Conference Schedule.
June 10, 2021
Virtual Happy Hour.
5:00 - 6:30 PM
Hosted by Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus. Join us for a performance by The Mayhem Poets, games, and celebration as we kick off our virtual conference.
June 11, 2021
Welcome & Artist Pods.
12:00 - 1:30 PM
We will begin day one with a performance by Rekha Srinivasan and Bhaarat Nritya Academy. We will set expectations for the conference, remind participants of technology supports, and provide learner agreements for the duration of the conference.
Rachel Alban (MPS Art Therapy) will guide participants in a prompt for a trauma informed care creation activity meant to provide self-care, relaxation, and reflection for the artist. Participants will be placed in virtual pods to respond to the creative prompt. A moderator will guide reflection and provide support in the pods.
Virtual Learning.
1:30 - 2:30 PM
Participants will be able to select one of two workshop options for our Virtual Learning series.
Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts will host “Virtual Teaching 101,” a foundational course with teaching artist Erik James Montgomery. Zoom, Google Meet, WebX…OH MY! As artists and educators, we have been inundated with a multitude of virtual platforms to connect with our audiences. If you are looking to learn the basics of virtual meeting platforms then this workshop is for you.
Morris Arts will host “Virtual Learning: Sailing in the Virtual Seas” with John Bertles & Carina Piaggio. We will move beyond COVID-driven “tech/panic creation” in virtual arts programs into a deeper examination of how to combine the arts and technology. Join them and explore ways to create programs that are more reactive, fun, and engaging for students. No tech wizards here, just stubborn artists determined to reinvent the way artists create and present programs by working hand in hand with some amazing bits of technology.
Mental Health & Wellness for Creators and Educators.
2:45 - 3:45 PM
Led by Kristin Titus DiAmore, this workshop will focus on reintegrating the artist with their holistic self, using coping strategies to balance anxiety, big emotions, micro-managing, fear, and depression, and encouraging artists to use their art for themselves first and then for those that support their work.
This workshop will utilize science and evidence-based strategies as the foundation for work that will reconnect the artists with their creative selves.
Non-Profit Speed Dating.
3:45 - 4:45 PM
Participants will have an opportunity to meet with arts education non-profits throughout the state of New Jersey. They will get to learn what each non-profit offers, how to join their rosters, answer RFPs, and more.
Hear from Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus, Count Basie Center for the Arts, Paper Mill Playhouse, Perkins Center for the Arts, Rutgers Camden Center for the Arts, and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA.
See how you can continue to grow your teaching artist business or learn about new programming you can bring to your school!
On Art, Pedagogy, and Liberation: Pursuing Passion, Purpose, and Possibility.
5:00 - 6:30 PM
In this address, Dr. Christopher Emdin highlights the present state of education and pushes us to imagine and then move towards a pedagogy that offers new possibilities. In an equal parts philosophical and practical talk, he merges theory and practice to move educators to examine where our passions lie, what our purpose should be, and what a system that uses the arts as a vehicle for transformation could look like.
Please note that the keynote address will not be recorded or made available after the live presentation.
June 12, 2021
Welcome & Artist Pods.
9:30 - 11:00 AM
We will begin day two with a performance by Seventh Principle. We will review expectations for the conference, remind participants of technology supports, and provide learner agreements for the duration of the conference.
Rachel Alban (MPS Art Therapy) will guide participants in a prompt for a trauma informed care creation activity meant to provide self-care, relaxation, and reflection for the artist. Participants will be placed in virtual pods to respond to the creative prompt. A moderator will guide reflection and provide support in the pods.
Antiracism.
11:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Sponsored by Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA, participants will have an option to self-select one of two workshops in antiracism, the arts, and education.
Led by Summer Dawn, “Poetry as Activism” is an introduction to the art and techniques of activist poetry. Participants experience a process that takes them from exploring a social issue they care about, to writing and performing a creative work inspired by that issue. Writing techniques, literary devices, and historical events will illuminate opportunities for participants to connect to their own lived experiences and passion.
Our second offering “Raising Consciousness” will feature Angela Kariotis, anti-racist educator, professor, and master teaching artist. Participants will practice techniques scaffolding difficult discussion, understanding our own positionality, and shifting from dominant culture to a multicultural framework for learning.
Creative Aging.
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Sponsored by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, this workshop will be led by Lifetime Arts.
Julie Kline, Education Associate at Lifetime Arts, will present an interactive session introducing the field of creative aging - including the history, supporting research, and exemplary programming happening across this growing field. Andragogical approaches that inform the design of skill-based, sequential instructional lessons for older adults will be introduced, as well as the importance of embedding intentional social engagement activities into curricula. In-person and adaptations for remote programming will be addressed.
Robust question and answer session to follow.
Early Childhood Education.
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Presented by Appel Farm Arts & Music Campus, this workshop entitled “Teaching with Purpose” will be led by Dr. Adrian Barnes. The focus of this workshop will be on the goals educators use to create lesson plans that reach diverse learners, including teaching to students’ strengths, weaknesses, and backgrounds. What are your goals and who do they include? What are those goals based on? Are they culturally responsive? Are they assessment driven? Or, do they target a specific area or skill-set that you would like your students to develop? This workshop will use Grant Wiggins’ Understanding by Design to assist teachers in planning purpose-driven lesson plans that are responsive and inclusive of the needs of your students.
The Business of Teaching Artistry.
12:30 - 1:30 PM
Sponsored by Perkins Center for the Arts, this workshop will be led by photographer, teaching artist, and foundation owner Erik James Montgomery.
Every artist needs to know how to manage the business side of their brand. During this informative workshop, participants will learn how to use a simple spreadsheet to keep track of teaching assignments, effective communication with administrators, creating lesson plans, financial stewardship, and the benefits of becoming an LLC business.
These tips will empower teaching artists to become more effective in the classroom and at the bank!
Arts for Art’s Sake.
1:45 - 2:45 PM.
This workshop title says it all. This hour is about creation, joy, and community! We are making art for the sake of art. What better reason do we need?
Participants will be able to select workshops in the following art forms:
Visual Arts: Papering Around will be led by printmaker and mixed media on paper artist Doris Noguiera-Rogers. Doris will discuss and demonstrate ways to design/decorate paper to be used in various projects. These projects can go from functional objects such as wrapping paper, decorated boxes, gift bags, and cards to fine art collages or paper mosaic murals.
Dance: Touch for Joy’s Sake will be led by teaching artist and dancer Anna Gichan who will utilize contact improvisation as a vessel for understanding various qualities of touch, intentions, weight, and effort without fear. Participants will explore their individual relationships to the elements of movement through touch and creative play and find ways to connect these explorations to your own art form.
Theatre: Chinese Dragon Shadow Puppet Theater hosted by Hua Hua Zhang, participants will be introduced to the history and culture of traditional Chinese shadow puppet theater and learn about characteristics of the mythological Chinese dragon. After a trip through the unique world of the artist’s studio, participants are guided in making their own dragon shadow puppet and shown how to create a shadow puppet show at home using a flashlight or cell phone and their imaginations to tell their own original stories.
Literary Arts: The Write 2 Heal will be led by Blind Girl Magic founder Jeanetta Price. This workshop will focus on spoken word poetry as a self-healing and wellness tool for creators and educators.
Music: Rhythm Poems will be led by composer/percussionist/sound artist Alex Shaw. Participants will be guided through deep listening practices and develop original rhythmic compositions inspired by the world surrounding us.
Closing.
2:50 - 3:30 PM
We will end the conference on a note of joy, with a performance of Dream of Lands by puppet artist Hua Hua Zhang. In this series of dream vignettes, Hua Hua along with Travis Daniel Draper and Adam Danoff, use puppets, shadows, living sculptures, and stylized movement to explore relationships, emotional states, and how we process them using her own unique lens of both Asian and Western viewpoints and attitudes.
Our closing ceremony will also share a reflection on the days’ events and an opportunity to debrief and discuss the conference.
We’ll be sad to see you go, but we hope you’ve had a wonderful experience while you were with us!
reCONNECT is powered by…
Arts Professional Learning Institute.
The Arts Professional Learning Institute (APLI) is a co-sponsored project of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts and Young Audiences Arts for Learning NJ & Eastern PA. It is generously supported by the Grunin Foundation and Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.
New Jersey Arts Education Collective.
The New Jersey Arts Education Collective is a partnership of arts education organizations whose mission is to provide the highest quality professional development for teaching artists and the arts education community.