UNO TO OFFER NEW COURSE IN SPRING
Lilly Lu, a new Art Education faculty member at UNO, will offer an online course "Digital Visual Culture: Virtual Worlds and Video Games" in the spring semester.  Check out the course description.

WHAT DO YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS DO TO ADVOCATE FOR VISUAL ARTS IN NEBRASKA?  
Do the survey and we will post your ideas in the blog.

DID YOU ATTEND NATA FALL CONFERENCE - OR NOT?
Conference handouts and resources are available online.

The Superintendent responsibilities include:
1.       Attend 2 meetings (approximately 1 hour long) in 2015.
2.       Go through categories currently in Fair book and add/delete as needed.
3.       Distribute Fair books and actively purse entries for the Fair.
4.       Be available via phone or email for questions pertaining to potential Fair entries from June-September
5.       Be on-site at the CenturyLink Center on Tuesday, September 22nd from 12 noon until area is completed for set-up and display.
6.       Coordinate with judge of your choice to be on-site on Wednesday, September 23rd at times that work for both of you to judge entries.
7.       Attach ribbons to entries.
There is a $250 stipend for the Superintendent, which is paid within 2 weeks after the Fair is over and a $50 stipend per judge.  Please contact Rita Clark if this is something you would be interested in for 2015.

We would like to offer you an opportunity to share the creativity of your students and the hard work you do in your schools and communities.  Exhibiting student work is also a vital advocacy tool for NATA and for the visual arts in Nebraska.  This year we are again offering NATA members the opportunity to participate in an exhibition of student work at the Nebraska Association of School Boards Conference.
On November 19-21, the Nebraska Association of School Boards (NASB) will be hosting their state convention in LaVista.  We will have a display of K-12 student work at the conference.  Each NATA member may display two pieces of 2-dimensional art (no larger than 12X18 or matted 16X22) at the exhibit as a member benefit - no cost to members.  You will send your art work with representatives from your school district who are attending the convention.  NATA will collect, inventory, and display the work.  Then, before the representatives from your school district leave the conference, they will pick up the work and take it back home to you.  Each participating student artist will receive a certificate of participation and each representative will receive an advocacy flyer that will help you advocate for why every child in Nebraska deserves an art education.
We hope you will consider participating in the special exhibit offered to NATA Members ONLY!  We see this as a great way to celebrate your students and get the message out to school board stakeholders about the importance of art education for children in Nebraska.
Please get information now and register!  REGISTRATION DEADLINE NOVEMBER 12TH!

Here's to strong art education experiences for all students in Nebraska!
Jody Boyer and Jocelyn Reiss
NATA CO-Exhibits Chairs, YAM, NASB, and Art Educator Show Coordinators
Email Jody Boyer your questions.

Did you see the 2014 NATA Art Educators Show in Aurora?  If not, you can view the work juried into the show.

Submit your story and we will publish it on the NATA Blog.

HERE'S WHY SOME TEACHERS RETURN TO TEACH EVERY YEAR......
.....The excitement of the creative process is integral to designing high quality lesson plans. I feel like an artist in the classroom while I'm creating a dynamic adventure with students.
.....I GET to return every year and live my dream!
.....To share with students how much of the world is visual and how to interpret those images.

Read the updates of all the great work happening in NATA.

Nebraskans for the Arts is a watchdog for monitoring policies that may impact the arts or arts education. Their goal is to assist policy makers in developing pro-arts legislation and understand the social and economic impact of the arts in our communities.
A series of public hearings will be taking place in October related to a statewide vision for education in Nebraska as required by LB1103 (2014).
This law charges the Education Committee with "...conducting a strategic planning process to create a statewide vision for education in Nebraska...which shall include aspirational goals, visionary objectives, meaningful priorities, and practical strategies." The Education Committee has drafted a vision, goals, and objectives and is seeking public input on them.
Three public hearings are being held by the Education Committee to receive public input to further refine the document and develop a final report:

• Monday, October 6, 2014 @ 1:30 p.m. - Gallup, 1001 Gallup Dr., Omaha, NE
• Wednesday, October 15, 2014 @ 1:30 p.m. - Suite E, Lifelong Learning Center, Northeast Community College, 801 East Benjamin Ave., Norfolk, NE
• Thursday, October 16, 2014 @ 1:30 p.m. - High School Auditorium, Broken Bow Public Schools, 323 North 7th Ave., Broken Bow, NE

The sessions are open to the public.
They are monitoring these bills/legislation/issues.

Access all the fine arts standards for your unit planning.

Deb Goodenberger, West Area ESU Liaison has a show at Noyes Art Gallery in Lincoln during October.  Opening was last Friday, October 3, however, there is a special opening this Saturday, October 11 from 1:00p-4:00p.  Please join us in celebrating with Deb if you are in Lincoln.

NATA 2014 FALL CONFERENCE
If you attended the NATA Conference in Aurora Sept 26-27, we hope you had restful, invigorating, and inspiring experiences.  Your input is valuable as we plan for next year’s conference in Omaha.  You may have already completed an evaluation form about your particular workshops.  Please take about 3 minutes to complete this online survey of your entire conference experience.  Your opinion is very valuable to us.

NEBRASKA HORSE EXPO is offering two opportunities for Nebraska's young artists. A Photography Contest is open for amateur photographers in two age groups (16 & over) or (15 & under) due Oct 24th and a Poster Contest is open for students in K-12 Grade due Nov 3rd.  Both contests will award several prizes to participants.

RED PATH GALLERY ART TALK  on Sunday, October 19th, 2014 at 2 PM at Red Path Gallery - 514 Seward Street, Seward, NE.
Professor Benjamin Marxhausen will be doing an Art Talk on the subject of developmental stages of art in children and of art in life as realism. His exhibit sponsored in part by Humanities Nebraska will be showing at Red Path Gallery & Tasting Room through the end of October. All pieces are for sale. A once in a lifetime opportunity to hear the Professor speak while intriguing the mind and heart.