Amy Bartlett-Goodness Brings Art to the Community: Postscripts Fall 2023

It’s Fashion Week at Mill Studio Arts. Twenty-two students, ages 6 to 12, are carefully gluing fabric clothing to tabletop mannequins under the watchful eye of Amy Bartlett-Goodness ’00. The kids are at the Biddeford studio for Fashion Camp, where they design and make the mannequins clothing for an end-of-week-fashion show.

Amy, the founder of Mill Studio Arts, has taken community Arts education to a new level, offering after-school classes and week-long summer camps. “It’s really about giving the kids who love art in school more art opportunities,” she says. “It’s the same as kids who love gym class and play sports after school.”

Amy was one of those art-loving kids during her years at TA. “The Art Department was my place,” she says. “Dance and art were my passion and I think I took every visual art and dance offering TA had to offer. My teachers at the time, Jennifer Merry and Kathy Nolan, became my mentors and lifelong friends.”

After TA, Amy earned a Bachelor of Fine Art in Sculpture from the Maine College of Art. She added a teaching degree from the University of New England and a graduate degree from Leslie University.

She embarked on a 19-year teaching career that included nine years at Thornton Academy Middle School. Amy left the classroom to be a stay-at-home mom to her two youngest children, but loved teaching too much to stay away. “I taught at my son’s preschool and started offering art lessons at home,” she says. “It snowballed and picked up with kids and families looking for more. Once I felt that I had a foundation, I just went for it.”

The ever-expanding list of after-school classes at Mill Studio Arts ranges from Drawing, Painting, and Cartoon Illustration, to Fashion Design, Art Exploration, and even Lego Robotics.

“We’ve branched out to offer STEAM classes-Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics-science-based Arts lessons,” she says, noting that the arts and sciences share the need to think creatively and problem solve.

Amy’s own creative thinking provided a boost for the studio during the early days of Covid, when she realized that many kids struggled without a regularly scheduled activity, and families could benefit from fun activities outside of the home. Following public school protocol, she provided a place with consistent, community-based activities in smaller groups, along with virtual programs. She and her team of six teachers also hold week-long camps in the summer.

“I love the relationships I build with kids,” she says. “I get to see them change and grow into these creative, smart, independent people. It is a gift to contribute to the intellectual and creative development of children. I just love what I do.”