Since 1981, Shoreline Arts Alliance has championed Scholarships in the Arts, a juried scholarship competition for high school juniors and seniors. In its 44 years, this program has awarded over 400 scholarships to students throughout the 24 towns we serve. This article is the first in a series of interviews conducted with some of our
scholarship winners...
In 2020, the brilliant Mara Kelley from Old Saybrook received special recognition in dance when she was a senior. Since then, she has graduated from Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts with a B.A. in Dance and Education and Child Studies, and at 22-years-old is currently pursuing a Masters of Philosophy in Education (Knowledge, Power and Politics) at University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Mara remembers winning the Shoreline Arts scholarship, and she reflected on it as an important destructive agent of imposter syndrome in her journey. The whole process necessitated thinking for the first time about herself as a creative: “Having to present myself as a valid figure in a dance space was something that forced me to acknowledge all the work I had done.”
And she’d done a lot, even at that time. Not only was she a decorated competitive dancer and a choreographer for her school’s musicals, but she had started teaching at her home studio, Westbrook Dance Academy, in just 7th grade. When Mara applied to our Scholarship Program, she had written, “I have always held this dream in my mind of being able to teach… if I can become a teacher and give just one child this safe haven, I would be eternally grateful.” Young Mara would certainly be proud of Mara today. At Smith, Mara earned a Massachusetts Initial Elementary Teaching License and during her senior year, on top of writing her thesis in dance, she taught 5th grade full time. She loved the experience and always found her students to be the brightest and best part of her day. She noted the many challenges, but also explained how her artistic practice influences her work as an educator.
“As a teacher,” she began, “dance, and especially improvisation, have definitely changed my teaching style. When making my thesis I had to really think about what makes dance valuable to me. And there are so many things, but the thing that has always felt important to me about dance is the way that it cuts down to the humanness of people.” She paused thoughtfully, then continued, “which is then complicated because it asks for this kind of artistic voyeurism where you're cutting yourself open to be viewed.” It was apparent she has spent a lot of time examining the intersection of her passions. “That level of risk taking, problem solving, being on the spot, and being okay with sharing your humanity feels very important to me in teaching. I think it's really important that kids see the adults in their life are fallible and being a dancer who prioritizes active problem solving in dance-making has allowed me to value that in my teaching.” She gave an example of how she teaches writing. In the classroom she would often observe her students paralyzed and unable to even begin putting something down on the page. Consequently, she started exploring the question of “how can I guide them to just try this thing? In making [my thesis], it only started working when I let every risk live in the room at least once, even if it felt like the worst choice that wasn't even going to make it into the piece.” This openness to the human reality of failure informs her teaching style. “The consequence of having started dance so early is that it is just an inextricable thing that’s in me.”
Having also danced for most of my life (even, for a few months over a decade ago, with Mara at Westbrook Dance Academy in an acro class!) I really resonate with her connection to the art and admire her awareness of its manifestation in other facets of her life. As I started inquiring about her Masters in knowledge, power, and politics in education, her demeanor shifted. “Working with kids is the most joy fulfilling thing I've ever done,” she asserted. “But I got stuck on this policy branch.”
In Connecticut, as is the case for many states, 56% of a given school district’s funding comes from local property tax, she began to explain. This essentially means that in our state, where there are massive amounts of wealth disparity– additionally exacerbated by racial disparity with the history of redlining–the result is radically different school systems. She continued, “I kept thinking about Hartford and West Hartford for example. Hartford has a median household income of ~$37,000 and West Hartford is $111,000. That's a $75,000 gap per household in the amount of funding kids are getting. And Hartford is 85% people of color and West Hartford is ~60-something% white, and the only thing separating them is a line.” As both a student and an educator, Mara feels as though this is an education crisis, but also expressed that it feels like nobody is talking about it. “Is there a gap that exists between what educators are seeing as these huge issues in their everyday life versus what's being represented in national media?” She has been interrogating this rhetoric piece and decided to take matters into her own hands. “Teaching is something I care about and will always really care about, but I feel like I have to do this policy thing first because it won’t stop in my brain,” she said, tapping her head. She is about to start her dissertation research, and by the end of our conversation I was certain she embodies the paragon of our childhood lesson to be the very change we wish to see in the world.
She concluded, “Don't limit yourself before you even step into the room. You exist in space. There is still space for you there. Especially for people who don't feel like they've seen themselves represented in the field that they are interested in… The arts gave me so much. Art is for everyone, and necessarily so. Storytelling in general is a really important way to maintain empathy. Art is activism, your art is your voice, and your voice matters. It matters increasingly more so every day. Maybe there is nobody that fits the mold of you there, but the space needs you.”
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