President's Message
March 2007
During my last message, I gave a few highlights from the 2006 Conference held in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and congratulated Dr. Rita Irwin on being the first recipient of the newly established CSEA/Sax Canada award, the Canadian Art Educator of the Year Award. At this time, I would like to congratulate the provincial affiliate award winners, all of whom were at the conference to receive their awards in person. The following highlights are very brief summaries of their many contributions to art education. Congratulations to these four award winners!
Wendy Long: British Columbia CSEA Affiliate Award Winner
Wendy is a high school art and media teacher in White Rock/Surrey, BC. She has been active in the BC Student Film Festival, served on the BCATA Executive in many capacities including President, has written curriculum for the Ministry of Education, has planned a Conference, and continues to be a leader in her school district. Wendy has an energetic approach to her teaching and a passion for art that capture her students and lead to their successes.
Carol MacDonnell: Alberta CSEA Affiliate Award Winner
Carol has recently retired from many years of work in art education, mainly as an instructor at the University of Calgary, but also at several art galleries, several different universities, and elementary school. She has been recognized for her excellent teaching. Carol has been editor of the CSEA Journal, and is known for her effective work with the Reggio Emilia approach to education. We wish Carol all the best in her retirement.
Cheryl Zubrack: Manitoba CSEA Affiliate Award Winner
Cheryl is a well-known art teacher and leader in Manitoba. She has taught in many contexts, including the University of Manitoba Faculty of Education. She is currently the Art Consultant, teacher support for the Winnipeg School Division. Cheryl has held many leadership roles within art education, many with the Manitoba Association for Art Education, including being President and being newsletter and journal editor.
Mary Intven-Wallace: Ontario CSEA Affiliate Award Winner
Mary is an art teacher for the London District, and program developer and instructor with Museum London, as well as part-time faculty at the University of Western Ontario. She is been recognized as an excellent art teacher. She is supportive of new teachers and is active in beginning teacher mentorship programs. Mary is well known as the illustrator and author of many books, often created after spending time in the far north. She is an active artist, having had many group and solo exhibitions.
Provincial Affiliate Awards
Is there someone in your province who is making a significant contribution to art education, and who deserves to be recognized for that work? This is a reminder that the CSEA has an award for each Province. The nomination forms, timelines and requirements are on the website, and the awards are presented at the fall Conference.
CSEA Publications
We can be proud of our two main print publications, the Canadian Art Teacher or CAT, and the Canadian Review of Art Education, or the CRAE. We encourage you to consider submitting something for these publications, a lesson plan, a description of a special project, a report of some recent research, or whatever profile of your work in art education would make a contribution to these publications. CAT editor Mike Emme and CREA editor Boyd White would be pleased to receive a submission from you, or to answer any questions you might have about a submission. Reading about what is happening in art education in other areas in Canada is a great way to keep us connected while sharing valuable information and ideas.
Provincial News
The BCATA annual provincial conference “About Face” recently took place in Kamloops, BC under sunny skies and warm hospitality. Keynote speakers jan jagodzinski and Gu Xiong both presented visually rich talks, followed by many great workshops. A flame dancer at the banquet, great food throughout the weekend, and an art gallery reception all added sparks to the conference.
If you have any news about art education in your province that could be highlighted here, please contact me with the details. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thank you everyone, have a good month.
Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President
May 2007
I have recently returned after being in Australia for several months, so there is much to catch-up on, which I will try to do through several messages in the next short while. While in Australia, I was able to meet with several people involved in their national art education association, and to hear about their issues and work. It is always reassuring to know that similar aims and issues are common elsewhere as well as at home. I would be happy to show my 200+ pictures of art in Australia to anyone brave enough to watch!
Conference 2007
It is time to look ahead to our next CSEA Conference, which will be held on October 19, 20, 2007 at York University in Toronto in partnership with the Ontario Society for Education through Art, and with the Fine Arts department at York University. The title of the conference, “Synergies” is certainly appropriate for a collaboratively planned conference.
Mark your calendars and reserve your professional development funds so you will be able to join us for this great conference. Partnering with a provincial organization each year results in a slightly different content and tone for the conference. Let’s meet in Toronto and experience a conference in Ontario style. Look for more details in the next few weeks regarding registration, hotels, special features, and more.
Call for Papers
Click here for the Call for Papers/Workshops for the Synergies Conference in Toronto. As you can see, the sessions are of two lengths, one and one-half hours or three hours. I encourage you to share your ideas about art education by giving a presentation at this conference.
The timelines are very tight for this call. Please forward your email proposal to me by May 31st. The timelines are tight because the planning committee was challenged to secure a location in Toronto. After negotiating with several institutions, an agreement was finally reached with York University. The dates of the conference, and other details, were dependent on the location. We do apologize for giving only two weeks to prepare your proposal, however we trust that will be sufficient time. Please forward your proposals to me at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Provincial News
If you have any news about art education in your province that could be highlighted here, please contact me with the details. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thank you everyone, have a good month.
Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President
September 2007
It is always exciting, even for teachers, to start a new year with full tubes of paint, long sharp pencils, and stacks of clean sketchbooks. I hope the start of your new school year or your new semester has begun smoothly, and that your term will be productive and rewarding in many ways.
Synergies 2007 Conference in Toronto
With only one month to go before the Conference in Toronto, our attention turns to some of the special features.
- Dr. Olivia Gude, an award winning Chicago artist and educator is the Keynote Speaker. Come to hear her ideas about inter-generational learning and creating community art.
- Dr. Bill Zuk is the Gaitskell Address speaker who will speak on “Community Voice: Building a Strong Art Based Education”
- Over 60 workshops to choose from
- The CSEA Panel Discussion on Issues in Art Education.
- Wine and Cheese Reception, entertainment, tour of the Fine Arts Facilities at York University
- A Gala Luncheon, Awards, Trade Fair, Guest Speakers, Silent Auction
- And more….
As you can see, this will be a great conference and you will not want to miss the chance to participate in this wonderful event.
York University: The conference takes place at York University, which is located at 4700 Keele Street, North York.
Registration: Connections to the on-line registration form and other information can be made from the CSEA website.
Accommodation: Many of you have been waiting for this information. The Conference Hotel is Holiday Inn Toronto Yorkdale, 3450 Dufferin Street, Toronto. Rate: $129, reservations at 416-675-9636 or
Provincial Affiliate CSEA Awards
At this time, we have award recipients selected from several provinces, but many provinces still have not forwarded nominations. If you know of someone in your province who deserves to be acknowledged for significant work in art education, please forward a nomination. Forms and details can be found on the CSEA website.
Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President
July 2007
Conference 2007
“Synergies 2007” in Toronto on October 19 – 20 is the upcoming CSEA Conference in partnership with the Ontario Society for Education through Art. More details about the conference can be found on the two websites. We encourage you to add this conference to your plans for the fall, book it into your schedule, book you flights, and count on a great opportunity to connect with art educators from across Canada. I will highlight some of the features of this conference in upcoming messages.
CSEA Awards
Do you know someone who deserves to be awarded for all the work done for art education? This is a reminder that the CSEA offers two types of awards. There is a single, national award, the “Canadian Art Educator of the Year” which will be awarded to an art educator from any area across Canada and from any area of work, either the K – 12 or post secondary levels. This award is made possible partly through our sponsor Sax Canada Specialty Schools.
The second type of award is the Provincial Affiliate Award. One person from each province is given an award for significant contribution to art education. Typically, the selection of this art educator is done by the provincial association.
These awards are presented at the annual national conference each year. This year, “Synergies 2007” in Toronto in October will include a special event on the Saturday for the presentation of these awards.
Please go to our website to find the forms for nominations of these awards. A reminder about the deadlines for submissions: The Canadian Art Education of the Year Award nominations are to be sent to me directly by July 31, 2007. The end of September is the deadline for Provincial Associations to notify me of the Provincial Affiliate Award recipient.
Awards are important to our association not only because they provide a pat on the back for a deserving art educator, but also because they provide an opportunity to profile the specific work and accomplishments of the award recipients, and thereby serve as valuable advocacy and awareness for art education.
Provincial News
I would like to pass along at least one piece of information about art education in each province each year. So, if you have any news about art education in your province that could be highlighted here, please contact me with the details.
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Thank you everyone, have a good month.
Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President
December 2007
There is just enough time to fit in one more message to you within the year 2007. If your schedule has been similar to mine, the past few weeks have been packed with teaching, marking, meetings, writing and more. And, if your hope is similar to mine, the next couple of weeks will provide a break from that work.
Synergies 2007 Conference in Toronto
The conference at York University in October was a success with many valuable workshops sessions, inspiring keynote speakers, and some fun social times. I will offer some highlights about the Conference soon, including profiles of the CSEA Award winners.
On behalf of the CSEA Executive, I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the committee from the Ontario Society for Education through Art, under the leadership of Paul Naccarato, for their organized planning and good ideas that made this conference a success. They were good to work during this collaboration for the conference planning. We wish this provincial art educators group much good luck in their future work. Thank you Paul and committee!’
I would also like to welcome all of you who are new CSEA members! We trust you will find it valuable to your work to receive the CSEA publications and other communications. As this is your national body, I encourage you to contact me or other executive members, if you have any questions, or suggestions for the CSEA.
2007 – 2008 CSEA Executive
There are several changes to the Executive for the coming year. Boyd White from McGill University has been the editor of our journal, Canadian Review of Art Education (CRAE) for many years, and has decided it is time to pass the reins on to another editor. Thank you, Boyd, for the professionalism and expertise you brought to this position of editor to ensure that we have a high quality research journal. Richard Lachapelle from Concordia University has agreed to take on this editorship. We look forward to seeing the flavour you will bring to this publication, Richard.
We are not loosing Boyd from the executive because he will continue as Conference liaison, along with Cathy Mullen as they are co-chairs for the CSEA Conference in Montreal on November 6 – 9, 2008.
We are losing Michelle Zederayko from our executive after three years of serving as our Secretary General. Michelle has worked so hard to establish an efficient organization system for the operation of the CSEA. The constancy and the need for attention to details make this job demanding, and Michelle met the challenge so well. Thank you Michelle for helping the CSEA in such a significant way. We look forward to the time when you decide to serve on the CSEA Executive once again.
With those changes, the new CSEA Executive list is as follows.
| President | Sharon McCoubrey | from Lake Country, BC |
| Past President: | Harold Pearse | from Edmonton, AB |
| Vice Presidents: | Fiona Blaikie | from Thunder Bay, ON |
| Dan Jarvis | from North Bay, ON | |
| Cathy Mullen | from Montreal, QE | |
| Adda Mihailescu | from Fredericton, NB | |
| Director of Publications | Mary Blatherwick | from Fredericton, NB |
| Editor of CAT: | Mike Emme | from Edmonton, AB |
| Editor of CRAE: | Richelle Lachapelle | from Montreal, QE |
| Conference Liaison: | Boyd White | from Montreal, QE |
| Corporate Sponsorship | Maria Pisichko | from Winnipeg, MB |
| Secretary General: | Kobie Blaikie | from Thunder Bay, ON |
We look forward to serving you, the membership of CSEA during this coming year, in the various roles that are in these executive positions. Our goals are to effectively be a voice for Canadian art education in various contexts and to support art educators at all levels.
ReVisions: Readings in Canadian Art Teacher
The creation of new resources is one way we support art educators, and we are pleased to announce the release of our newest resource: “ReVisions: Readings in Canadian Art Teacher Education”. Congratulations to editors Rita Irwin, Kit Grauer, and Mike Emme for a beautiful book that has its current and relevant content presented in such a creative manner. You will find all the details about this book and how to order it on the CSEA website.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas. Hopefully you will have a holiday break that is relaxing and enjoyable, and that makes you look forward to the New Year with anticipation and enthusiasm.
Respectfully submitted,
Sharon McCoubrey
CSEA President