Wisconsin Art Education Association
  • Home
    • Home Archive Feb-May 18, 2020
    • Home-Fall 2019-Feb 2020
    • Home-2018-19 Archive
    • Home Back to School -October 24 2018
    • Home Archive May-August 2018
    • Home Archive March 2 2018
    • Home Archive October - November 7 2017
    • Archive Sept-Oct 12 2017 Home
    • Archive Home May-August 2017
    • Home Archive September 13 2016
    • Archive Home- April 2017
    • Archive Home November - Early January 2017
    • About
    • Contact
    • Membership
  • News
    • Art Times
    • NAEA News & Information
  • Educator
    • 2020 Vision: Fall Conference
    • Fall Conference 2019
    • Fall Conference 2018
    • Fall 2017 Conference >
      • Awards-2017 Page
    • Advocacy
    • Awards
    • WAEA Grants >
      • Hunzinger Grant Application
      • Potawatomi Grant Application
    • Non-WAEA Grants
    • Professional Development
    • Art-Making & Exhibits
  • Student
    • Visual Arts Classic
    • Visioneer Design Challenge
    • Youth Art Month 2020-21
    • Youth Art Month 2019-20
    • Youth Art Month 2018-19
    • Youth Art Month 2017-18
    • Scholastic Art & Writing
    • Wisconsin School Board Association WAEA Award
    • Student Art Contests & Scholarships
    • Student Art Classes & Camps
  • History & Fellows
    • Fellows 2019-Allen Caucutt
    • Fellows 2019-Anna S. McNeil
    • Fellows 2019-Ron Stokes
    • Fellows 2018-Janet Carson
    • Fellows 2018-Bill Schulman
    • Fellows 2017- Charles Peterson
    • Fellows 2017- William Benson
    • Fellows 2017- Virgi Driscoll
    • Fellows 2017- Sherry Zei
    • Fellows 2017- Marcia Thompson
    • Fellows 2017- Oberon Leslie
  • WAEA Board
    • WAEA Calendar 2020 - 21
  • Resources

Working Daily as an Advocate for Art Education

9/17/2014

0 Comments

 


Marcia Thompson

Retired Rep

I don't think the term "advocacy" was ever mentioned in my art education classes at Winona State University in the 1970s, but it has been a daily part of my 30+ years of teaching. Being an advocate for the visual arts starts the day you accept your first job and probably even before that—at your first job interview. In many schools and communities, the art teacher is the window to the visual arts, an area in which many people, including principals, superintendents and school board members, feel inadequate if not out-right terrified! 

As an art educator, you are exposing students, teachers, principals, community members and community leaders to the rich potential of art making and its value in an educational setting. It may seem obvious to us, but the value of making, of creating, may not be part of the mind-set of the other people in the K-12 academic world. It quickly becomes apparent that the only person on staff who will fight for the presence of the visual arts in your school is...YOU!

To make art visible and accessible to all students becomes your mission. To communicate the value of art education to the greater community becomes your job! To succeed, you must be passionate, aware and understand the need to communicate that passion and awareness in every move you make every day. The way you dress, the way you interact with staff members, the committees you are on, the displays you create, the environment in your classroom—all are communicating the importance of art making and individual creativity to the rest of the school community.

At the beginning of my career, I never imagined that it would be "advocacy" that would become my life's work, but that is what happened. Being in the classroom with a bunch of middle schoolers, that was the easy part! Ok, maybe not easy, but easier. Convincing a principal that we needed more time for art classes and that every student needed art classes, that was the hardest part. Advocating for the place of visual art and design curriculum became a daily endeavor. My university training did not prepare me to take on that challenge, but reading and attending conferences helped. I really have to credit my membership in WAEA and NAEA for giving me the ammunition I needed to fight the fight to keep art and design as well as creative problem solving in the school curriculum.

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    Subscribe to WAEA News!
    Click on the RSS Feed below

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Capital Exhibit
    Yam 2011

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    September 2020
    July 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    January 2015
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    August 2013
    April 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011

Accessibility Policy
NAEA
© Wisconsin Art Education Association 2016, Jeanne Bjork,  Designer