July 2008

Summertime may mean a time of relaxation and holidays for some of you, but others may be teaching classes or keeping your computer busy with a writing project. Whatever your activities may be this summer, I hope you find some time to take a break, relax, and perhaps find your way to your studio to engage in a little art making that so often eludes us as we meet the demands of being art educators.

Canadian Art Educator of the Year

Two years ago, we introduced a new award, a single Canadian Art Educator of the Year Award that would be awarded to an art educator who made significant contributions to art education in Canada. The first recipient was Dr Rita Irwin, who is about to take over the role as President of the International Society for Education through Art, congratulations, Rita. The second award recipient was Dr Graeme Chalmers, who is about to take on the role of retirement!

After some discussion at our executive meeting, it was agreed that it would be preferable to have a national art educator award for each of two areas, K – 12 and Post-Secondary, given the nature of the work in each context is somewhat different.

Fortunately, our sponsor, School Specialty Canada (Sax Canada) agreed to support two awards. Thank you to Harry deBoer from School Specialty for continuing to be supportive of the CSEA.

Two national awards will now be presented at this year’s CSEA Conference in Montreal, one for the Post-Secondary Art Educator, and one for the K – 12 Art Educator.

The forms for nominations have been revised and appear on the CSEA website. Given this change has taken place recently, the timelines have been extended for this year only. Take note that the nomination deadline is September 20. Please read the forms carefully for the list of items required for the nomination package.

The nomination requirements are not difficult, so we encourage you to think of whom among your colleagues is deserving of this award, and begin to gather information for a nomination. The awards provide an excellent way to give a deserving person a pat on the back, and to give some attention to art education.

Don’t forget our conference this year at Concordia University in Montreal, November 6 – 9, 2008. This conference will provide the best setting and opportunity to discuss and learn about the issues that are important to art education currently. A CSEA Conference is always a rich professional experience, and well worth the effort to attend.

Respectfully submitted,

Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President