The Tennessee Art Education Association (TAEA) 2011 Fall Conference, entitled ‘Celebrating Diversity Through Common Ground’ will be held on Oct. 27-29 at the Memphis College of Art (MCA) in cooperation with the college, the University of Memphis and the Brooks Museum of Art. The event is also sponsored in part by the Tennessee Arts Commission. Festivities will commence with the opening keynote artist, Carrie Mae Weems, on Friday, 9-10:30 a.m.
Weems has worked as an award-winning photographer and artist for 25 years, and continues to address struggles of empowerment and oppression. She has exhibited in both solo and group shows at The Museum of Modern Art, the International Center of Photography, the J. Paul Getty Museum, The High Museum of Art, The Walker Art Center, and The Whitney Museum. The Frist Center for the Visual Arts in dowtown Nashville will exhibit the first retrospective of her work from September 21, 2012-January 13, 2013.
Workshops and essential hands-on presentations will educate instructors and novices alike on video game design, bookmaking, teaching spatial concepts through watercolor, and developing studio art programs, to name a very few highlights, and the TAEA will present awards in a ceremony on Saturday the 29th from 1-2:30 p.m. at MCA. The nonprofit organization has chosen Jenny Hornby, Assistant Curator of Education at the Memphis Brooks Museum of Art, as its 2012 Art Educator. Given to recognize excellence in professional accomplishment and service by a dedicated art educator, those honored epitomize the highly qualified individuals active in Tennessee’s art education field. Hornby earned a B.A. in Art Education from the University of Montana in 2008, and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Memphis in 2010.
The Tennessee Art Education Association maintains a mission to advance visual arts education through advocacy, development, and leadership, and to promote and streamline the professional community of arts educators. The organization is made up of elementary, secondary, middle level, and high school art teachers across the state, with representatives from major art museums, the State Department of Education, arts councils, and colleges and universities.
