*_ARTS RELEASE
_**_FOR IMMEDIATE 
RELEASE_**                                                                           
*April 14, 2010
Contact:    Eric 
Gullickson                                                                                                            


                  (845) 257-3245


   New Paltz to host national conference on art education

Collaboration links school districts and community arts organizations

*NEW PALTZ --* The Art Education program at the State University of New 
York at New Paltz will explore the collaborations between school 
districts and community arts organizations at a national conference, 
titled "Youth and Community Development: How the Arts Serve Economically 
Impoverished Communities," June 11-13, on the SUNY New Paltz campus.

Throughout the weekend, leading researchers, educators and artists from 
around the nation will make presentations about their research, serve as 
panelists in group discussions, and offer step-by-step advice toward 
creating and implementing similar ideas in local school districts in the 
Hudson Valley. Community arts organizations from Ulster, Orange and 
Dutchess counties will present workshops and seminars for conference 
participants, developing greater awareness of the work that these 
organizations are currently engaged in with children and adolescents.

The conference is intended for students, art educators, school 
administrators, artists, arts organizations, and the general public who 
may be interested in developing new projects.

Keynote speakers include:

    * *Shirley Brice Heath*,* *producer of the documentary, "ArtShow,"
      which explores four youth-based arts organizations in New York,
      Boston and rural communities of Kentucky and northern California.
      Heath is professor of English and dramatic literature, and a
      linguistic anthropologist at Stanford University;
    * *Glen Coutts*, International Society of Education through Art
      (InSEA) world councilor and reader in art and design education at
      University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, specializes in
      community programs and presents them in his new book, "Art,
      Community and Environment: Educational Perspectives," co-edited
      with Timo Jokela, University of Chicago Press;
    * *Elizabeth Delacruz*, 2009 recipient of the June King McFee Award
      and the National Art Education Association's Art Educator of the
      Year Award. Delacruz's research focuses on the interface of visual
      arts education with contemporary art practices, social theory,
      multicultural education and community, and new media/technology.
      She is Associate Professor of Art Education, University of
      Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Editor of Visual Arts Research.

Early-registration fee for the three-day conference is $100 ($85 for 
United States Society for Education Through Art (USSEA) and InSEA 
members) and ends on May 1. After the deadline, conference fees increase 
by $15 in each category. For more information and to register, visit the 
USSEA registration page, http://ussea.sdstate.org/Conference.htm.

Coordinator of the conference, Dr. *Alice Wexler*, associate professor 
of art education at New Paltz and chairperson for the USSEA Outreach 
Committee, and David Cavallaro, assistant to the dean of Fine and 
Performing arts said that, in the current economic climate, school 
districts are forced to make deep cuts in programming and to place 
limited financial assets in service to standardized tests. This policy 
leaves few resources for arts education, which run the risk of being 
labeled non-essential and even an extravagance. Yet more and more, 
studies link education in the arts to powerful modes of thinking that is 
rarely developed elsewhere in the curriculum. Seeking to introduce 
innovative opportunities within these constraints, art educators and 
school districts have established successful partnerships with community 
arts organizations to achieve remarkable outcomes, they concluded.

The conference is co-sponsored by the United States Society for 
Education Through Art (USSEA) and its international equivalent, 
International Society of Education through Art (InSEA).


- 30 -

 /The State University of New York at New Paltz was named "Hottest Small 
State School" in //the //2008 Kaplan/Newsweek How To Get Into College 
Guide, which identifies America's 25 Hottest Schools. The guide features 
schools that all offer top academic programs and are making their mark 
in the competitive world of higher education./

/New Paltz is a highly selective college of about 8,000 undergraduate 
and graduate students located in the Mid-Hudson Valley between New York 
City and Albany. Degrees are offered in the liberal arts and sciences, 
which serve as a core for professional programs in the fine and 
performing arts, education, business and engineering./

 

-- 
Office of Public Affairs
1 Hawk Drive
New Paltz, NY 12561

Haggerty Administration Building 411
Phone: (845) 257-3245
Fax: (845) 257-3345

http://www.newpaltz.edu/publicaffairs

SUNY New Paltz has been named the nation's "Hottest Small State School"
in the 2008 Kaplan/Newsweek "How to Get into College" Guide.
http://hot.newpaltz.edu

Are you a fan of SUNY New Paltz on Facebook? http://facebook.com/newpaltz

Cory Booker: How to Change the World with your Bare Hands
Distinguished Speaker Series
Thursday, October 1, 2009
7:30 p.m. McKenna Theatre
http://www.newpaltz.edu/speakerseries