PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — What happens when you combine visual art with digital technology? If you ask the 12 students who participated in Wintergreen Arts Center’s AR Girls program this past summer, they’ll tell you about a project that can help community members stay active and healthy.
On Saturday, Oct. 12, students showcased their finished augmented reality projects to family members, Wintergreen staff and people from AR Girls and affiliated groups. The girls used augmented reality software to create virtual storylines filled with characters and digital representations of businesses and recreational facilities in downtown Presque Isle.
AR Girls is a program of the Maine Mathematics and Science Alliance that aims to provide artistic girls between the ages of 12 and 16 opportunities to engage in a project that combines digital art and science subjects. This year the program was held at three locations in Maine — Wintergreen, Fiddlehead Art and Science Center in Gray and Waterfall Arts in Belfast.
In July and August the students in Presque Isle participated in a two-week digital storytelling workshop at Wintergreen, during which they learned how to use AR software, created storyboards and built a digital game around the theme of health and wellness. The girls split into four teams and each completed their own versions of the game.
“It’s like virtual reality, but instead you put your own reality into the game,” said Olivia Buster, 12, who was on a team with Lariah Langley and Raegen McCormick, both 12.
Buster, Langley and McCormick created a game called “Staying Active” that focused on downtown locations that promote regular physical activity such as Bicentennial Park, the splash pad, playground, bike path, baseball and soccer fields and Sargent Family Community Center, all located around Riverside Drive.
Many guests at Saturday’s community showcase took the opportunity to download the game apps onto their phones and walk to the places that the games feature. The students designed the games so that each location triggers a new lesson about health and wellness from a digital character.
“It was very difficult because we had to work as a team and learn about the technology,” Langley said. “I got to use technology in more ways than I thought I could.”
This summer the students met with Northern Maine Community College biology instructor Trena Soucy and city of Presque Isle resource development and public information officer Kim Smith to learn more about community health and wellness.
Soucy introduced the budding digital artists to the factual knowledge surrounding physical and mental well-being that they incorporated into the AR games. She praised AR Girls has an inventive way to introduce more girls to possible careers in Science, Engineering, Technology and Math, STEM, while creating projects that educate the community.
“It’s amazing to see these girls show interest in science and technology,” Soucy said. “I hope people see the talent they have and the bright futures they could have within the different STEM fields.”
Smith talked with the girls about various places in downtown Presque Isle that promote physical and emotional well-being and healthy eating choices such as Riverside Drive, art galleries, area restaurants, the summer concert series and the Presque Isle Farmers Market.
She views AR Girls as a unique chance for the students to understand more about what the city’s downtown region has to offer.
“We want them to understand how much the city has invested in the downtown area,” Smith said. “The fact that this program [AR Girls] is offered at no cost and allows girls to combine art and science is a great resource for this community.”
Wintergreen received a $4,000 grant from MMSA to support instruction for the 2019 session of AR Girls, and will receive a $10,000 grant to purchase additional technologies for next year.
