Each of the AEI Representatives report to the Board about events taking place in their AEA. If you know of events that they might share at the next gathering of the Board, send them an email. Their addresses can be found here.
If you would like to be involved in the AEI Board, let someone know! New teachers are always welcomed!
Prairie Lakes AEA — Twyla Godbersen
Twyla has a new school email address: tgodbersen@oabcig.org
Extensive Spam collection offered at auction--Former Witter Gallery Director, Andrette Wickstrom (Storm Lake) felt the need to generaously give her vast collection of Spam meat product collectables to the Storm Lake High School in an effort to support a Fine Arts Center. Her collection filled the showcases at the high school.
Witter Gallery Storm Lake. Check out their website for the current shows. Blanden Memorial Art Museum Fort Dodge website is www.blanden.org
Pearson Lakes Art Center www.lakesart.org is showing Ann Taggart's free-flowing nature paintings until January 16.
Keystone AEA—
Ted Sojka, Ellen Henkels
Luther College will be the site of the first annual Oneota Film Fest on January 22 and 23. This year's theme is Sowing the Seed.
Grant Wood AEA—
Becky Kobos
Area 10 includes the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art which is featuring Norman Rockwell: Fact & Fiction through Januray 3, 2010. The museum also houses the work of Grant Wood and Marvin Cone. www.crma.org
Another good museum to visit is the Herbert Hoover Library and Museum. The current exhibit is "An Exhibit Iowa, A-Z" through November 1, 2009.
The Amana Arts Guild offers a variety of arts workshops that can be taken for recertification credits. www.amanaartsguild.com/workshops.html
If you teach in AEA 10, please let me know about any other interesting exhibits that you know about. We'll post them here.
AEA 267—
Pam Muench, Nancy Barsic
If you are in need of information about Grinnell's arts events, go to www.grinnell.edu and click on ghe gallery links.
Northwest AEA—
Paul Adamson,
Shanise Brockshus
Tammy Hoppe
Sioux City is getting ready for the 2010 conference. Planning is going very well and the committee is very enthusiastic.
We will be having our first Conference Art Show at Central Lyon High School in Rock Rapids on Thursday, March 18, 2010.
Loess Hills AEA—
Erin Almelien
Mississippi Bend AEA—
Kathleen Almelien
Green Valley AEA—
Diane Fisher
Arts Education Partnership Director Sandra S. Ruppert wrote in a op-ed piece for Education Week (9/23) that "arts learning experiences play a vital role in developing students' capacities for critical thinking, creativitity, imagination, and innovation." Increasingly, "these capacitites are being recognized as core skills and competencies all astudents need as part of a high-quality and complete 21st-century education." Ruppert added.
She lists "five strategies," drawn from the National Assessment of Educational Progress' arts assessment, released in June 2009, "that can help arts education leaders, policymakers, and educators improve performance in the arts and narrow achievement gaps."
Heartland AEA—
No Representative--If you or someone you know would like to represent this area, please contact Margaret Parks or Ronda Sternhagen.
Great Prairie— AEA
Diane Richardson & Carol Keller
Mediapolis High School Art Club is excited about a fund-raiser they are doing. They teach art lessons to elementary students. With the proceeds they will be going to Des Moines to the Art Center and later to the Civiic Center to see "Wicked."