Advocacy: How Student Teachers are Advocates for the Arts
“Reaching out beyond the art building in my university and sharing the passion I have for art education within my community helps promote awareness of art education. With passion and drive I believe that we will live in a world where the arts are no longer a question of importance in the lives of our students.”
-Amanda Batson, Western Region Student Outreach Coordinator
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While serving on the Student Chapter presidential team, many stories and experiences have been shared from student groups across the country. While we focus on the goal of advocacy, I wanted to share some of the student thoughts and experiences while pursuing their careers in art education. I am very proud of the groups that advocate the arts in their school and surrounding communities. As future art educators, they voice their passions and foretell their future ambitions in their classrooms.
Art Activities with students from University of Massechussetts, Dartmouth (2007) The University of Florida continues to be active on both a local and national scale through their contributions to their community as well as attendance at the National convention. During the 2008-2009 school year, UF's student chapter has had a membership of approximately 30 members. This past year, UF's student chapter continued to offer their annual art camp to the local community as part of its "Artists and Their Sketchbooks" series. Another event that the student chapter participates in is the "University of Florida School of Art and Art History Art Bash". The Art Bash is a celebration of the arts put on by the entire Fine Arts Department and held for one evening. The student chapter sponsored an artist trading card booth which allowed the local and campus community to create their own trading card and exchange it with others. With left over artist trading cards, the student chapter sent them to the University of Akron in Ohio in which they traded the cards. The University of Florida's Student Chapter was honored with "The Greater Gator Award". This award is in recognition of their outstanding service to University of Florida's campus as well as the Gainesville community as a whole. (Information given by Cindra Harris, president of the University of Florida’s Student Chapter) -Kristie Nixon (formerly Kristie Klein), President-Elect, NAEA Student Chapter, Columbia College Chicago This year EIU’s student chapter developed new programs as well as continued many that have become a tradition. One of the many new programs was called “Art for the Aged and Disabled” in which student chapter members visited a different building every other week and create art projects with them. Also, EIU started to hold Kids Art Day, which was held on Saturdays at a local coffee shop, and the kids would participate in a craft for the afternoon.
Three Student Chapter presidents (past & present) in New Orleans, 2008 Every year in the spring EIU holds the Media Methods Conference where local artists and instructors put together workshops for local art educators. This year the conference was held in the new fine arts building. The conference draws art educators from all over Illinois and offers each participant with about 3 workshops, a lesson plan exchange, and a luncheon. One event that has been a long-standing tradition is an event called Art in the Park. EIU’s student chapter partners up with the local arts coalition to put together programming for a Saturday every fall. The student chapter has done such activities like t-shirt painting, button making, and more. The community is invited to the event and each art activity costs a small fee. This event has become one of the student chapter’s largest fundraiser. (Information given by Melissa Schaefer, Southeastern Student Outreach Coordinator and alumni to Eastern Illinois University) Students and Advisors at the Illinois State student meeting, 2008 I think the best way of advocating for the arts is to approach them holistically. There is a plethora of ways that the arts affect us every day, sometimes in the most overlooked ways. The arts fine-tune motor skills while improving observational skills. They teach and record history in unique ways that other disciplines seek. They teach respect, tolerance and patients. In this constantly changing world, the arts are remarkable resources for problem solving solutions, which creates new careers and opportunities. Advocating for the arts is as simple as taking a good look at your surroundings and recognizing that they affect everything.” -Rena Busuttil, Pacific Region Student Outreach Coordinator Students from University of Northern Texas, 2008
To find out who your SOC is, please visit http://www.arteducators.org/olc/pub/NAEA/community/community_page_31.html. Thank you to all who participated in this post. I am very happy to share stories from others who are passionate about the arts and their future in art education! -Heidi O’Hanley
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“I feel I am an advocate by being a participant in the NAEA. As a substitute in a public school setting, I’m always talking about the wonderful opportunities I have as a member. I’m always squeezing little art projects in spare time with my students. Our chapter has also held art clubs at the Chicago Cultural Center, and we host Art Nights after school.
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Eastern Illinois University. During the 2008-2009 school year, EIU’s student chapter was very busy with various activities including fundraising, programming for children, conferences, and more.
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University of Northern Texas. UNT has made it clear that they strive to provide a place where future art teachers can come together to share ideas, learn, and give back to their community. They do this in a variety of ways including painting murals for places like the Nelson Center, a home for children in Denton, TX or host “Art Nights” where student and families could come together. They have also been able to host panel discussions with teachers and administrators and attend a variety of local and national conferences. Besides their community involvement and their career development UNT has also had a variety of social events that range from Potlucks to Scrapbooking Parties. This chapter has been able to raise financial support through fundraisers such as t-shirt sales or garage sales. (Information provided by Amanda Batson, Western Region Student Outreach Coordinator and member of the UNT’s student chapter.
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Kutztown University. This chapter has been active with the NAEA Student Chapter for many years. The student chapter website has many creative elements and shares what events the chapter participates in throughout the school year. The Kutztown student chapter help promote the arts by strengthening the students’ skills in teaching and sharing ideas to help improve effective teaching strategies. In the beginning of the school year, the chapter hosts fundraisers to help raise money for conference expenses. The chapter also participates in community events, such as decorating Main Street for home coming. Kutztown students meet twice a month for their meetings, and it shows with the many great ideas and events they participate in! (Provided by the Kutztown University website: http://kutztownnaea.org/index.html)
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The listed chapters continue to play their parts in being advocates for the arts in their own community. We are always glad to see the future of art education being active! If you are part of a university that has been active with the NAEA and you want to share your experiences, there are many ways to share your story. You may post your information in the Student Chapter Blog at http://naeastudentchapter.blogspot.com/, or send your information to your Student Outreach Coordinator.
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