Registration Open for NH Arts Education Conference

Online registration is now open for the N.H. State Council on the Arts’ 2014 Arts Education Partnership Conference, “The Arts as Inspiration for Learning * Teaching * Making * Living.”

This year’s conference takes place Oct. 31-Nov. 2at the Barbara Harris Conference Center and Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center in Greenfield, N.H.

“Arts as Inspiration” will focus on inclusion for all youth as well as how Universal Design for Learning can be used as a guiding tool for arts learning. Educators, school administrators, teaching artists, arts specialists, youth development leaders, parents and community arts leaders are invited to attend and explore new ways that schools and communities can provide quality arts education and programming that encourages creativity, making art and craft, innovation and critical thinking skills.

Conference workshops will include mosaic murals, improvisational jazz, percussion, weaving, ceramics, steel drums, photography, creative writing, songwriting, dance, theatre arts, eco-arts and performance assessments with handmade books.

Most conference workshops support and connect with the Common Core and national arts standards. Information about grants writing, funding opportunities and arts education resources will also be available throughout the conference.

Keynote speakers include Warren Seelig, artist, educator and National Craft fellow; and Christine Reich, director of Exhibit Development and Conservation at the Museum of Science in Boston and a 2013 White House Champion of Change. Deborah Stuart from VSA New Hampshire and Marcia McCaffrey from the N.H. Department of Education will also lead interactive sessions; both are national leaders in arts and learning.

Workshops will also be presented by traditional musicians Dudley and Jacqueline Laufman as well as by traditional weavers Susie Gray and Pam Bartlett. During the weekend mural artist David Fichter will lead participants in making a mosaic mural that will be donated to New Hampshire’s Hospital for Children in Manchester.

“Arts as Inspiration” will also offer an inclusive arts learning activities track at Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center. Teaching artists and experienced arts educators from Crotched Mountain will lead experiential workshops in photography, music and adaptive dance. Friday night’s program features a participatory jazz concert, dance and workshop with well-known seacoast musicians and teaching artists Chris Klaxton Taylor O’Donnell and visual jazz artist Roger Goldenberg.

Ginnie Lupi, director of the N.H. State Council on the Arts, will speak at the luncheon on Saturday. An evening of “Inspire Me” arts learning spotlights from New Hampshire projects and schools will be showcased on Saturday night.

“Arts as Inspiration” partners include the N.H. State Council on the Arts, Crotched Mountain Rehabilitation Center, the League N.H. of Craftsmen, the N.H. Department of Education, the Arts Alliance of Northern New Hampshire, the N.H. Arts Learning Network, the Extending the Dance Map initiative and the National Endowment for the Arts.

To learn more about “The Arts as Inspiration” and to register online, visit nh.gov/nharts.

The New Hampshire State Council on the Arts is a division of the New Hampshire Department of Cultural Resources. It began in 1965 with legislation designed “to insure that the role of the arts in the life of our communities will continue to grow and play an ever more significant part in the education and welfare of our citizens.” Funding for programs is provided through state appropriations, a partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts and the Conservation License Plate fund. Learn more about the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts at nh.gov/nharts.

Submitted text. Courtesy photo.