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By Trina Harlow, Assistant Professor of Art, Art Education »
Gasali’s hands with natural Indigo from Nigeria at AAE in the Park. Image supplied by Trina Harlow.
On June 19, 2021, the Arkansas Art Educators (AAE) Summer Conference was held in Conway at Cadron Settlement Park. 45 art teachers from across the state of Arkansas attended this socially distanced AAE in the Park outdoor professional development conference. Throughout May and June, six UCA art education students served on the planning committee and worked with the conference chair, Dr. Trina Harlow, UCA assistant professor of art education. Having a focus on the growing of future leaders for Arkansas’ creative economy, as well as future school teachers and leaders, is significantly important for the UCA Art Education Program. UCA art education students that participated on the planning committee were Anne Freer, Brynn Ward, Charles Johnson, Madison Fontenot, Yasmin Lozano, and Shelby Bennett. Additionally, Patricia McCauley, art teacher at Pine Forest Elementary School in Maumelle, AR and Lisa Smith, art teacher at Beebe Junior High in Beebe, AR – and both UCA art education alumni – served on the planning committee. Patricia is the AAE President Elect and Lisa is the AAE Treasurer. Charity McCartney, art teacher at McNair Middle School in Fayetteville, AR and AAE President also served on the planning committee.
UCA art education student leaders with Gasali Adeyemo at AAE in the Park. Image supplied by Trina Harlow.
AAE in the Park attendees from across the state of Arkansas. Image supplied by Trina Harlow.
Two guest speakers led the morning and afternoon workshops, both with a fiber arts focus. The morning workshop was led by Dani Ives, a fiber artist from Mountain Home, Arkansas, who is known for her needle felting artistry. Dani’s work has appeared in The Oprah Magazine and Martha Stewart’s Blog, among other media mentions and features. Her website is www.daniives.com. The afternoon workshop was led by Gasali Adeyemo from Santa Fe, New Mexico and Nigeria. Gasali is known the world over for his fiber artistry. He is highly skilled in Yoruban Adire Elecko and Adire Oniko made with natural Indigo dye from Nigeria. Gasali’s website is https://www.yorubaindigo.com/. Art teachers who attended the conference received six professional development hours for attending.
AAE in the Park Morning workshop needle felting efforts. Image supplied by Trina Harlow.
Attendees were enthusiastic about the speakers and skills that they learned. Most of those in attendance had not done needle felting before and only a few attendees had dyed fiber with natural dyes. Living Felt, a Texas company, donated swag bags to each attendee and all those who attended mentioned being excited to incorporate one or both of these fiber arts into their upcoming school curriculum. Arkansas Art Educators is the state chapter for the National Art Education Association. In the coming years we would like UCA to be known as a state leader in quality, purposeful, meaningful art education professional development for our state art educators and to advance visual arts education across the state of Arkansas.
Dr. Harlow in Alexandria, Virginia with fellow members of the NAEA Board of Directors. Image supplied by NAEA.
As another summer art education focus, Dr. Harlow attended the National Art Education Association’s (NAEA) summer board meeting. The meeting was held July 29-August 1st in Alexandria, Virginia in the Washington D.C. area. She met with 24 United States visual art education leaders and NAEA staff to plan and discuss the future of art education. She is serving a four-year term as the Higher Education Director-Elect for two years and then as Director for two years, bringing national attention to the University of Central Arkansas in this role.