CAMDEN — Camden Rockport Middle School teacher Kristen Andersen is the recipient of the 2017 Maine Art Education Association- Middle Level Art Educator of the Year. The Maine Art Education Association is a statewide professional organization whose members are committed to excellence in visual arts education.

Kristen is originally from Northport, N.Y., and moved to Maine after earning her visual arts undergraduate degree at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania.  She holds professional teaching certificates in both K-12 Visual Arts and K-8 General Education. For the past 17 years, she has been the visual arts teacher at Camden-Rockport Middle School in Camden.

During her career she has had many career highs that include adorning the school with more than 1,500 6x6 student-designed and painted tiles and creating, with students and staff, a stunning 100 square-foot glass mosaic that depicts the vista from Camden's beloved Mt. Battie.

In her own time Kristen is still a practicing artist and is honing her work in plein air painting.  A personal highlight occurred this past summer, Kristen’s art work was selected by the Grateful Dead to headline the Dead’s memorabilia pop up art exhibit at the Field Museum in Chicago during the Fare Thee Well concerts.

In addition to her teaching responsibilities, Kristen runs an After School Art program, is the District's Visual and Performing Arts Gifted and Talented coordinator for grades 3-8, and helps organize the school's annual Arts Alive Night. 

In the community she serves on the Youth Arts board and the Farnsworth Art Museum Education board.  Anderson has also worked for the Maine Arts Alliance creating a digital database of OERs (open educational resources) for teachers to access statewide.

Kristen lives in Rockport with her husband, Karl, and their sons, Ryan and Liam.