I am still not fully recovered from all of the learning, laughing, and dancing while conferencing it up in The Big Easy this past weekend. It was an amazing time and I had so much fun with the more than 4,000 other Art Teachers who headed down South for the 2015 National Art Education Association Conference.
I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long.
So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here, part two here, and here is the third:
I have a lot take-aways from the conference I plan to share, but if I do it all at once, this post will be forever long.
So, I am breaking it down into five parts, part one can be found here, part two here, and here is the third:
3. Inspiration Is Everywhere.
I am always a big fan of the Exhibit Hall because our NAEA Vendors are the best! This year, I was so impressed with the quality of work being displayed and new ideas being presented!
Every conference I attend offers something that I can bring back to my classroom and help improve learning for my students. There is something extra special about the National Art Education Association Convention, though. It is so strategically placed in lively cities where visuals grab a hold of me constantly, leaving me wondering how I might adapt them in my classes. They also somehow manage to bottle that energy inside the convention in the excitement and delight that is the exhibit hall of vendors!
I was particularly captivated by one group in the exhibit hall this year: Ymm Art Education
The picture above is from their booth. If you did not get a chance to see their combination of large sculpture, small installations, and fashion design, you missed out on an opportunity to be blown away with the attention to detail and beautiful craft. They start offering fashion design courses to students as young as 6 years old, and continue offering programming through the age of 18. It was incredibly inspirational to see the work from students and hear from their leadership; it made me rethink some of the ways I could bring this back to my own classroom and how we consider the way art is offered to our youngest of students.
I would never think to start fashion design with such young ones, but now that I have seen what is possible, I wonder why I would ever deny a child this type of expressive opportunity at any age! Conferences like this one push my thinking and help me reconsider notions I have about art, education, and what it can look like in any classroom. I have already started talking with the STEM teacher on how we can collaborate on a large sculpture and an architecture unit based on the work I saw there.
In addition to having a great time with the other vendors and getting my super cool Artsonia shirt, I also ventured out into the city with my #artsedpln (which I will talk about in part 4 of my #NAEA in NOLA series). There was so much to do and see and I am so excited to share all of it with my students in hopes they will be as inspired as I am by all of the things I witnessed.
Check out some additional images below:
I was particularly captivated by one group in the exhibit hall this year: Ymm Art Education
The picture above is from their booth. If you did not get a chance to see their combination of large sculpture, small installations, and fashion design, you missed out on an opportunity to be blown away with the attention to detail and beautiful craft. They start offering fashion design courses to students as young as 6 years old, and continue offering programming through the age of 18. It was incredibly inspirational to see the work from students and hear from their leadership; it made me rethink some of the ways I could bring this back to my own classroom and how we consider the way art is offered to our youngest of students.
I would never think to start fashion design with such young ones, but now that I have seen what is possible, I wonder why I would ever deny a child this type of expressive opportunity at any age! Conferences like this one push my thinking and help me reconsider notions I have about art, education, and what it can look like in any classroom. I have already started talking with the STEM teacher on how we can collaborate on a large sculpture and an architecture unit based on the work I saw there.
In addition to having a great time with the other vendors and getting my super cool Artsonia shirt, I also ventured out into the city with my #artsedpln (which I will talk about in part 4 of my #NAEA in NOLA series). There was so much to do and see and I am so excited to share all of it with my students in hopes they will be as inspired as I am by all of the things I witnessed.
Check out some additional images below:
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