Scrapbook: NAEA's Summer Vision DC

This week I attended the National Art Education Association's (NAEA)

Summer Vision conference in Washington DC.

It was by far the most powerful and effective professional development 

I have attended. I HIGHLY recommend this conference for all art educators

and, honestly, other subject areas as well.

The whole premise of the conference

was to train educators to use art museums as a teaching tools

to deepen student thinking and learning.

The conference was Tuesday-Friday

and jam-packed with museum after museum.

They were all incredible,

but the museum educators at each were really the shining stars.

They modeled amazing teaching strategies that used inquiry based learning

to help us make personal connections to the artwork

and to probe our analytical thinking skills.

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TUESDAY

^^^ We started at the National Gallery of Art ^^^

^^^ We spent most of the morning in the Education Studio ^^^

learning strategies to evoke meaningful connections, 

thoughtful analysis, and relevant evaluations of art.

When we weren't in the education studio we were free to roam the museum.

Oh. My. Heavens.

I just wanted to "accidentally" get locked in the museum at night 

all Night at the Museum style, and just chat with all the paintings and sculptures.

^^^ Monet ^^^

^^^ Van Gogh ^^^

^^^ Van Gogh ^^^

^^^ Degas ^^^

^^^ Degas ^^^

^^^ Picasso ^^^

^^^ Picasso ^^^

^^^ The special exhibit was Degas and Cassatt. ^^^

No photographs were allowed which was actually kind of nice

because it forced me to really stop and observe.

^^^ The National Gallery education curator led us through an analysis ^^^

of this Noguchi sculpture, Great Rock of Inner Seeking.

^^^ Meanwhile, my wandering little eye fell in love with this neighboring sculpture by Miss Ursula ^^^

^^^ Rembrandts ^^^

^^^ Another museum curator led us through a vibrant discussion ^^^

of this Dutch still-life. We learned so much about the artwork itself,

but more so about how to provoke our students to really "see" and conned to the work.

^^^ Vermeers were in the very next room ^^^

NBD. (I lie. VERY BD!)

Swoon.

^^^ A freaking-HUGE Calder sculpture ^^^

^^^ This sculpture, between the east and west buildings, ^^^

reminds me of the Louvre!

^^^ My sweet, sweet cousin lives in DC ^^^

and was more than willing to host me for the week. 

Cara's apartment is so beautiful!

She lives in the grey portion of the town home.

^^^ I ended Tuesday evening with Cara and her boyfriend, Danny, ^^^

for a lovely dinner at Pearl Dive Oysters Palace.
It was my first time meeting her amore,
and he lived up to every (high/veryhigh/impossiblyhigh) expectation.

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WEDNESDAY

^^^ Wednesday we toured the Sackler and Freer galleries in the morning. ^^^

We had a fabulous tour led by one of the best educators I have ever encountered.

She walked us through many exhibits and demonstrated several techniques

to engage viewers in the work, connecting us with the subject matter

and finding meaning based on contextual information.

^^^ We had free time at lunch. ^^^

I decided to visit the Hirshhorn Gallery.

They had a wonderful sculpture exhibit that I am hoping is online.

 I really want to show my students the majority of the work in the show.

^^^ In the afternoon we toured the Museum of African Art ^^^

^^^ At this point, I'm not going to lie, I was pretty exhausted. ^^^

I enjoyed the museum very much, but had a little trouble staying focused.

The museum is beautiful and our curator was so knowledgable.

^^^ That evening, Cara and I took a train to Baltimore ^^^

to meet my longtime bestie, Alli, and her hubby and baby girl.

It was a quick visit but so so so good to see them!

Isn't Mackie Lane the prettiest!?

Greta Grace was so sad she wasn't there to play with her.

 ---------------------------

THURSDAY

^^^ Cara and I started the day with a tour of the White House's East Wing. ^^^

IT WAS SO COOL!

My favorite part was seeing the President's china! ;)

^^^ After the tour, I headed to the Museum of Women in the Arts ^^^

to meet up with my Summer Vision crew.

This museum is so beautiful, as it should be, dedicated to women and all.

^^^ I was pleasantly surprised by the range of work that was collected by the museum. ^^^

They had everything from well-known female artists like 

Faith Ringgold, Louise Nevelson, and Frida Kahlo,

to many female artists that have been left out of our textbooks from many centuries past.

^^^ After the Museum of Women in the Arts ^^^

we headed to The Phillips Collection,

a small museum in Dupont Circle.

^^^ There, we had the most dynamic discussion about this Renoir masterpiece. ^^^

It left me filled to the brim with passion!

I can't wait to show my students and 

(hopefully) have a similarly dynamic discussion in my classroom.

^^^ Rothko room ^^^

^^^ Klees ^^^

^^^ Calder ^^^

Look at those shadows, baby!! 

Love, love, love!

^^^ Oh, your know, just a Mondrian hanging in the stairwell. ^^^

^^^ My favorite piece in the museum. ^^^

I forget now who painted this 

(I have it written down somewhere in my sketchbook)

but the colors on this bad boy were beee--uuuu---tttttt---iiiii----ffuuuullll!!!!

 ^^^ That evening, Cara and I met my dearest friend, Kelly, at Mintwood Place. ^^^

Kelly lives in Richmond, VA and 

might be the sweetest person EVER for driving the 2+ hours to DC

just to have dinner with us. That girl is a breath of fresh air!! 

-----------------------

FRIDAY

^^^ Yesterday we spent the entire day at the National Portrait Gallery. ^^^

This might have been my favorite of them all.

They consider themselves a history and art museum,

and use the images of influential people 

to tell the story of our nation's history.

SO ENGAGING!

^^^ This piece was fabulous. ^^^

I will definitely be showing this to my students when we learn about narrative art.

^^^ Chuck Close's Bill Clinton ^^^

^^^ Andy Warhol ^^^

This conference was almost too good of an experience.

It was so wonderful, I really haven't been able to digest it all.

I am looking forward to processing through the conference and all the wonderful strategies

we learned along the way. If you are an educator, I definitely recommend

NAEA's Summer Vision conference!!
If you are interested and have any questions,
please don't hesitate to contact me.