Mark your calendars for Fall Conference Proposals and Nominations for Outstanding Secondary Art Educators

Do you know an outstanding secondary high school art teacher?  You can help to bring their work the recognition it deserves by nominating them for the Outstanding Secondary Art Educator award which will be presented at the Fall PAEA conference.  The deadline has been extended until June 30th for those of you who have now finished up the school year and had a chance to catch your breath!  Details, including forms you'll need to submit, may be found here. Further questions about the awards may be sent to Marcy Bogdanich at paeaawardschair@gmail.com .

Also, you may want to consider presenting at this year's PAEA conference.  The annual conference will take place from October 16 - 18, 2015 in Harrisburg, PA (mark your calendar!).  Sharing an aspect of your practice is a rewarding way to be involved and develop as an art educator.  Deadlines for proposals are also due on June 30th.  Details about the theme of this year's conference and guidelines for presenting may be found here.  General conference information may be found here.

Artist Teachers

I think school with its current emphasis on data analysis is getting to me.  I find myself looking at this blog and clicking on the data analytics tools that google provides.  It catches my attention that the most popular post (by far) is about being an exhibiting artist.  As this blog exists to serve members and provide hopefully helpful information, it occurs to me that it would be easy and possibly of interest for members to create a page for members' art (and links to artist web sites).

So, consider this an invitation to send me one or two images (jpegs (not too big- 72 dpi max 3 x 4" and under 1M each).  Include your name, school district and the title/dimensions of your art.  If you have a link to a website, send that too. Once I receive a few I will create a 'teaching artists' page and post art and websites.

Best email to send questions or images is: alyce@alycegrunt.com.

Are you an exhibiting artist? Do you want to be?

Our PAEA reps in regions 11 and 12 are hosting an exciting opportunity for members in these regions  to exhibit your own artwork in an upcoming show at Penn State Great Valley.  Details may be found here.   The deadline to submit work for consideration is February 22, 2015.

For those of you in other regions looking for similar opportunities, I encourage you to contact me, so I may pass this onto the PAEA board.  I also encourage you to get involved in PAEA.  Currently regions 5, 8 and 9 are open for new representatives.  If interested in leaning more, please let me know!  

Youth Arts Month Student Exhibition- Submissions due by February 13, 2015

Greetings and happy new year.  The deadline to deliver or send your submissions to the upcoming Youth Arts Month show is fast approaching.   Work is due to your regional representative by February 13, 2015.  The following link details submission guidelines and information about the exhibit, to be held this year from March 2 - April 17 in Harrisburg at the PDE building.   YAM is a great way to celebrate your students' successes and recognize their achievement in a state-wide show.

September Updates

As we begin another school year consider several upcoming opportunities, including the annual PAEA conference at Seven Springs Resort with a special visit to Falling Water.  The conference runs from Friday, October, 31st - Sunday, November 2nd.   Details may be found here.

Also, if you are looking for opportunities to exhibit your own artwork, you may want to consider applying to Mercyhurst University's upcoming exhibit, Shaping the Future: Pennsylvania Artist Educators.  Details for this show, open to both two and three-dimensional artists, may be found here.

Finally, don't forget to consider sending student artwork to be displayed at Falling Water during the upcoming conference (both digital and actual works will be on display).  This is an excellent way to build and encourage on-going support for your art program and encourage students whose work is selected.  Find information and requirements here.

Thoughts from the AP Annual Conference 2014

I hope this finds you having a relaxing summer.  I attended the AP Conference and sat in on terrific workshops geared towards studio art teachers.  As I only teach the AP Drawing Exam, I was pleased to learn more about the AP Two-Dimensional Art Exam.  There are lots of reasons to consider teaching it.   Are there teachers out there who teach both and would like to share their thoughts about it here?

Also, I was very excited to be reminded about a program I looked at a few years ago- VoiceThread- and see how useful it could be for the art studio setting.  Teachers can mark up work and allow students to either write or record opinions (moderated by the teacher) that relate to the work.  This could be a great way to conduct class critiques outside of class time, if time is tight.  Were any others at the conference?  It would be great to hear your thoughts about it!

Annual PAEA Conference Details…and last chance to submit a conference proposal

Mark your calendars for this year's PAEA Annual Conference which will take place from October 31st - November 2nd in Seven Springs, PA.  The site is located near Falling Water, where parts of our conference will take place, including the student art exhibit.

 Registration will open July 16th.  For those of you who are still considering presenting at the conference, you have a few more days to submit your proposals, which are due by Thursday, July 10th.  Details about presenting, registering, and all other conference-related information may be found here: http://www.paeaconference.org.