NAEA Conference 2016

Halfway through the National Art Education Association Conference and I am LOVING every minute!  It is great when the teacher is also a learner.  

Here's a few highlights:  

Gordon Parks Today: Social Justice Image Making Across Grade Levels 

• First we toured the AMAZING brand new Gordon Parks Art Hall. 
• Next we learned a little history about Gordon Parks - here's my favorite quote from Gordon: 

"I picked up a camera because it was my choice of weapons against what I hated most about the universe: racism, intolerance, poverty.  I could have just as easily picked up a knife or a gun, like many of my childhood friends did... most of whom were murdered or put in prison... but I chose not to go that way.  I felt that I could somehow subdue these evils by doing something beautiful that people recognize me by, and thus make a whole different life for myself, which has proved to be so. "       - Gordon Parks

• After previewing three different lessons that encourage students to use their voice to speak out against social injustice, we practiced making gelatin prints as a base for our imagery.  

Thanks to the workshop leaders: Gina Alicea, Allison Beaulieu, and Sunny Neater-DuBow

Ms. Alicea's students' work- powerful! 

More student work of Ms. Alicea! 

Can I just say "WOW!" I would love to teach in a room like this! 

Hand Paper making at the Center for Book and Paper Arts

Artist and professor Chris Flynn demonstrated both some basic principles of paper making and some more advanced applications.  I can't wait to pick up my sheets of paper tomorrow and see how they turned out! (they had to dry overnight) 

Here's some photos from the workshop: 

Leading a Painting Class on a Shoestring Budget Through Recycling presented by Cathy Heller

• Cathy walked us through 3 different painting strategies, using repurposed and cost efficient supplies for classes K - 12 classroom.  
• Then we started our reverse paintings on clear transparency
• We sketched out an idea, sanded the transparency, and then layered on the oil pastels.  
• Next we added a layer of acrylic paint on top of the oil pastel working in small areas and etching patterns into the paint as we worked.  
• Finally we added another layer of paint to each area so the etched areas would have color too.  

Here's my painting from both sides: 

From the back (the side you work on) 

From the front

I also attended a session on using a digital portfolio as a means to provide feedback - great session - hoping to explore some of the possibilities as we transition to google classroom next year!