December NAEA News: Elementary Division

Nikigator by Niki de Saint Phalle, in Balboa Park in San Diego

Are you snowed in, dreaming of palm trees, blue water, and warm breezes in the dead of winter? Then make your plan to join NAEA for Spark! in San Diego, March 29-31. We’ll have balmy weather, a waterfront hotel, easy access to the Convention, free Wi-Fi, and the Mobile App. The NAEA National Convention is the largest professional gathering of visual arts educators in the world. It provides the best professional development ever and you will have a choice of over 1,000 workshops and events to attend—so many, your head will spin!

There is no substitute for the rejuvenation, camaraderie, and joy you will feel attending an NAEA National Convention. I still remember the excitement I felt the first time I attended one. You will get to hear from world-class artists and experts. You will get to learn about and try new products in the commercial exhibits. You will meet and share ideas with like-minded teachers who actually understand what you do. And you’ll make lifelong friends.

I know you will be incredibly excited about the speakers slated for San Diego. Artist Deborah Butterfield is a keynote general session speaker with “A Life with Horses”; she is also presenting a special ticketed session. Native American artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith is giving another keynote for a general session. Jason Ohler and Bernajean Porter Porter are presenting a supersession, “Art in an Age of Digital Expression: Storytelling and Augmented Reality,” and Terry Whitlatch will share “Creature Design: An Odyssey into Art and Science.” And that’s only about half of the major presenters scheduled.

Having access to world-class art museumsis also a benefit of NAEA Conventions. San Diego has much to offer in addition to the Convention, such as the New Children’s Museum downtown (half a mile away), the 14 museums in Balboa Park (known as the “Smithsonian of the West” and just 2 miles away), and the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego (1.5 miles away).

On the first day the Elementary Division will start with Conversation with Colleagues to provide an overview of the Convention, help you get acquainted with fellow elementary art teachers, and present news and updates for the elementary level. Also on the first day, we’ll present the Elementary Division’s awards luncheon to honor our award winners for 2014 (and there will be door prizes!). And you don’t want to miss Bob Reeker’s session, where he shares his outstanding art program for which he was named the NAEA 2013 Elementary Art Educator of the Year.

In addition, the Elementary Division will be offering two carousels this year: one on Advocacy and one on Technology, based on the responses we received from last year’s survey. In carousel presentations there are 4-5 presenters, each is assigned to a table or particular space. Participants rotate to each table for short and sweet presentations, spending about 10 minutes with each presenter. Advocacy was the foremost request of teachers on the survey last year so we plan to share many ways to approach it in the advocacy carousel. We all know the role of the art teacher has become more exacting than ever before. The challenges I faced in my first teaching position 32 years ago have expanded for teachers today to include issues such as national and state standards for the visual arts, core curriculum, STEAM, interdisciplinary connections, cultural diversity, visual culture, and constantly changing technologies.

To meet these increasing demands, art teachers must be passionately committed to the spreading the word of the value of our profession. That commitment also requires us to become outspoken advocates for quality art education—to become “cheerleaders for the art team.” Through advocacy, we can emphasize the value of art education as essential and fundamental for all students. In our advocacy carousel, we’ll share five different stories about successful advocacy efforts. In the meantime, check out NAEA’s rich store of advocacy tools and materials at www.arteducators.org/ advocacy.

If you can’t come to the Convention, we’ll do our best to bring it to you. We’ll be
posting continually on Twitter and the NAEA Elementary Division Facebook page during the Convention. Handouts and other documents will also be available online and on the Mobile App. If there are issues or concerns you would like the Elementary Division to address at Conversations for Colleagues in San Diego, please let us know as soon as possible. We want to meet your needs.

Nancy Walkup, NAEA Elementary Division Director

2223 Parkside Drive, Denton, TX 76201-0729

940-382-8274 nwalkup@netzero.net

Elect: Thom Knab,

388 Summer Street #1, Buffalo, NY 14213. tkvolley15@aol

Regional Directors: Eastern Region: Susan Bivona, spbivona@earthlink.net; Southeastern Region: Tina Atkinson, tinaatkinson@yahoo.com; Western Region: Michelle Lemons, mlemons85@live.com; Pacific Region: Andrean Andrus, aandrus@graland.org