Creative Potential: Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo

Lisa Belisle: Hello, I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to or watching Radio Maine. Today I have with me in the studio Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo. Nice to see you.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Thank you. Nice to see you as well.

Lisa Belisle: Beth, you have two very interesting things that I would like to talk to you about, and both of them are in the area of art. So Side x Side, I think that's the one I want to go with first. Talk to me about that.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Side x Side is a nonprofit located in Portland, Maine, where we bring teaching artists into the classroom and pair them with classroom teachers to do arts integration. We've been around for about 10 years and work predominantly in the Portland and Lewiston public schools.

Lisa Belisle: And you came by this, I think, out of something that was very personal to you.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes, I did.

Lisa Belisle: Do you mind talking about that?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about it. It's not something that I often share, but I do think it's really important. One of the main reasons I started Side x Side was after I had been in my children's classroom in elementary school volunteering. I realized that a lot of the public school system hasn't changed since I was in school. One of the things that had happened to me is that I have dyslexia that was undiagnosed until I was a sophomore in college. So I went through my whole education career feeling like there was something wrong with me, feeling that I wasn't very smart because I couldn't test well. I couldn't always get out the knowledge that I had learned in a way that proved that I was learning. And I noticed that a lot of the systems were still in place roughly 10 years ago.

It really broke my heart. So I thought, okay, instead of getting angry about it, what can I do? I started volunteering a lot. I started going into the classroom and bringing friends who were creative people and artists into the classroom and doing art projects, combining what they were studying with arts. And what I noticed is that every child was happy, the teacher was happy, the kids were happy, and it was sort of like a magnet. So that developed a few years later into starting the organization Side x Side. And I worked with a professor from USM, Dr. Kelly Hrenko. The two of us wrote a really large grant with a team of people to fund researching this model of how you bring the arts and content together for deeper learning. So it really stemmed out of a need for me, one, to illustrate that creativity is really important and it has a place in our society.

It has a really important place in our society. Art is the basis of humanity and it really should hold a larger position in education right from the beginning. So part of our model is bringing teaching artists into the classroom, but also bringing in visiting experts. We call them visiting experts. They can be community members who are geologists, mathematicians, scientists, and putting together these teams to dive into the content that you're learning with the teacher, and then weave in that creative piece for deeper learning, especially deeper learning for those students who learn that way. Art is a language, and it's a language that we don't weave into our daily curriculum, and we're leaving kids out. Not purposely, but we are having students feel like they're not part of the classroom because their language is the language of art and creativity. So that's how Side x Side started.

Lisa Belisle: I don't think I could smile any more broadly at this, because what you're describing is just so important to helping kids feel like they belong and there's a space for them, and they don't have to be learning in the same style as everybody else. That maybe was put into place at a time where we didn't really know any differently. I think my mother was a teacher for many years, and I think her intention was always so good. She's such a wonderful teacher even now. But you only ever do what you can with what you have.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes. There's a beautiful Maya Angelou quote, which I'm not going to get quite perfectly, but the idea and the heart behind it is you do what you know, and then when you learn differently, you do differently. I come from a long line of classroom teachers. I love teachers. They are the heart and soul of our culture. Our kids spend six hours a day with these teachers every day, five days a week. They're incredible human beings. So part of what Side x Side does is it gives these teachers permission to find that creative part of themselves, because they've had the same experience where they weren't given the opportunity to foster that piece of themselves, which is a piece of humanity. This gives the teacher time to explore that part of themselves, which then they can bring back in the classroom and help kids have that connection.

I probably two months ago got an email late at night from one of the third or fourth grade teachers. She rotates between third and fourth grade, and we had worked with her years ago doing arts integration programs. I hadn't seen her for probably four or five years. She sent me an email with some videos attached to it, and she said, I just wanted you to know I am still doing arts integration even though I'm not part of your program. And the video was the project she had done with her class, and it made me weep. It just made me so happy. So yes, these teachers are also learning. They're learning about themselves and they're daring to bring that part of creativity into the classroom, which brings hope and joy and happiness for everybody. It changes the school environment, I think.

Lisa Belisle: It's so interesting, because I talk about this a lot, and sometimes talk about it with my kids. This idea that somebody's put this magical dividing line where you turn 18 or 21 or whatever the age is, and you suddenly cross the bridge into adulthood, and now you are an adult and you have to do adulting type things. But that's just not true. We're humans, we're born in one form, and we just continue to evolve over the course of our lifespan, and so do our brains and so do our hearts and so does our creativity. So when you're describing teachers who are continuing to connect in and change and be changed simultaneously, isn't that a wonderful example of that?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes. And it makes me think about how we, as human beings, we try to categorize. I think it makes sense of our world. And I think a lot of times what's missing is it's not true that if your strength is math, that you're not creative. There's actually this interwoven aspect of all humans who are creative. So the idea for me is to not lose that part. As you're turning 18, 19, 20, you're trying to figure out what's my profession. That whole other piece of you is equally as important. So you can be a doctor and also love painting and be good at painting, and that helps your brain recognition of other elements in the world. It makes you a much more well-rounded person. And again, it always comes back to that joy. We wake up in the morning and we're so inclined to look at color, and to music, listen to poetry, we all enjoy dance. Those are the arts, and we all have that in us.

Lisa Belisle: Yes. As you're describing and talking about being a doctor, I will often get the question, why are you doing a podcast, and why are you doing a podcast about art? Are you an artist?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes, exactly.

Lisa Belisle: I don't have a formal background in art, as I've often said when I talk to people. But I just love the idea that each of us, we can all come from some basic design and yet we're all so different, and we all have such different experiences that have woven themselves around us as we've continued to evolve as people. So for me, having conversations like this one is really not that different than having conversations with people that I work with, whether they're patients or people who take care of patients or people who lead people who take care of patients. We all are just continuously integrating with our lives. So I love this idea that you're talking about arts integration, because you're not saying this is a separate thing. You're saying this is interwoven.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Exactly. And the Side x Side piece is bringing people together in connection, in relationship. This happens to be around creativity, but it's that idea of bringing people together and then weaving in that creativity. It's always relationship. What's the relationship between science and art? What's the relationship between the teacher and the student? What's your own relationship with who you are as a learner? So always thinking about that integration and that weaving together.

Lisa Belisle: What type of feedback do you get from the artists or the experts that come in and work with the teachers, who are themselves experts, of course? And the children are actually experts too, if you think about it. But the people that you're designating as such, what do they say about their experiences?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: It's like a breath of fresh air. It's really incredible, because it's relationship building. We as humans love to be in connection with one another. So the teaching artists often talk about how wonderful it is to come in and work with a classroom teacher together, and then get to share this magic, which art and creativity often feels like, with students. So it's this building of relationships and this feeling of joy. Oftentimes what I hear over and over again is how powerful the programs are, because they're bringing joy and wonder and curiosity. And the visiting experts we bring in often come in one or two times, and they always want to come back more. So there's a magnetism there, which is really incredible when you're talking about learning. This is what we want to do, right? We want to have joy in learning.

Lisa Belisle: I'm wondering, and again, this is something I've thought a lot about recently, given where we are coming out of as a collective global humanity, this idea that we have been traumatized by our experience, which I think we have. If you think about trauma, it is a change that has impacted people. But there is also this idea of resilience, and what is it that has gotten us through to where we are now without ignoring how changed we were and how hurt we were by this. And the reason I bring this up for you is that you are describing this sense that when you got to a place, rather than claim victimhood and say, I have dyslexia, I've been damaged by all of this, you said, how do I do something constructive? How do I do something generative? How do I move forward so that other people can actually have experience that's different than mine? So I'm wondering how you came to that place where you made a decision to go in that direction?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: That's a great question. It was tough, because I was scared. I was really afraid. But that was half the coin. The other half was this joy of, oh my gosh, I get to come in the classroom and work with teachers and work with students and do art. I was volunteering at the beginning of this, and there's a great joy in that. But that flip side was the fear of, I'm going to expose myself, and I'm going to have to say there are times with dyslexia I can't spell, I can't put a sentence together, and I feel inadequate. But I think art has given me the power to say, I'm still smart, I still matter, and look at what I can do. So that feeling pushed me through the fear parts. And I do want to bring that to teachers who sometimes don't understand their students and they can't understand why they're not connecting with their students.

So arts integration is a tool, and it's a way for them to have more understanding. And then it just unfolds like a flower. It's incredible. You put the arts into the curriculum and teachers see another side of their student that they weren't able to see before, because they didn't have the tools. And when a student is given the opportunity to shine from within, all the learning just unfolds, all the connection in the classroom. A lot of times the behavior issues that might be there disappear. We worked in an elementary school in Lewiston, and the assistant principal said he was blown away by the lack of need for him, which was incredible, because he had shared that on any given day he would need to go into that classroom and sort of manage some of the behaviors and the trauma that was coming out. And when the arts programs were happening, he said he stood in the hallway and just got teary-eyed because he wasn't needed. He just kept listening, like, am I going to need to go in there? And through the whole 45 minutes to an hour, he was not needed once in the classroom. So the art has the power to transform. I don't know if that answered your question.

Lisa Belisle: No, I think it does. I absolutely agree with you. And I think when I consider the idea of language and giving people a language who maybe have been locked into, not only do we have to have a verbal language or a linguistic language, but it also has to be, say, in English. And I think about all the people for whom that is not possible, or even people, and I'm talking about children, but also adults, for whom, if you can't hear, then what does that mean about how you speak and how you interact? Or if you can't see? So as you're talking about how do we allow people to have a voice, this is what feels so powerful to me, that you've opened up this space. So you're saying, here's some paint, or here's some other medium you can use, and here is something else you can use as a language, and we're not locking you into words that come out of your mouth.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes. And that's so important, especially right now where we have an influx of new Mainers coming into our schools, and those kids can drop right into an arts integration project and really understand and shine and communicate without having the language pieces there. It's really incredible. And what that does is it softens those edges. It softens the fear of I don't fit in, or the fear that maybe the teacher doesn't understand the student because they're not speaking the same language. It's really an incredible tool.

Lisa Belisle: And it also seems to me that one of the ways that I know we've tried very hard to help bring people back into the world that we all should live in, is that we identify that there is a problem that needs to be solved. And then if we help solve this problem, then welcome back to humanity. If you are differently abled, we will somehow make a patch for that. But you're not describing anything like that. You're not describing people as being identified as something wrong with you. You are saying we are all starting from this basic creative space.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Yes. And that we're all important. We all have a gift. This makes me think of a show that we have opening at the Portland Public Library. It's called Sustenance. And I get goosebumps when I think about this show, because the team who has curated this show started talking about some of these issues that are in our society. So we were asking the question, what sustains us? And art sustains us, as well as water and food. So this show is all about that. And the piece that really makes me excited and happy is that third graders from our program are also in this show. So it's multi-generational, and it's that idea that everybody has something to bring to the table, no matter where you come from, no matter what your language is, no matter what your ability is, you have something important to bring to the table.

So this show is also speaking about those connections and those relationships. And it's not very often that you have third graders, who I think are like eight and nine year olds, who are in the same exhibit as adults who have made art their profession. So it's that piece that I think Side x Side helps bring to the world, that we all have a special gift. And if we're leaving out that creativity piece in education, then we're missing something. So I'm trying to bring that back in, and it captures those people like me who may have a different ability, a learning difference is what I like to call it.

Lisa Belisle: So this brings me to the other big thing that you've worked on for a pretty long time in your life, and I want you to talk about that for a little while.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Oak Street Studios.

Lisa Belisle: I guess maybe you could have worked on a lot of different things.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: But I was thinking about Oak Street Studios. Yes. So Oak Street Studios, again, it was one of those explorations of who am I, what do I have to bring to the world, what brings me joy, what brings me happiness? And clearly teaching is part of it, although I'm non-traditional. I don't feel like I fit into these systems. So I started Oak Street Studios almost 25 years ago now. It was a way for me to do my own work as an artist, but also to bring people into the studio and share this gift with children. I've always adored children. So I've kept that going for a long time, where kids come during the day if they're not in school yet or they're homeschooled, and then after school we have afterschool programs as well. And I think back now, I don't know how many students have come through Oak Street Studios, but there's not a month that goes by where somebody says either my child came through Oak Street Studios, or I meet the adult who came through the program as an 8, 9, 10 year old. It's really been incredible.

Lisa Belisle: Well, and if you've been doing this for this long, I'm guessing you might be starting to get the next generation of babies and children that are the children of the people who came in.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: That's coming. I think you're right. I've had students come back and actually work for me and teach for me, which is really fun, who had come through my programs as elementary school kids. And then I have people that come back and say it changed my life. It changed the direction of what I was going to study in college, and this is what I'm doing now, and I'm bringing it into my profession. And not necessarily art, but a version of creativity and art. And Side x Side grew out of that need to do something greater than the afterschool program or the daytime program at Oak Street Studios. I was like, how can I really reach more students, and more equitably reach students? So Side x Side definitely grew out of Oak Street Studios.

Lisa Belisle: And again, I'm so fascinated by this idea that you recognized yourself, that you didn't necessarily resonate with the current educational structure as it related to arts. But you said, oh, well, okay, then I'll just do my own thing. I'll create something. And then I'll create this other thing, because it feels like this is the direction to go in. But that's not always the way that people approach these scenarios. Sometimes they feel like, okay, well, if I don't fit in, then there's something wrong with me. And then they just kind of shut down. But something enabled you to be propelled forward. Is it the joy of art? Is it your own joy with art?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: I think it is. And it's also the need to do something, and to bring those pieces. It is who I am. I am extremely creative, and I've known from a really young age I've never fit into the traditional. So I think it is like I have to do something, and I have to survive some way. I tried working in the public school system and it wasn't a good fit for me. I loved the kids, I loved parts of it, but it wasn't a good fit for me. And I kept asking myself, what brings you joy? What part of this brings you joy? So I guess I'm left with, you have to create your own thing, because I want to bring joy to what I do every day.

Lisa Belisle: You grew up in Northern Maine.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: I did. Aroostook County.

Lisa Belisle: Aroostook County. Exactly. And I know that's a really unique experience. Obviously we're still in Maine here in the southern part of the state, but it's a very distinct kind of community, I would say, well, probably multiple different distinct communities in the northern part of the state. Did your educational experience growing up foster a love of creativity, learning, art? What was that like?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: It was pretty traditional, although I do remember feeling that teachers had a lot more leeway to bring arts into the classroom than they do now. But I think what Aroostook County really gave me was a freedom. There's a lot of open space. I spent a lot of time in nature, and it also gave me, I built a lot of resilience. I worked really hard. So I have a really strong work ethic. I'm tenacious. I don't give up. I grew up picking potatoes at a very young age, which is really hard work. It also gave me a really strong understanding of community and connection. And I think that's the piece that's woven into my work, whether it's Oak Street Studios or Side x Side, this understanding that we're not alone, and we need each other. And that makes us stronger, no matter who you are, and that you have to look out for one another. So those are the fabrics of Side x Side, just as much as the arts and the creative components. It's this understanding that you need to know who your neighbor is and take care of your neighbor. That's very much a part of being from Aroostook County, growing up in Northern Maine, is really being connected and taking care of one another.

Lisa Belisle: How do we get people back to that idea, given this enormous thing that we're all kind of slowly and carefully creeping back out of?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: I think that's what I'm trying to do with Side x Side, bring that component in. So I talk a lot about how schools can't do this alone. Teachers shouldn't carry that burden that they have to do this alone. Administrators can't do this alone. So the idea behind Side x Side is bringing people in from the community. The visiting experts, I joke, it's like Mr. Rogers. You look out into the community, who's your neighbor, who's in your community, who can come in to help illuminate that part of the content? And also illuminate for students what's possible. It's storytelling. That piece is just as much storytelling as it is anything else, where our experts will come in and talk about how did you get to your profession? What was your trajectory? What did you study? What were you like as a child? So it's giving students this pathway forward, knowing that it's not necessarily a straight line, and it's giving support to classroom teachers and administrators in the building. So I think that's a big piece of it as well.

Lisa Belisle: I'm in a doctoral program, and obviously I'm a physician, but a lot of the people in this program are teachers. And it was fascinating to me this most recent round of classes that I took with them, just how much they were able to do with really not very much. And it's not just art, it's also, they were telling me that they have food bags that they give out to families who don't have enough food, and they have clothing available to kids who come in and aren't wearing coats in the wintertime. They're dealing with all of the social things that we in medicine are now calling social determinants of health. But these are teachers who are dealing with these children's entire lives. So as you're describing the need to support people who are doing classroom teaching or really education of any sort with our children, you're so right about that, that this group is an inherently creative group.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: They are. They do so much with so little. It's funny. I have this strong desire to really support the teachers. Like I said, I come from a line of teachers. My grandmother was a teacher. So one of the components of Side x Side is professional development for teachers, and really helping them get in touch with that creative piece of them that maybe got left somewhere in their childhood. And we're working this year to deliver, free for teachers, a professional development. So any educator across the state of Maine can participate in a year-long workshop series that Side x Side is going to be able to offer through a grant that we're getting from Senator Angus King's office. It's a Congressionally Directed Spending fund. And it's so dear to my heart, because they do work so hard, and they do so much with so little, and we are going to be able to give back at no cost for them. This opportunity for them to develop themselves a little more in the joy of art, which they can then bring into their own classroom.

Lisa Belisle: Well, that's very exciting, and I love that. It's like you've laid out this garden, you've already got things growing in it, and here's a few more things that you've just put along the pathways for people to follow. Beth, how do people find out about Side x Side or Oak Street Studios?

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: So I guess through our website, sidexsideme.com. I'm located in Portland, and Oak Street Studios is also there. We share an office together, and you can call or email. We're also on social media. I'm right downtown in Portland and the office is open.

Lisa Belisle: Okay, well, very good. I've really enjoyed my conversation with you today.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Thank you so much for giving me this opportunity. I've really enjoyed my conversation with you.

Lisa Belisle: Thank you for all the work you're doing. I really appreciate it.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Thank you.

Lisa Belisle: I'm Dr. Lisa Belisle. You have been listening to or watching Radio Maine. I've been speaking today with Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo, who is the founder of Oak Street Studios and Side x Side. I encourage you to go to the websites that she's just given to learn more about these programs, or maybe just go to Oak Street and meet Beth yourself. She is a truly lovely human being. And I'm grateful not only for the opportunity to share this conversation with you who have been listening or watching, but also to share this conversation with you in person. Beth, thank you so much for coming.

Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo: Thank you.