Student Chapter Updates

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville¹s NAEA Student Chapter volunteered at Knox County Schools¹ Very Special Arts Festival on March 29. Each year, the student chapter provides art booths for students with special needs to engage in arts activities. This year, student chapter
members collaborated with students majoring in Special Education to better meet the
needs of students at the festival. Some of the booths included karaoke, face painting, and printmaking activities.

Written by: Joy Bertling, TAEA Student Chapter Chair

Youth Art Month = March Madness

You might have heard about YAM or Youth Art Month, but maybe never really knew what it was or what it does. Maybe you thought it was just a Flag Competition? It's definitely more than that... The month might be over but that doesn't mean advocating for the Arts stops.

A Brief History of Youth Art Month

YAM, or Youth Art Month, is a yearly celebration during the month of March that promotes Art and Art Education in schools across the nation. 

Youth Art Month was founded by the Crayon, Water Color & Craft Institute, Inc., the predecessor of the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. (ACMI), in cooperation with the National Art Education Association, in 1961 and was initially called Children's Art Month. Its goal was to "emphasize the value of participating in art for all children." It was renamed Youth Art Month in 1969, to include secondary school students. 

While YAM does include a Flag Competition, with prizes and awards, it is also a month to celebrate and promote the Arts in our schools.

How are you an advocate for the Arts?

From small, little things at your own school, to HUGE nationwide Art events, you are your own best advocate. Maybe its just a small school Art show but each little step forces others to remember why the Arts are so important to our children's education. 

The Arts have been recognized as important to education, with lawmakers saying that the Arts help boost math scores or provided an exploratory basis for STEM and PBL subjects. But why can't the Arts just be important by themselves?

TAEA is Happenin'

What an exciting times it is for TAEA!  I wanted to update TAEA members on the changes that have been implemented to let our board be more productive and more relevant to every TAEA member.

Through NAEA’s leadership conferences, Kathy Dumlao, President-Elect and I have been given the tools to make our TAEA state board up to date on the requirements of non-profits organizations.  This includes everything from insurance to updating policies and procedures.  Your Board now has changed to four meetings a year, with the additional meeting being an online meeting.  Great way to get things done without costs of gas and lunch! 

We also have started implementing committees. Our first was the Communications committee. These board members jumped right in late last year and recreated our website, put us on Twitter, Instagram and kept our Facebook up to date!  Go to www.tnarteducation.org to find out more information on our state and regional happenings!  We have some talented people on this committee.

We are having our first TAEA Board Retreat on April 7th.  Many states do this annually to get big items accomplished and to create a strong team. This year we are doing our retreatat the Frist Center for the Arts in Nashville to work on some of those items needing updating with our board.  We will be working on defining the board members roles, updating our bylaws, forming new committees, and starting a strategic plan that is clear and relevant to all members of TAEA.  This day will be a  workday with dedicated art educators, taking some time to team build and see the great exhibits at the Frist!

Returning to the formation of new committees, we want to let members know you are welcome to assist us on committees and conferences without being committed to the actual board and meetings.  These committees will change as our organization needs change or as the task at hand is accomplished.  We have Communications, Membership, Development, State conference and others.  If you would like to help in any way, please contact us! 

We had a great Regional “unconference” in Memphis in February.  We have our Middle TAEA Regional Conference on April 8 (hopefully board members will join us!) at O’More College in Franklin, and our East TAEA Regional Conference on April 22 at UT in Knoxville.  Please go on the TAEA website and register-this is another new feature the communications committee has work their magic on for us! One place to go for all you news and registrations! 

Our State conference will be at Memphis College of Art(MCA) in Memphis this year October 26-28, 2017!!  Join us for all the Professional Learning and fun!!

Please don’t forget if you are TAEA, you are NAEA!  Their website has amazing information and there are webinars you can attend for Professional Learning, just to name a couple of benefits! 

TAEA Board is a living, breathing entity.  We are now working to breathe new life into our procedures and policies, while also keeping all members communicating together.  How can we serve you?

By Janis Nunnally, TAEA President

Amanda Tutor Presents at NAEA

West Tennessee art teacher Amanda Tutor presented her collaboration/installation project with professor Richard Lou, titled, “Underneath the Poet’s Tree: Elementary Students and Artist Collaborate for Gallery Installation” at the National Art Education Association Convention in New York City. Tutor and Lou worked together with her elementary art students to tell their family stories in a powerful and moving gallery installation.

Article by Shannon Elliot

"CUT Competition"

TAEA President-Elect and Shannon Elliott presented an ALL PLAY version of the “CUT Competition” in which all participants will create a piece of art that is concept-based and aligned to the New Core Art Standards from a basket of materials at the WTAEA Un-Conference on February 25 at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art. Art teachers were challenged to create and then present a piece of art inspired by current headlines. Some of the visual responses included concerns about proposed cuts to arts and EPA funding, and immigration issues.

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NAEA Conference Wrap-Up

By Kathy Dumlao

TAEA President-Elect, Kathy Dumlao (right) and President, Janis Nunnally (left) take on the NAEA Conference 2017. 

Last week, I had the great pleasure of attending the National Art Education Association conference in New York.  It was the 70th anniversary of the conference, and it broke attendance records!  There were more than 7,000 art educators from all 50 states and 34 countries in attendance.  Our TAEA president, Janis Nunnally and I attended the Delegates Assembly on Wednesday, March 1 to represent Tennessee.  We spent the day reviewing NAEA Position Statements, rewording them for clarity and then voting to send the revised statements to the NAEA board for approval.  There were 3 new position statements written this year: Position Statement on Art Educators with Disabilities; Position Statement on Supporting and Sustaining Visual Art Education Programs in Colleges and Universities; and Position Statement on Use of Imagery, Cultural Appropriation and Socially Just Practices.  There were 5 position statements that were up for review: Position Statement on Physical Safety in the Art Classroom [Adopted April 2014]; Position Statement on Diversity in Visual Arts Education [Adopted April 2014]; Position Statement on STEM Education [Adopted April 2014]; Position Statement on Visual Literacy and its Relationship to the Common Core [Adopted April 2014]; Position Statement on the Ethical Use of Copyrighted Imagery and Primary Sources [Adopted April 2014].  For a full list of all NAEA position statements, please visit the NAEA website at https://www.arteducators.org/advocacy/naea-platform-and-position-statements.  There may be a statement on the list to help you advocate for your art education program.

Later in the conference, I was honored to graduate from the NAEA School for Art Leaders, along with two amazing friends and colleagues: Shannon Elliott and Rose Doherty.  Shannon is the Higher Education representative on the TAEA board and the Director of Art Education at the Memphis College of Art.  Rose Doherty is the Artist in Residence at St. George’s Independent School in Collierville, TN.  How exciting to have 3 outstanding art educators from Memphis in the group of only 25 who were selected from all around the country to participate!  It was a transformative experience for all of us and one that I highly recommend you consider applying for.  Check out this link: https://www.arteducators.org/events/school-for-art-leaders. The deadline is March 27.

Graduation from NAEA School for Leaders. Congratulations to Kathy Dumlao, Shannon Elliot, and Rose Doherty! 

West TN Unconference

West Tennessee Regional Spring 2017 "UNCONFERENCE"

Saturday February 25th, 8:45-3:00 pm

Memphis Brooks Museum of Art

1934 Poplar Avenue

Memphis, TN 39104

Registration Deadline is Wednesday, February 20th

$40 per TAEA member/ $45 per non-member/ $50 on-site

REGISTER BELOW 

(*payment will still need to be mailed in) 

WTAEA Spring Conference

Briarcrest Christian School c/o Melody Weintraub

 76 S. Houston Levee Rd.

 Eads, TN 38028

https://goo.gl/forms/lYbBOakgQREED2yO2

Registration fee includes hands-on workshops, breakout sessions, door prizes, supplies, and lunch. Parking is free. You will receive confirmation via email. 

Featuring Memphis Art Movers and Shakers! 

Keynote Speaker: Jamin Carter - "Taking Risks" 

Amy McSpadden - "901Rocks!" Community Art Painting Rocks

"The Art Project" Team is coming too! 

4 Podcasts to Inspire Your Creative Work

Let's be honest: sometimes getting back to the classroom after Christmas can feel like an uphill catch-up battle. I have a lot of teachers ask and request educator workshops that will help fuel their (and their students') inspiration through that second semester slump. It's hard to balance those extra professional development hours, keep up with your classroom work, and still find the time + energy to stay inspired with your own creative ventures! 

Trust me, I'm right there with you. 

I live in Nashville--which means I spend approximately 120 minutes EVERY DAY in traffic--and I'm sharing my 4 favorite podcasts that put those 120 minutes to good, creative & inspirational use. Because at the end of the day, those you influence won't be inspired unless YOU ARE, right?! 

So take a listen... I promise you won't be able to listen to just one episode. Besides, what's the worst that could happen? Maybe miss that 4 minute Justin Bieber song that's been on the radio for 3 months? 

1. STORY

The STORY podcast creates brings all kinds of creatives to the table to discuss their careers, pitfalls, successes and their journey through it all. It's a series of unique conversations to fuel the creative class and leave you inspired to do your best, most meaningful work. They even talk with Dan Goods, the “Visual Strategist” for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab where he develops creative ways to communicate complex concepts by transforming them into meaningful stories that can be universally understood. I mean, COME ON... how can you NOT be inspired?! 

You can watch some of the talks from their 2016 conference on their website too.

2. MAGIC LESSONS

Elizabeth Gilbert's (you know, the lady that wrote Eat. Pray. Love.?) creativity podcast features her interviewing people about how they overcome the fears that are inherent in the creative process, and calling up famous creatives to get their input. I like the fact that she actually provides advice to her guests, and acknowledges the challenges we all face in being creative.

3. Sounds Like a Movement

CJ Costa gravitates to individuals who are up to everything good and stirring the pot of change. Take a listen and you'll hear voices from all walks, careers, and points of life who are pioneering movements in our world. I DARE you to listen to one episode and not be inspired.

4. The Moment

Koppelman talks to creative folks about their creative process, how they do what they do, and the ‘moment’ that changed things for them. He's able to be very vulnerable, so his guests open up as well. This podcast always makes me feel more sane. Or at least like I belong to some really awesome club of weirdos.

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Meet the Author of this post:

Brooke Griffith is the Museum Division Chair of TAEA and the Manager of School & Outreach at Cheekwood in Nashville, Tennessee. Check out her creative side project, Glen & Effie.