NAEA Conference

Carissa DiCindio, our associate curator of education, recently attended the conference of the National Art Education Association in Minneapolis to present, and here's what she reports back:

From April 16 through April 19, I attended the National Art Education Association Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minn. This organization has a large museum education division, and educators travel from all parts of the country for this conference. I attended many sessions by leaders in our field, including one on how to discuss emotional content in art and another on museum/ school collaborations using the National Endowment for Humanities’ Picturing America portfolio. I also was one of four museum educators selected to be part of the museum division’s special issues forum, “Current Research Trends in Museum Education” during which I presented “Understanding Experiences of Young Visitors in Art Museums: A Review of Empirical Research.” This conference was a wonderful opportunity to learn more about the current issues in museum education, meet colleagues in the field, share ideas, and get feedback on my research. Although it was a busy, event-filled weekend, it was definitely worth the trip!

From now on, whenever museum staff members attend professional conferences, we will try to bring you an account of what they learned. Travel funding has certainly been a concern of the news media, the public, the legislature and others lately, but it is important for staff in all areas of the university to continue to attend professional conferences, both to learn and to share their knowledge, and we'd like to communicate what exactly we're doing with those funds to you, our public.