the art exhibit and literary journal.
They were provided access to the archives of the Mark and
Emily Turner Memorial Library, the Vera Estey House, and the
Presque Isle Historical Society to inform their artistic practice.
With the spirit of local historical figure Vera Estey as their muse,
the written and visual work they created explored issues around
gender, local history, and personal legacy. A select group of the
writers and artists were on hand March for a special panel
discussion about their work. The final component of the
month-long celebration involved two special art receptions.