NAEA Conference 2019 -

I had a very exciting trip to Boston last week for the National Art Education Association Conference. If you have never been to one before, you should really try to go some year. It’s quite the experience!

A woman with glasses smiles outdoors in a city with modern buildings and a large archway structure, attending the 2019 NAEA conference.

The conference was from Thursday-Saturday last week and it was jam-packed full of workshops, speakers, vendors, meeting friends, site-seeing and walking back and forth around the hotel/conference center. I am going to split up my experience into a few different blog posts. Here are a few highlights from my trip!

The speakers were top-notch this year.

A speaker stands on stage at the 2019 NAEA Conference with a presentation slide showing "the dot" in front of an audience.

I was able to see several really stellar speakers – Amy Sherald (who painted Michelle Obama’s portrait), Howard Gardner (psychologist who developed the theory of multiple intelligences) and Peter Reynolds (children’s book illustrator.)

I went to 3 hands-on workshops to learn new techniques.

Mosaic art piece shaped like a house, decorated with colorful tiles, a small piano, and a name tag reading "Beckett."

I did a “one-step” mosaic making workshop, totally terrific tooling foil with Phyl Brown and an encaustic for elementary workshop. I will share more pictures and tips I learned in a future blog post.

The vendor hall was filled with art supplies to try and resources for art teachers.

Assorted art supplies, featuring sketchbooks, paints, pastels, markers, brushes, and various art materials from the 2019 NAEA Conference, are displayed on a table.

One of my favorite parts of the conference is getting free samples! The vendor hall is full of art supply companies, colleges and companies that will show you ways to use their products.

The Museum of Fine Arts in Boston is a treasure trove of inspiring artwork, like this Chihuly sculpture seen here.

A smiling person with glasses takes a selfie in front of a spiky green glass sculpture inside a modern building, capturing the vibrant energy of the 2019 NAEA Conference.

I spent an afternoon at the MFA. What a great museum! I have lots of pics and selfies to share.

Hanging Out with Other Art Teachers

Four smiling women with conference badges posing for a group selfie at the NAEA 2019 Conference indoors.

A group of seven smiling people standing on a sidewalk, some dressed festively, with cars and buildings in the background at the NAEA Conference.

One of the best parts about the conference is getting to spend time with art teacher friends, both old and new. Some of these gals I have known online for a long time and we finally got to hang out in person. Others I have met before at conferences and we enjoyed reconnecting! It was also a blast rooming with my college friend Dawn (in the rainbow wig).

At the 2019 NAEA Conference, a projector screen displays the colorful text "CREATE BRAVELY" with an audience in dark view. FableVision and Peter H. Reynolds' logos are visible.

I’m looking forward to sharing more about my conference in the next couple of blog posts! Stay tuned.

Did you miss me? My blog has been on the back burner since January, because February was taken over by mountains of Girl Scout cookies! My daughter sold over 1,000 boxes of cookies and we had all the troop’s cookies stored at my house, so it was general craziness here coordinating selling cookies literally everywhere we could.