Guest speaker Gretchen Wilson, recently retired Director of the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce, encouraged the graduates to engage in work and activities that excite them. She shared with the attendees that you never know exactly where your degree will take you, because as you grow, and gain experience new doors will open. She also urged the graduates to give back to their communities through volunteering. By and giving back to the community she believes graduates can inspire others to follow their passions too.

Sally Daniels, UMA Ellsworth Centerā€™s Student Services Coordinator, was recognized for her dedication to the Centerā€™s students. Sally will be retiring in June.

Three of the Centerā€™s graduates were recognized as distinguished students in their degree program. Moriah Nutter received the Distinguished Mental Health & Human Services Student Award; Heather Oliver was the recipient of the Distinguished Public Administration Award; and Sara DeBeck was honored with the Early Childhood Education Award.

UMA Ellsworth Center 2023 Graduates:
Caleb Aarsand, Erin Allen, Angeli Alley, Ruth Amsden, Stacey Bagley, Nanette Boutin, Michael Bailey, Sara Bair, Tabitha Bennett, Nicole Blair, Emma Crosby, Sara DeBeck, Lisa Dyer, Krystal Emerson, Stacy Grant, Heather Halliday, Lauren Hanna, Kristina Hamblen, Margrethe Hooper, Sean Kerrigan, Alysha Kidder, Lisa Lowell, Susan McIsaac, Jessica McVay, James Merrill, Moriah Nutter, Heather Oliver, Adrianna Richard, Brittany Shepherd, Jennifer Sinclair, Peter Starkey, Sabrina Stover, Katrina Turner, Gina Weirs, Sharon Worcester, and Patrick VanVranken.

A celebration was held on Thursday, May 11th at the Houlton Higher Education Center to recognize University of Maine at Presque Isle (UMPI) and Ā鶹APP (UMA) graduates who had a connection to the Houlton Center. Family, friends, and staff were in attendance to honor seven graduates. The ceremony recognized each of the graduates and their educational accomplishments.

Fred Grant, owner of WHOU, WHOU.live, and Market Pizza, was the guest speaker, offering words of inspiration and congratulations. Grant also encouraged the graduates to be proud of themselves and their accomplishments of ā€œfinishing the raceā€.

Dr. Ray Rice, UMPI, also spoke providing words of congratulations on behalf of UMPI, as well as UMA and the University of Maine System. Rice spoke to the importance that the graduates remember that the Houlton Higher Education Center will always remain a place to feel like home for them and will always assist them with community connections.

Graduates in attendance included UMA graduate, Whitney Bridges (BS ā€“ Mental Health & Human Services) and UMPI graduates, Carla Sawyer (AA ā€“ Criminal Justice), Heather Carmichael (Bachelor of Liberal Studies ā€“ Early Childhood Education), Heidi Coleman (BS ā€“ Psychology), James Dobbs (BS ā€“ Environmental Studies), and Timothy Youngfellow (BA ā€“ Psychology). Additionally, Bridges and Youngfellow earned Certifications in Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Technician (Bridges) and Social Media (Youngfellow), both from UMA.

After the gift presentations for the graduates, refreshments were served for all to enjoy.

2023 UMA Senior Thesis Exhibition

May 6, 2023 – August 11, 2023

Opening reception: May 6, 2023 12 – 2 p.m.

The Ā鶹APP is proud to present the 2023 UMA Senior Thesis Exhibition: Ouroboros and Ostinato featuring student artists Tayla Knapp and Courtney Harmon. The opening reception begins May 6th with a noontime reception immediately following Ā鶹APP Commencement ceremony, and explores the processes of the body and the mind in both psychological and physical processes of change. Knappā€™s portion of the exhibition, Ouroboros, centers metamorphosis through fluent line that bridges anatomical studies with graphic storytelling, while Harmonā€™s Ostinato translates the creative influence of music on the mind and psyche into three-dimensional paintings that bridge musical and visual experience through form and metaphor.

Tayla Knapp is a Liberal Studies Major and Art Minor student at UMA with a passion for finding the beauty in the macabre through illustration. Her work for Ouroboros includes fifteen drawings and paintings exploring the process of transformation using the body and its metamorphosis through cycles of life and death.

Courtney Harmon is an Art Major at UMA whoā€™s passionate about changing the face of therapy in Maine. Hoping to pursue a career in art therapy, her work for Ostinato includes six sculptural painting installations focused on and influenced by the affects of music on the mind and creative process. The themes of these pieces reflect current and ongoing issues of the human condition including consumerism, addiction, and mental health.

With these two artists together, the exhibition Ouroboros and Ostinato reflects the circular themes of music and the body. Knappā€™s work addresses the outward surreal metamorphosis of the body through life to death, while Harmonā€™s opens onto the creative interior workings of the mind during embodied experiences of music. Knappā€™s graphic and illustrative approach, and Harmonā€™s circular canvases and multimedia 3D sculptural elements play on the beauty in the sometimes macabre or imperfect cycles that, in the space of the gallery, open onto the nearly limitless creative possibilities through which our bodies and minds circulate.

The exhibition is on display from May 6 – Aug 11, and the public is welcome to visit the gallery in Jewett Hall, which is open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. The UMA community and the general public are invited to the opening reception on Saturday, May 6th from 12 – 2 p.m., immediately following the Ā鶹APPā€™s commencement ceremonies. Refreshments will be served, and the artists will offer brief comments on their work.

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Following are a few highlights of the speakers and honorees for the Commencement Ceremony:

Commencement Address ā€“ Enock Glidden, ā€˜16

Enock Glidden is a disabled athlete, adventurer, motivational speaker, and an advocate for others with disabilities. Enock has lived to overcome lifeā€™s challenges, breaking physical barriers and defying odds, all the while inspiring others to consider ā€œHow can I?ā€ Through his work with Maine Trail Finder, he is showcasing all of the amazing outdoor spaces available to people in Maine while also helping to improve access.

ā€œUMA is delighted to have Enock provide the keynote address at our Commencement program,ā€ said Interim President and Provost Joseph Szakas. ā€œHis drive and determination symbolizes all those who overcome lifeā€™s challenges, breaking barriers and defying odds. He is an inspiration to many, and Iā€™m glad we can call him an alumnus.ā€

Student Speaker

Virginia Laflamme is a Liberal Studies major with a double minor in Womenā€™s and Genders Studies and English. Virginia decided to complete her Bachelorā€™s degree in 2021 when her 25-year career as a massage therapist was paused due to the COVID pandemic. During her time at UMA, Virginia has excelled in the areas of academics, community service, and leadership. Following graduation, Virginia plans to pursue graduate education and career opportunities focused on social justice.

Distinguished Student

The 2023 Distinguished Student Award recipient is Jennifer Christiansen, a Justice Studies/ Pre-Law student. She has contributed in numerous ways to UMA, including her role as a Community Advisor at Ā鶹APP residence halls, developing a new Mediation Practicum course with faculty, and supporting a variety of student life activities. After graduation, Jenn will be attending the University of Maine School of Law, where she plans to study business and corporate law.

Distinguished Alumni

Ā鶹APP 2023 Distinguished Alumni Award recipient is Eddie GreyFox Burges. After completing the Certificate in Substance Abuse Rehabilitation Technician 2013, Eddie continued his studies and went on to earn the Bachelor of Science in Mental Health and Human Services in 2017. His positive impact upon communities and organizations in Maine has been enormous, and include the Wellness Mobile Foundation, American Red Cross, and Sweetser, just to name a few.

Professor Emerita

Nursing Professor Terry Colby will be recognized and conferred as Professor Emerita of Nursing, a distinct honor based on the recommendation of her faculty colleagues. Professor Colby joined Ā鶹APP Nursing program in the fall of 1982, and during her 40 year tenure, she has served in a variety of roles both within UMA and throughout Maine that have helped nursing education and the profession excel. As noted by her peers, ā€œProfessor Colby has set the standard high for nursing excellence.ā€

More than 500 graduates in the Class of 2022 will be honored through a Commencement program that will also be live streamed at 10:00 a.m. on May 14, 2022. The link to view the live stream ceremony will be available at .

The ceremony will incorporate Ā鶹APP traditions of this milestone event, including a Commencement address and student speakers, as well as the presentation of awards and honorary degrees and, most importantly, the conferring of degrees to Ā鶹APP graduates. The class of 2022 will also include graduates of Ā鶹APP first graduate programs: the Master of Science in Cybersecurity and a graduate certificate in Substance Use Disorders.

After the initial broadcast, the 2022 Commencement will be posted on the UMA website. This will allow graduates to plan viewing events with family and friends at a date and time convenient to them.

Following are a few highlights of the speakers and honorees for this yearā€™s Commencement Ceremony:

Commencement Address

Anthony James, Jr., Ph.D.

2021- 2022 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Consultant at UMA

Associate Professor of Family Science and Social Work

Miami University

Honorary Degree Recipient

Shawn Yardley

CEO, Community Concepts

Student Remarks

Cassidy Lessner, Corinth, ME

Bachelor of Science in Nursing

Dexter Distinguished Student Award

Celena Zacchai, Camden, ME

Bachelor of Arts in Social Science

Distinguished Alumni Award

Lina Cloutier Michaud, ā€˜10

Bachelor of Science in Mental Health & Human Services

Emeriti

Kenneth Elliott, Ph.D.
Former Professor of Psychology

Frank Ellis, Ph.D.
Former Professor of Psychology and Human Services

Thomas Abbott, Ph.D.
Former Dean of Libraries and Distance Education

Additional information with links to view the commencement is available at .

This is an in-person event for UMA BSN Nursing students, and all others are invited to join our .

Charles Danforth Gallery in Ā鶹APP Jewett Hall

September 2 ā€“ October 2, 2020

Recently-graduated Art students at the Ā鶹APP who exhibited their works in an all-online Virtual Senior Thesis Exhibition in May are pleased to now exhibit their senior thesis projects on the Danforth Galleryā€™s walls. The five artists, Marcea Crawford, Shana Rowe Jackson, Evan Lord Martin, Jenn Messier, and Becky Pass spent months preparing their thesis projects, first in Ā鶹APP studios, and then in their home studios as campus access was limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In recognition of the challenging times in which their exhibition has taken place virtually and in-person, they have titled their exhibition Phantasmagoria: a term the dictionary defines as ā€œa sequence of real or imaginary images like those seen in a dream.ā€ In its transition from virtual to actual space, Ā鶹APP Senior Thesis Exhibition Phantasmagoria marks not only the accomplishment of the artists whose works it exhibits, but the strange passage between the real and dreamlike that has attended much of the COVID era.

Encompassing a wide variety of media, formats, and scales, the works included in this yearā€™s exhibition are, as artist Becky Pass explains, ā€œbuilt on endurance.ā€ Pass, whose mixed-media paintings on linen bath blankets convey her experiences of the daily struggles with anxiety, depression, and PTSD in her works, says the colorful blankets ā€œrepresent the disorder and chaos [she] experienced, while shape and line bring balance to these compositions, restoring [ā€¦] a semblance of order.ā€

Marcea Crawfordā€™s five eight-foot large wheat-paste murals powerfully reflect Crawfordā€™s experiences with domestic abuse and her survival. Jenn Messierā€™s works, exhibited in the Danforth Gallery on an over-scaled papier-mĆ¢chĆ© refrigerator door, frame ā€œsurrealistic domestic scenariosā€ wrought from the disconnect between the slick perfection of Americaā€™s consumerist fantasy and the more complicated and uncomfortable realities that transitions, from childhood to adulthood to parenthood, can bring.

Evan Lord Martin has a sensory processing disorder that can render the world ā€œa fury of mental and somatic noise;ā€ his video works seek “to articulate unrefined states of mind without using words in a traditional way.ā€ Lastly, Shana Rowe Jacksonā€™s series of realistically-rendered skies frame an idealized plane high and perfect above the challenges below. ā€œThrough creating, I have been able to move past the negativity in my life,ā€ Jackson writes, ā€œI create the world that I want to see.ā€

These works, forged from the artistsā€™ individual experiences, artistic training, and many hundreds of hours of work in the studio, showed, in the spring, how this yearā€™s graduates turned difficulty to art. Now viewable in person, Phantasmagoria transforms these artistsā€™ visions from virtual to real.

Phantasmagoria: 2020 UMA Senior Thesis Exhibition is on view in the Danforth Gallery in Ā鶹APP Jewett Hall from September 2 ā€“ October 2, 2020. The gallery is open, while requiring face coverings be worn and a physical distance of six feet between people be maintained at all times, from 9 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday.

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Images provided:

Danforth Thesis Fall 2020 Photo 1 – Installation View: Jenn Messier, ā€œDomestic Theaterā€ 16 drawings framed by papier-mĆ¢chĆ© refrigerator

Danforth Thesis Fall 2020 Photo 2 – Artist Marcela Crawford with her wheat-pasted murals ā€œThe Storm,ā€ ā€œPeacock,ā€ and ā€œDragon Lady,ā€ installed on the exterior walls of Ā鶹APP Jewett Hall.

Danforth Thesis Fall 2020 Photo 3 – Becky Pass, ā€œLamentā€ ā€“ Mixed Media

Keisha Beal of Rockland has been recognized by UMA with the James H. Woodworth Memorial Award which recognizes both academic and extracurricular achievement. Beal has worked to empower those who experience food insecurity and recently completed the “Building Advocates Leadership Program” funded by the JT Gorman Foundation. She is a 2020 graduate of UMA’s Bachelor of Science in Mental Health and Human Services degree.

Kendra Robinson of Rockland is the recipient of the Jeffrey Klivans Scholarship which is awarded by UMA to a deserving student in the BS in Business Administration program. This scholarship was established in 2007 with gifts from the Klivans family. Jeffrey Klivans of Camden was a well-respected member of UMA’s faculty and a pioneer in distance education technology and teaching.

Chelsea Summers of Owls Head has been recognized with the John Nickerson Scholarship which is awarded to students in the Public Administration program who demonstrate scholarship of the highest order with the potential to serve the public unselfishly. Summers is already putting her UMA education to best use in her multi-dimensional position as Assistant Town Administrator, Clerk, Tax Collector, and Deputy Registrar of Voters for the Town of South Thomaston.

Sara Wandell of Rockport has been awarded the Richard and Mary Elisabeth Randall Scholarship, a gift that was established at UMA in 2008 to honor UMA’s past President Richard Randall and his wife. The scholarship is awarded to a student who is demonstrating academic excellence, maintaining a very high GPA, and contributing to high standards at UMA.

Congratulations are extended to these four local scholars on their exceptional achievements!

Michaela Poor, graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and her guest pose in the photo frame at the URock graduation celebration event May 4th.

On Saturday, May 4th, faculty and staff at UMA Rockland Center hosted a celebration event for 54 local UMA graduates. Over 125 family and guests attended the celebration event.

In addition to the recognition of the graduates, student awards were presented to the following recipients by Ā鶹APP Associate Provost, Brenda McAleer.

• Computer Information Systems Excellence Award to Violet Bemis
• Leadership Award to Amy Taylor.
• Persistence Awards to Christy Preston and Sara Washburn.
• The Joshua Bowen Performing Arts Award to Yvette Presley.
• Volunteer Award to Mariah Mann.
• Jeffrey Klivans Scholarship to Mistydawn Bowen.
• Martin and Molly Schwartz Scholarship to Jean McIntyre.
• Dr. Maya Angelou Leadership & Service Award to Faith Bruce.

Students speakers included Bachelor of Science in Nursing graduate Brittany Rice as well as Liberal Studies graduate, Julie Smith. Local realtor, Mary Bumiller delivered an inspiring keynote address.

The UMA Rockland Center has been delivering University courses and degrees to the midcoast area since 1976. Since that time well over 2000 college degrees have been awarded to local students.

For more information about the UMA Rockland Center visit its website at www.uma.edu/rockland, or phone 596-6906.