National Art Education Association - Raine Dawn Valentine

NAEA 2019 Boston

National Art Education Association held this years convention in Boston. A place I had not yet visited as an adult, but was excited to have the opportunity to experience.

I arrived at the BWI airport at 5am on Wednesday, and was in Boston by 8am. When I arrived it was a little chilly, but it felt like Maryland weather. I caught the Logan Express to the Sheraton hotel in Back Bay. After checking in I decided to take a walk to the Isabella Gardner Museum.

This museum quickly became one of my most favorite. The detail that went into the collection and the curation of the art, was in itself an art.

After the Gardner Museum, I went to the Museum of Fine Arts which was open until 10pm on Wednesdays! The museum was just the right size… with art from many different cultures, and a Frida Kahlo exhibit. I enjoyed myself so much I walked about 10 miles that day!

The convention was fantastic, so many great presentations. I went to one about the role of Art Educators of students with Trauma. The women who were presenting wrote a book called Art for Children Experiencing Psychological Trauma. I am reading it and so far it is fantastic! So informational about the different types and effects of trauma. This is so relevant for the generations of today, who have experienced many school related as well as home related traumas. I know art is life, so it must assist in releasing traumas and helping people move forward to create a life they wish.

Another great session I went to was Soul Collage. This was a wonderful workshop to create cards that represent certain emotions you want to portray. This cards can later be used to pull from as inspiration.

The exhibit hall was wonderful as always! Many make and take art stations as well as wonderful posters and opportunities to get students involved in different types of art. I also received a load of new art materials to experiment with!

I saw a session by … which was about turning science into art through basket weaving and music compositions! The correlation between data and art is so intriguing.

I also got to see Howard Gardner and Amy Sherald! Both were fantastic speakers and so inspirational!

Howard Gardner discussed the Studio Habits of Mind, along with Grit Vs. Wit and how important it was to know thyself, engage and care for others, and be aligned with your ethical compass.

While Amy Sherald talked about her inspiration for painting, and how her life has influenced her work. She speaks of photography as “Artistic DNA.” My favorite quote from her was that portraits were more important in shaping our future than law making. This made so much sense to me and should really connect with these times.

This years convention was so fulfilling and definitely one of my top 5! I met a lot of new people and got to see some old friends!

This was a convention to remember, so many experiences and so much love. Thanks for another great year NAEA! See you next year in Minneapolis!

NAEA in NYC

This year I attended the 2017 National Art Educators Association Convention in New York City. I have attended this convention more than a few times and every single year is amazing. Not only do I take home lots of art goodies, I take home new ideas and inspiration for my teaching.

Aside from attending a fabulous convention, I am blessed with opportunities to visit different cities and make friends with people from all over the world! There are so many benefits from attending the NAEA convention!

There are always awesome pre-conference workshops to attend, so I arrived a day before the convention started to attend the Journal Fodder Junkies workshop! Eric Scott and Dave Modler are two very talented art educators and wonderful people. I really enjoy seeing them every year, and following their artistic journeys! This workshop was a great opportunity to explore materials and learn new techniques for journaling.

I was blessed to stay at the Warwick hotel with a few of my colleagues and other amazing art educators! We had such a fantastic time learning and exploring NYC! My dear friend Linda made us beautiful friendship bracelets and took us on a perfect tour around the city. It was Saint Patrick’s day weekend so we ate lunch at an Irish pub called the Pig and Whistle. It was delicious!

I was able to be a vendor at the Artisan Gallery this year. There were many amazing artists selling their works! Its so awesome seeing art educators with their creations, very inspiring.

There were 7,000 attendees this year at the convention, the most ever! The exhibit hall was packed! This year, the hall was divided into three sections which I feel made it a lot easier to navigate around all of the people! There were wonderful make and take learning stations and many new art supplies to experiment with… and a few famous people I had to take photos with ..

The middle school round table session was one of my favorite sessions. We were able to see 7 different art educators and learn about their favorite art unit and receive resources.

My most favorite part of the weekend was the Caucus on the Spiritual in Art Education Issues Group studio event with Peter London. This was EXACTLY what I needed. The whole weekend was not only a great professional experience, but it was also very spiritual and eye-opening for me on a professional and personal level. The session was a hands on experience that allowed the participants to open up and see art education from a more holistic perspective.

the work on the left was how I was feeling in that moment, and the work on the right displayed the best I hoped for the future.

Peter London discussing how we see people from their appearances, but when we see people from their art we are getting a truer sense of them.

The last night I was able to meet up with friends I made back in New Orleans in 2015, when I attended my first #K12ArtChat on twitter! I simply love these beautiful souls, Matt and Laura Grundler. If you are on Twitter, you should check them out!