DES MOINES – What role do the arts play in 21st-century education? How do the Iowa Fine Arts Standards support a "well-rounded" education for all Iowa students?

Those questions will be answered during the inaugural Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit this summer in Ankeny, where fine arts educators, administrators, nonprofit arts leaders and teaching artists from across the state will gather for a day of networking, learning and celebration while hearing from leading state and national voices. Early-bird registration begins April 1.

"Every day, arts educators all across Iowa go above and beyond to help students develop skills they need for future success," Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs Director Chris Kramer said. "This summit is specifically geared to help educators refine their skills in understanding Iowa's new fine arts standards and how to implement them in the classroom."

Sponsored by the Iowa Department of Education in association with the Iowa Arts Council, as well as the Iowa Alliance for Education and Des Moines Area Community College, the summit marks the first time a professional learning event will feature all five of the Iowa Fine Arts Standards' disciplines – dance, media arts, music, theater and visual arts. Attendees will attend breakout sessions that focus on the standards, school-community partnerships and other topics. Teachers will also be able to network with peers and colleagues, discuss curriculum and best practices and earn a license renewal credit.

The keynote speaker will be Olivia Gude, the chair of art education at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as a professor emerita at the University of Illinois of Chicago. She has created many award-winning collaborative mural and mosaic projects and is the author of the Americans for the Arts white paper “Intertwining Practices of Public Art and Art Education.”

Her educational research focuses on generating new projects and paradigms for art education in school and community settings. In 2009, she received the National Art Education Association's Viktor Lowenfeld Award for significant contributions to the field of art education and, in 2014, she received the organization's Manuel Barkan “article of the year” award.

Iowa Fine Arts Education Summit
FFA Enrichment Center, Des Moines Area Community College
1055 S.W. Prairie Trail Parkway in Ankeny
Thursday, June 20, 2019
8:00 a.m.-3:30 p.m.

Early-bird registration is $25 April 1-30. Regular registration is $35 from May 1 through June 17.

The Iowa Arts Council is a division of the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.