What is it like to be an art educator today? What do we feel and how are we going with the flow of the demands of 21st century education and society. As caretakers of students' creative minds in today's schools, where are we going and what ideas lead the way? Look forward to 2015 PAEA State Art Education Conference, get the Feel and the Flow of Art Education, in Harrisburg. Plan to attend the PAEA conference 2015, one block from the mighty Susquehanna riverfront at the Harrisburg Hilton, Oct. 16th -18th |
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Congratulations to
Sandy Wood, who was recognized as Pennsylvania Art Educator at the
Eastern Region Awards Ceremony in New Orleans.
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Congratulations to
Dana Carlisle Kletcha, who was recognized as National Museum Educator at the
National Art Education Association Convention in New Orleans.
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Congratulations to
Chris DeMayo, who was recognized as National New Professional Art Educator at the NAEA convention in New Orleans.
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Check out the April issue of
School Arts
magazine with articles by PAEA members and Learning by Design committee members, Lisbeth Bucci and Kris Fontes.
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Meet Suzanne Collins, new Youth Art Month co-chair.
 I am in my sixth year of teaching art in the Carlisle Area School District (Region 7). I spent the last five years teaching at the elementary level and made the exciting switch to middle school this year. I earned my bachelor's degree at Shippensburg University in 2008 and just completed the graduate program at Messiah College to earn my Master's degree in Art Education. One of the most exciting professional experiences I have had since I started teaching, was being chosen to attend the Robert Rauschenberg Foundation: Power of Art Conference, at The Lab School of Washington! I also enjoy attending NAEA and PAEA conferences as much as possible. I am excited about being able to contribute more to PAEA with my new position on the board and can't wait to get to know more art educators from all over the state.
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Images from the National Art Education Association Convention in New Orleans. |
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NAEA Delegates, Kristin Baxter and Diane Wilkin
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Sandy Corson, Amy Migliore and Heather Fountain enjoying beignets at Cafe Du Monde
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Learning by Design member Judi Treffinger and keynote speaker, Tim Gunn!
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David Love and David Miller
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Leslie Gates, Mary Elizabeth Meier and Christine Liao
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Judi Treffinger, Lisbeth Bucci
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 as Art
Artist Brian Dettmer digs into a good book (literally, with a knife) to create beautifully intricate forms that reflect how we see old information in a modern world.
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Rose Tree Media School District had 44 student artworks on display in the Pennsylvania School Board Association (PSBA) 1895 Student Gallery in Mechanicsburg, PA. Created by students in grades one through twelve, the artworks present a wide variety of subjects and materials, including ceramics, watercolors, colored pencils and printmaking.. 
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PAEA is currently seeking Region Representatives to the Board...
Region 5
is currently vacant.
Region 5 consists of
Beaver, Butler, Mercer, and Lawrence counties.
Region 8
is currently vacant.
Region 8 consists of Bradford, Columbia, Lycoming, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder, Sullivan, Tioga, and Union counties.
Region 9
is currently vacant.
Region 9 consists of Lackawana, Luzerne, Susquehanna, Wayne,
and Wyoming counties.
Contact Diane Wilken
at diwilkin@gmail.com
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Get your free 2015-2016 Monthly Planner.
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A Message from the President
Diane Wilkin PAEA President
We are many things:
Artist/Teacher, Teacher/Maker, Collaborator/Learner, Leader/Mentor...
As the newsletter shows, we are colleagues in pursuit of Excellence in Art Education, joining together to make things happen, and being recognized nationally for the work we do.
I encourage you to keep growing, to stretch your comfort zone, to share this newsletter with your colleagues. We are a powerhouse of knowledge, skill, and support. We are PAEA.
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Alyce Grunt -PAEA Secondary Division Director
For many people the decision to become an art teacher stems from a deep passion to create art. Many art teachers, myself included, consider themselves to be working artists as well as teachers. The balance between maintaining one's own studio practice and energizing the practice of students can be a rewarding but elusive one. How are creative individuals balancing creating art and fostering a creative learning environment? This is a topic that I have thought about and discussed with many art teachers and artist friends.
Sometimes I think about my remaining time outside of the workday as a three-legged stool, with my responsibilities somewhat dispersed among each leg. School easily prioritizes a third of my time, maintaining a household another third, and then there is my hope that time for my own art lands on this third leg. But what about exercise? And time for friends and loved ones? I don't know if I should add another leg to the stool or start sleeping less. While it is easy to start to sound like an over-scheduled person, I know this isn't entirely the case. I want to ensure that I paint, while admittedly staying flexible enough to juggle my other responsibilities. This past fall I found some balance.
I like to paint outside. Working from life and watching light move across  my subject is a major focus of my work. I will often leave a packed easel in my car along with extra layers of painting clothes. Prior to painting I scope out places close to school for subject matter. Painting close to work maximizes my time in daylight so precious moments are not spent traveling, which is especially important during the short days of winter.
If I deem the weather to be favorable, I'll aim to work on a painting after school. Once a painting is underway, I may work on it for multiple sessions, possibly spanning several weeks or months, depending upon its complexity. If I'm at work and the weather looks uncooperative, those become the days I prioritize to stay late prepping and grading. This past fall I snuck exercise in a few days a week by going to the gym extra-early before work, which starts at 7 am. I have to confess that it only lasted a few months. Still, during that time I did manage to create a balance I felt pretty good about.
I also felt more inspired when I was teaching. Students would see me out by the school working on my painting and I think this helped them connect what I talked about in class with examples in life. Additionally, the community became curious about what I was working on. After chatting with a friendly neighbor, he asked why I never brought my students to draw on that very street. The street, a half block from the school, is designated an historic sub-division and features exemplary Queen Ann architecture. How had I never thought of this? My intermediate level students learn to draw in the halls of the school, practicing sighting angles and taking comparison measurements to develop accurate perspective. Surely the perfect follow-up project for my advanced class would be drawing these very houses that I was painting, on location outside.
This is exactly what we did this past fall. Students each carried a  stool, drawing board and small tin of drawing supplies to Greenwood Avenue for class. I hadn't anticipated this cross-fertilization of my practice with theirs, and as I saw this engage them daily, I felt rewarded and happy to be challenging them in a new way. I did have a back up 'rainy day' plan: we worked on figure drawing in class. We built upon the same techniques required by our outdoor work- proportional relationships and sighting angles- only we did it with the figure while students posed for each other.
As students became more involved with their architectural drawings on Greenwood Avenue, some returned to work more on weekends and after school. Towards the end of the project, students began requesting that come spring, maybe we could return to Greenwood to try watercolors. This was another project that I had not thought of before, and now it seems possible. Perhaps this is the true gift that comes from trying to maintain a balance between my practice and theirs: inspiration moves between both teacher and students (and on-lookers), and we all benefit from the new ideas this breeds. While I'm not sure I can return to the gym by 5 am, I think I will begin keeping my watercolors in the car.
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Creating Access to 3-D Printing in the Art Classroom
Heather Fountain - PAEA Higher Ed Division Director
3-D printing, an additive process that creates three-dimensional objects from the bottom up, is a technology that is becoming more accessible to artists and designers beyond the manufacturing community. It is creating a culture
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| | Jacob and Tyler working on a 3-D app. |
of Makers who can design, and make those designs, right at home, instead of waiting for production. It allows artists and designers to individualize their work and create prototypes for a dollar or less, in most cases.
If you are thinking, "Wow! I would love to explore this with my students but we have no money or access to this technology; there is no way we can work with 3-D printing in my classroom." Consider tying one of the following:
- Check out Tinkercad and SketchUp. Both are free online applications that are easy to use, even with elementary level students, to create 3-D files. This is the first step to 3-D printing; learning about these types of applications can help students use technology to design something in three dimensions, while utilizing creative thinking, art, and math skills.
- Sign up for the 3dprintingindustry.com newsletter, which compiles 3-D printing related stories into one short email each week with links. Through this, exciting artists and designer who are using 3-D printing can be discovered and introduced to students to spark their ideas, imagination and sense of wonder.
- Create an art debate by introducing students to issues related to 3-D printing such as the value of handcrafted artwork vs. digital 3-D printed artwork. Share images of items that are similar, one handcrafted and one digitally printed. Are they both as valuable? Is the final product of 3-D printing the artwork, or something else?
- Explore the website Shapeways.com to see what artists and designers are creating using 3-D printing. You will find all types of 3-D printed items to share with students.
- Explore the teacher resources section on MakerBot.com. Videos of 3-D printing can be found there and will give students a visual idea of this technology. Teachers can also apply for assistance in acquiring a 3-d printer.
- Have something printed and shipped to you and your students. Shapeways.com has an section titled, Easy Creator Apps that allow you to create an object on their website and pay to have it printed. You can also upload a 3-D file to Shapeways and choose which media you would like them to use in printing the design. They will print it and ship it to you.
For more on 3-D Printing check out the NAEA 2014 Winter Advisory titled, 3-D Printing Technology in the Art Classroom.
www.arteducators.org/research/Advisory_Winter14_Fountain.pdf
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Introducing the PAEA Special Needs in Art Education (SNAE) Collegial Assembly
PAEA SNAE Chairperson Lauren Stichter & Dr. Lisa Kay
Do you have students who have special needs in your art room? When I meet other art educators I tend to ask this question which is usually followed by "Do you feel equipped to teach these children?" Often the answer is "yes, I do, and no, I don't." While I do offer some expertise, primarily in Deaf Education and Positive Behavior Modification in the art room, by no means do I know it all. My goal as the PAEA SNAE chairperson is to change this conversation by creating a network of colleagues across our state who can be resources for each other and leaders in the field nationally.
At our PAEA conference 2014 I reached out and gathered those resources. There I met Dr. Lisa Kay who is an art educator/art therapist at Temple University's Tyler School of Art. Lisa and I met to discuss Lisa's upcoming exhibit at the Woodmere Art Museum "Firefly Illuminations." In our meeting Lisa asked if PAEA SNAE could host an event around the exhibition. Knowing that I was trying to gather folks together, Lisa suggested that this event become the first of a formal collegial assembly. What a great idea!
On February 14th Lisa and I co-hosted our first assembly at the Woodmere Art Museum where We enjoyed a guided tour by Lisa. She shared stories about the girls visual and poetic narratives, discussed how art heals and creates agency and explained her inspiration, rationale, and the process of the developing of this curriculum. After the tour we adjourned to Lisa's home to continue our conversations by the fire, enjoy tea and scones, and make art in response to the exhibition. The group offered positive feedback about the show and the trauma-informed creative arts curriculum she's developed.
Some reflections from our attendees were the importance of sharing our vulnerabilities and personal stories, reflecting visually and verbally on our own lives and work, and applying this to teaching our students.
If you'd like to learn more about Lisa's work check out www.fireflyilluminations.wordpress.com
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Art and Science Fuse Together! A STEAM Approach!
Barb Brown and Leslie Kunkel - Highland Middle School
"Glass is magical - it transmits light and color in a special way." - Dale Chihuly
In 6thgrade, our science students learn about amorphous solids. Contemporary American glass artist Dale Chihuly is featured in the 6thgrade science book, which makes for a great art and science connection! When the science classes near the study of amorphous solids, and Chihuly, the science teacher and the art teacher collaborate on lessons to reinforce knowledge in both content areas. We have done a range of related lessons, but this year we made a huge jump into glass fusing!
This year the art students were introduced to Dale Chihuly's work during art class in preparation for designing and creating a fused glass piece in science class. In addition, student artists worked with the  Elements and Principles of Design and the color wheel as they explored Chihuly's work in art and as they planned their fused glass piece in science. Yes, the science teacher required the use of the color wheel and color vocabulary in planning and drafting the glass design!
To further explore amorphous solids and deepen their art understanding students were introduced to glass fusing. The unique qualities of the amorphous solid combined with student color knowledge allowed them to create individually designed glass pendants. Students learned about the many variables during the fusing process, including how to persevere when things did not go quite as planned.
They learned and identified areas in the real world where
 different applications of glass are used. The evolution of the use of glass as an industrial material (for functional items) through the change that Chihuly helped create as his work took the craft of glassblowing to a modern art form was also discussed.Students also learned about glass recycling and were able to apply this understanding to these projects.
This STEAM lesson led to students learning about glass blowing, glass art, and using tools (including common household items) as science and art creating tools (glass kiln in the microwave). The kiln and the amount of heat a simple microwave was able to produce via the kiln was astonishing. Deeper understanding of the molten properties of the glass, the processes included in the fusing, and finally the changes between the original components and the final projects were eye opening to the 6th graders. All of these experiences would also carry over to metal working, glass working, ceramic and clay work, and design.
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Spotlight on . . .
PAEA member, Barb Supplee, Professor in the Department of Art + Design Education and Art Therapy in the College of Art and Design, the University of the Arts.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
During the past nine years, one of my teaching goals has been to develop students as potential leaders, to challenge emerging teachers to add to the body of knowledge in our field. This has proven successful, because many of my former students are active in our field's professional organizations-both at the state and national levels. Moreover, many of my current students have co-presented workshops with me at PAEA and NAEA conferences-and they have done an excellent job! This fall two of my current students and one recent graduate co-presented with me at the PAEA conference in Seven Springs, PA. Those same students, along with two others, presented with me at the NAEA conference in New Orleans. I am extremely proud of their dedication to personal growth and their willingness to share the knowledge and skills they have gained in our program with colleagues in the field. They exemplify what is desired of tomorrow's leaders in art education.
Have you ever had a career-changing experience?
In the fall of 2006, I stepped down as chair of the art department at the University of the Arts, relinquishing my administrative duties to return to my first loves-full time teaching and making art, which at the moment happens to be clay monoprints. My years at UArts have been wonderful! They have enabled me to teach in a discipline I love, to teach students who are eager to learn and who want to make a difference in children's lives in and through art. Teaching at UArts has also enabled me to be a lifelong learner. When I first came to UArts, I had an inquiry-based, constructivist approach to teaching, something I still embrace. I definitely lean towards the "guide on the side" model of education, rather than the "sage on the stage" model. Now, however, my teaching also emphasizes the integration of digital technology to research, design, and present educational curricula. Many of our students are much more proficient with this medium than I am. Therefore, it allows them to teach me, and their less technologically proficient classmates, which provides a wonderful opportunity for peer teaching.
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The Pennsylvania Art Education Association is committed to supporting the work of art educators across the state. We serve to support the work you do with students in the classroom, by providing ongoing recent curricular resources, and professional development opportunities year-round across the state. Check back often to see what is coming up in your region at: http://www.paeablog.org/
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