Phoenix II High School, Gaithersburg, MD
Maryland Printmakers, Inc. Education Project

"Remember the dead fish?" Not the expected response to the query, "What did you like most about art class?" But then, this was no ordinary art class. Last spring, Frederick artist Linda Harrison-Parsons offered a group of high school students at the Phoenix II, one of Montgomery County's alternative education settings, a series of unforgettable sensory and aesthetic explorations. From fish printing to marbleizing, papermaking to collographs & linoleum carvings, Linda provided the class, composed of teenagers in recovery from addiction, experiences in printmaking that would never have been possible in such a small school with an even smaller budget. Thanks to funding from the Maryland State Arts Council and Phoenix II Boosters, these students were exposed, and many for the first time, to a living, working artist who could not only share knowledge and a firsthand understanding of it takes to succeed in the world of art, but who could do so in a non-threatening positive manner.

"I can't believe how much a print changes each time it goes through the press. A different color, and added texture-wow!" From a senior considering a career in the arts to a freshman who fought being "stuck" in an art class to begin with, Linda was able to extract a "Wow!" from each in turn. More importantly, she was able to make each student feel successful, no matter what the level of experience. When asked what they most appreciated about the chance to work with Linda, replies most often echoed "her patience", "her calmness", or "her love of art." Thanks to Linda, the seeds for special love of art have been planted in a population that might otherwise have been overlooked.