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!