NATA MEMBERS TEACHING STUDENTS THROUGH PRESENTING ART

Grand Island Senior High School Art Teachers Inspire Students To Advocate And Present Art 
Because of their teacher's experience with Bart Vargas at the 2014 NATA Conference, Grand Island Senior High School art teachers were inspired to teach 6th-12th grade students about making plywood polyhedrons and install them in front of the public library.  The project's goals were to add public art to the community and to bring attention to the student art show that is at the Bartenbach Gallery in downtown Grand Island.  This type of exhibition meets the Nebraska Visual Art Standard: FA 12.2.2.b Create a portfolio, digital collection, or community display in a professional manner.
The project was funded by the Grand Island Education Foundation.   The 22 piece installation is up till May 1st. For more information about how teachers in Grand Island teach the standard of Present, contact Jerome Dubas.

How are you teaching the Nebraska Visual Arts Standards? As we approach the end of the year, we know great things are happening. Tell us your story.

Lincoln North Star High School Art Teachers Lead Students on a Journey to Present Art
I AM NOT YOUR MISCONCEPTION, Lincoln North Star High School
Painting, Photography, Pottery, Digital Art Student Art Show
Five Lincoln North Star High School art classes have collaborated to create their own exhibition based on the theme of Identity Misconceptions, which was installed for public viewing at LUX Center for the Arts on April 22nd. 
Students in the Advanced Art Courses at North Star explored traditional and contemporary art exhibition venues in Nebraska that support working artists and offer opportunities to create and present artwork.
This project is a collaboration of North Star, and LUX Center for the Arts, and Doane College’s Arts Are Basic Program, whose mission is to support outstanding curriculum development.
The public is invited to view the work during regular business hours of LUX from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and during the closing reception held during Lincoln’s First Friday Artwalk May 1st, from 5 to 8 p.m. 
Throughout the duration of this immersion unit, students explored all four Nebraska Visual Arts Standards: CREATE, PRESENT, RESPOND, CONNECT
Learn more about this project or contact the NATA members involved in the collaboration: Lynette Fast (Painting), Jocelyn Reiss (Photography), Mollie Magunson (Pottery), and Lorinda Rice (LPS Visual Art Curriculum Consultant). Others instrumental in facilitation of the project were: Brooke Gillotti (Digital Art), Bri Murphy (LUX Center for the Arts Curator), and Rhea Gill (Doane College Arts Are Basic Director). 

Restructuring NATA - What are your visions?
Teaching has changed. Professional responsibilities have changed. Students have changed. Accountability has changed. School/district structure has changed. Shoot, even lunch and recess has changed. Our responsibilities and needs are changing faster than we can keep up. The new NATA Board Structure is in a piloting phase right now. We are trying to determine where our focus should lie and what member's needs will be in the next 1-5 years and beyond. Please take 2 minutes to complete a brief survey that includes your opinion of which services are most important to you as NATA plans for support of art educators across the state of Nebraska. Please ask yourself what you need in order "to advocate for and advance art education in Nebraska to fulfill human potential and promote global understanding".

Click here to provide your input now

Assessing Learning in Students' Responses to Works of Art
Monday, April 27th - Saturday, May 2nd
Event Hosts: Michelle Grohe (Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum); Stephanie Downey (Randi Korn & Associates); Benjamin Tellie (Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School, Rockville, Maryland); and Olga Hubard (Teachers College Columbia University) 
The purpose of student interactions with works of art has been defined in multiple ways: from nurturing skills associated with critical thinking to enhancing empathy and cultural awareness; from learning about the history of art to nurturing profound experiences of artworks; and so forth. The way we assess student learning is inevitably linked to notions of how engagements with art matter. In this Interactive Café, researchers and practitioners share visions about the value of students' encounters with works of art and discuss how particular visions might influence-or be shaped by-approaches to assessment.

Consider signing up your school today!