Portland Ovations Welcomes Catherine M. Anderson as Ovations Offstage Director

Portland Ovations has announced that they have hired Catherine M. Anderson as their Director of Ovations Offstage, the education and community outreach arm of the 84 year-old performing arts organization. Anderson has been a language arts and humanities teacher at King Middle School for the past fifteen years and is thrilled about her new role and joining Portland Ovations. "I could not have designed a more perfect fit for the marriage of my dedication to education with my passion for the arts than in this position which is devoted to co-creating authentic, relevant opportunities to grow and sustain cultural curiosity in learners of all ages," states Anderson.

Catherine brings to her new role a dynamic educational background spanning more than fifteen years as an educator and arts enrichment director within the Portland Public Schools. During this time she also co-facilitated the Cross Cultural Committee of Ocean Avenue Elementary, where she helped to organize a citywide celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day with participation from every elementary school, the NAACP, PATHS, and United Way among others. In addition to these collaborations, she helped to pilot the "I'm Your Neighbor" new arrivals literacy initiative, is on the Raising Readers Selection Committee, and designed "K-Big," an afterschool enrichment program between the Boys and Girls Club Portland Clubhouse and King Middle School. Prior to her tenure in education in Maine, Catherine worked as a personal assistant for Jerome Robbins and the Jerome Robbins Foundation in New York City, and received her BA from Bard College, and completed her teaching training and certification programming at Bank Street College in New York City. Catherine is also a published poet, playwright, printmaker, photographer, and essayist who lives in Portland with her husband, two children, and five bonus children.

Ovations Executive Director Aimée M. Petrin declares, "Finding Catherine in our own backyard after a national search is yet another testament to the amazing, intelligent, creative people we have right here in Portland. I am excited by what Catherine's leadership and generous spirit promises for arts programming in our community."

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