On October 21–24, 2021, Moore College of Art & Design will host the annual Pennsylvania Art Education Association (PAEA) conference. PAEA actively supports and promotes visual art education through professional development, leadership and service.
“Moore is so excited to have PAEA back for this year's conference,” said Lauren Stichter, Moore’s Director of Art Education and PAEA co-chair. “We last hosted this event in 2016 and we had a wonderful time together. As Moore is an art and design college, we are able to offer ideal spaces to host both art-making sessions and lecture sessions. Our whole campus is, after all, designed to instruct folks in the arts!”
The 2021 conference’s theme is "The Art of Agency: Equity and Access." From urban cityscapes, across suburban communities and rural towns, art educators have always led the charge in inclusive practices, seeking cross-curricular opportunities and multiple pathways to the art-making experience. As innovative specialists and champions of access and equity, art educators are bravely facing this new future with agency and a renewed commitment to include all members of the arts community.
“This year’s theme is so timely. The pandemic, social reckoning and awakening that we all experienced created an agency in which art educators rose to the occasion and led with such ingenuity,” said Lynette Brown, PAEA’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion chair. “We are now able to come together and continue this momentum of creating a more inclusive art education field by sharing our skills and resources. As art educators, we are in the midst of a great change or progression in education making art more accessible and equitable for all.”
Six of Moore’s outstanding faculty and alumnae are recipients of awards at the 2021 conference:
- Outstanding Supervisor/Administration Art Educator: Joyce Millman, Moore faculty
- Outstanding Special Needs Art Educator: Samantha Varian MA '16
- Outstanding New Professional Art Educator: Hannah Swanson MA '20
- Outstanding Secondary Art Educator: Marita Fitzpatrick '85
- The Legacy in Art Education Series Honoree: Emilee Taylor, Moore faculty
- Clyde McGeary Scholarship Recipient: Kendyl Boyd '21 MA '23
Along with the six alumni and faculty awards, Moore is proud to be the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Friend to Art Education award, which will be accepted by Cecelia Fitzgibbon, the College’s president.
“We are intentional about submitting for awards each year to both PAEA and NAEA, and it’s easy to do because we work with people who are worth celebrating,” said Stichter.
More than 300 art teachers, prospective teachers, college and university professors and retirees from Pennsylvania will attend the upcoming conference, which, along with an awards ceremony and reception, will feature Keynote & Special Guest Speakers and a schedule filled with sessions, exhibitions, workshops and more––all centered around the “Equity and Access” theme.
“Working with Lynette Brown made so much sense for this particular event,” said Stichter. “While I know we always strive to offer conferences that center themes around Equity, Diversity and Inclusion work, this particular conference was designed in response to the ongoing social justice work happening in Philadelphia. Lynette and I hope that our intentionality comes through not only in our selection of this year’s keynote speakers, but in the on and off site sessions happening around Center City.”
For more information and the full schedule of events, please visit the PAEA conference website.
