2026 FALL CONFERENCE:
A Place to Land
-
Friday October 23rd @ West End Conference Center St. Louis Park, MN
1600 Utica Ave S. Suite 100 St. Louis Park, MN 55416
8:00-9:30 am: Registration (breakfast, coffee, and snacks provided)
9:00-9:30 am: Opening Ceremony
10:00-10:50 am: Session 1
11:00-11:50 am: Session 2
Lunch (on your own)
1:30-2:20 pm: Session 3
2:30-3:20 pm: Session 4
3:30-4:20 pm: Session 5
Dinner (on your own)
6:00-10:00 pm: Evening @ Crayon Kelly Gallery:
Awards Ceremony
Art Making
Beverages
Saturday October 24th @ various West End Galleries
10:00-11:30 am: Session 1 - Hands-on Vendor-sponsored & Artist-led Sessions
Lunch (on your own)
1:00-2:30 pm: Session 2 - Hands-on Vendor-sponsored & Artist-led Sessions
3:00-4:30 pm: Closing Ceremony
Raffle
Announcements:
Fall Elections
Conference Survey
-
We have a limited block at the hotel below:
Double Tree by Hilton Hotel
Minneapolis Park Place
$119/night
Fall Art Teachers Block1500 Park Place Blvd.,Minneapolis, MN 55416USA
-
Sit Down Restaurants
Chi-Chi’s - Mexican | Happy Hour - M-F, 2p-5p
Yard House - New American | Happy Hour - M-F 3p-6p
Boketto - Steak House | Happy Hour - all day Sunday
The Local - Irish Pub | Happy Hour - Friday 11a - 6p
The Look West End - American
CRAVE - Classics & Sushi
Punch Bowl Social - Gastropub
Hope Breakfast Bar - Breakfast & Brunch
Fast Casual
Caribou Coffee
Punch Pizza
Jersey Mikes
LeeAnn Chin
Five Guys
Roti Mediterranean
Arby’s
Tickets
Please purchase your ticket first. After you have purchased your ticket within 1-2 Days the conference team will send you a Google Form to choose your sessions. A week before confernce your schedule will be emailed to you with your sessions and locations.
* As sessions fill for room capacity they will close. Only open sessions will appear on the resignation form.
*There is only one session on Saturday with an additional $25 supply fee a link will be provided to pay for that session ahead of conference.
General access to all conference sessions and exhibits.
General access to all conference sessions and exhibits in addition to a year NAEA / AEM $140 membership.
Registration for exhibiting companies, includes booth access.
General access to all conference sessions and exhibits. No AEM / NAEA membership included.
Collaborative Art
Friday October 23rd
Session 1 Options
AI with Intention: Supporting Teaching and Learning in Art and Media Arts
Presenter: Jeremy Holien
Demo
Explore practical, ethical uses of AI that support—not replace—teaching and learning in art and media arts. Learn how AI can streamline curriculum, assessment, planning, differentiation, and creative workflows while thoughtfully addressing concerns about copyright, bias, environmental impact, and responsible classroom use.
From Line to Form: Drawing and Building with Line
Presenter: Kari Halker-Saathoff
Make & Take
“From Line to Form: Drawing and Building with Line” is a Studio Art lesson designed for high school students (grades 9–12) that explores line as both a visual and structural element. Students create expressive charcoal drawings inspired by artists like Cy Twombly and Egon Schiele, then transform their ideas into 3D reed sculptures, connecting drawing, sculpture, movement, and creative problem-solving through hands-on experimentation and reflection.
Animate To Educate
Presenter: Elizabeth A. Szymczak
Make & Take
Intended for all developmental levels, this engaging, studio-based workshop introduces art educators to stop motion animation as a dynamic creative process and interdisciplinary teaching tool. Grounded in research-supported instructional practices, stop motion offers students a powerful way to explore storytelling, visual sequencing, collaboration, and conceptual understanding through hands-on artmaking. Participants will experience a model classroom application while learning an accessible, step-by-step approach to creating stop motion animations—from concept development and storyboarding to filming, editing, and presentation. Emphasizing creative exploration and practical classroom integration, the session provides adaptable strategies and low-barrier tools that can be implemented across grade levels, media, and curricular themes.
Take a Long Look: Slow Looking and well being
Presenter: Sheila McGuire and Bridget Gallagher-Larkin
Seminar
Join Mia educators to participate in slow looking, a mindfulness practice that involves spending uninterrupted and extended time observing an artwork, deepening connection, building observation habits, and avoiding superficial interpretations or assumptions. Explore ways to incorporate movement, drawing, and writing into slow looking in your classroom.
Journal Comics
Presenter: Tadhg Vinson
Demo
Are you students interested in comics? Do they enjoy keeping a diary? This workshop focuses on the genre 'journal comics'. Much like a diary, journal comics are an opportunity for students to share their daily feelings and experiences. We'll look at some general storytelling techniques and read some example journal comics together. We'll also practice making a journal entry as a class.
Session 2 Options
Gelli Printing
Presenter: Ryan Ermisch
Make & Take
Come join membership chair Ryan and learn about the dynamic material that is Gelli plate printmaking! Learn how to create beautiful monoprints using a variety of textured items, paints, and Gelli plates.
Make your Mark! Using Printmaking to teach Creative Problem Solving that grows into Community Building
Presenter: Alison Aune and Kelly Dupre
Seminar
Using community as our theme, participants will explore a variety of printing and media techniques. Through stations such as carving mini EZ prints, scratching styrofoam prints, gelli prints, using the granny wringer, and mixed media, creative exploration and artistic choice will be emphasized.
Supporting Indigenous Culture in Elementary Art: Beading
Presenter: Jules Belmont
Seminar
This presentation walks through a unit on beading with elementary students. Make your own bead to take home! We will discuss resources for enriching and cultivating Dakota and Ojibwe indigenous culture in elementary art.
Art Is Education: Why Art Belongs at the Center of Every School's Future-Ready Strategy
Presenter: AOE
Make & Take
The art room has always been a source of inspiration; where creativity, problem-solving, communication, and resilience are built. Now, more than ever, that work matters. In this session, participants learn how to make a compelling, research-backed case for how art education amplifies creativity, connects communities, and carries forward the skills our students need most. Participate in a collaborative experience and leave equipped with a classroom-ready lesson plan and a strategy to activate advocates for your arts program.
Tech, Equity, & Engagement: A Collaborative Forum for Online Art Educators
Presenter: Peter Hoks
Seminar
Join a facilitated discussion on the future of online art education. We will explore three core pillars: leveraging technology, designing lessons for diverse learners, and fostering student engagement in asynchronous/online spaces. Bring your experiences, challenges, and successes to this interactive forum for K–12 online art educators.
Session 3 Options
Indigenous Food Pathways: Abstract Oil Pastels
Presenter: Jules Belmont
Seminar
A seminar that explores how indigenous food pathways connect us to our ancestral intelligence. Food is a living archive that we can explore to stay connected to our relatives and we’ll use this knowledge to have students discover food pathways of their own through an abstract art study.
Artistic Literacy: A New Framework for Arts Advocacy
Presenter: Jeremy Holien
Seminar
The strongest advocacy for arts education is evidence of artistic growth. Discover how artistic literacy and artistic fluencies help educators communicate student learning, align programs with district priorities, and build sustainable support through authentic assessment and compelling stories of impact.
Overseeing a Student Led Art Show
Presenter: Olivia Henson, Claire Weingartner
Seminar
Overseeing a Student-Led Art Show will instruct art teachers on how to guide students of all ages in planning and running a successful art exhibition. Learn strategies for empowering students to select, mount, and display artwork, organize the gallery, and serve as knowledgeable tour guides, creating an engaging, student-driven event.
Transitioning to TAB, little things YOU can do!
Presenter: Beth Roberts
Seminar
Ready to bring more choice into your art room without the chaos? Discover practical, low-prep shifts to transition toward a TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) model. Learn how minor tweaks to your routines, materials, and prompts can empower students to think like artists—while keeping your sanity intact.
Make it Textured! CLay Lessons on Hand building and decorating techniques with clay
Mixed Media Journals
Presenter: Kelly Anderson
Make & Take
Open session to try products and make a manifestation journal for goals
Presenter: Samantha Cunningham
Make & Take
Create beautifully textured clay pieces out of slabs and coils. Tips, tricks, and techniques for hand building quality projects. Explore the budget friendly ways in which I help students explore creating functional and beautiful clay projects with found or unusual textures that are helpful for any budget. Play with some of the textures I bring along and see how they look on clay.
Session 4 Options
International Travel with Students - A Teacher's Experience
Presenter: Karen Warner
Demo
Unlock the world for your students! Discover the ins and outs of organizing impactful international and domestic student travel. From choosing travel companies and planning DIY excursions to navigating school board approval, mixed student-parent groups, and highly successful fundraising strategies, this session provides a practical roadmap for stress-free, life-changing journeys. This session is best for High School and Middle School levels.
Kumihimo with Unified Art!
Presenter: Erin Boe
Make & Take
Learn about Unified Art while you create a unique kumihimo bracelet! Unified Art is a program offered in partnership with Special Olympics Minnesota that pairs general education students with peers who have special needs, focusing on collaboration, social connection, and community building. Presenter teaches in grades 9-12, but Unified Art could be offered at any grade level.
Essential Understandings About Native Arts in Minnesota
Presenter: Laura Steefel-Moore, Kelly McKay
Seminar
Learn about and engage with the Essential Understandings About Native Arts in Minnesota, a resource that can be used to develop arts curriculum that authentically and appropriately supports student learning about Dakota and/or Ojibwe arts. This resource also contains important considerations for developing curriculum and instruction about Native arts.
Community Connections: How to partner with local art museums
Presenter: Alina Campana and Iyekiyapiwiƞ Darlene St. Clair
Seminar
Hear from educators at different art museums about how they can support you. Learn the ins-and-outs of school engagement at each museum, including field trips and in-school options, transportation logistics, and how to prepare for a successful encounter. Then we’ll brainstorm together about what great school-museum partnerships can look like!
Is this Art? Middle School Ai Galleries
Presenter: Ashley Nordberg
Seminar
Ai + Art + Middle Schoolers can equal tricky business! Participate in discussion about the inclusion of Ai in the art room and practice an easy-to-access, hands-on set of lessons to introduce the use of Ai in art into your middle school classes.
Session 5 Options
Monotypes at Highpoint Center for Printmaking
Presenter: Jo Johannsen
Make & Take
Create and take home water-soluble monotype prints! In this workshop, you’ll use water-soluble materials like watercolor paints and water-soluble crayons to draw a design on a plexiglass plate. You will send the plate through a printing press with a piece of damp paper. The result is a vibrant, colorful one-of-a-kind print! This technique is suitable for all ages.
STMA Public Art Mosaic and Grant
Presenter: April Erickson
Seminar
Knights of Crow River: Building Community Through Public Art with Artist and Art Teacher April Erickson. Geared toward Grades 5–12 Art Educators and Administrators. Learn how students, staff, and community members collaborated to create a large-scale mosaic celebrating the ecology of the Crow River in connection to school identity at the entrance of STMA Middle School West. This presentation highlights project planning, grant funding, interdisciplinary connections, community engagement, and the impact of public art on school pride and belonging.
Changes in Visual and Media Arts Licensure
Presenter: Max Clark-Vail and Alina Campana
Seminar
Learn about possible changes in the visual arts teaching license, including embedding media arts knowledge and skills. The licensure standards are currently under revision and will describe what new teachers need to know and be able to do. Participants will have an opportunity to ask questions and provide feedback.
Clay and Glaze Composition
Presenter: Katie Reeves
Seminar
Introduction to clay and glaze composition. In this seminar, I will do a deep dive into the foundational makeup of clay and talk about what makes clay bodies different, so instructors can make educated decisions of what kinds of clay they can/should be using for their classroom. I will also touch on basic glaze chemistry, for educators looking to make their own glazes. This is geared towards high school and higher education.
The Creative Arc: Shu-Ha-Ri, MindFlow, and Teaching Creativity
Presenter: Philip Noyed
Seminar
How do students develop an authentic creative voice? Explore the Creative Arc, a practical framework integrating neuroscience, Japanese artistic traditions, and contemporary studio practice through Shu-Ha-Ri, MindFlow, Tortoise Mind, and Crystallization. Educators will gain a new framework for understanding and cultivating creative confidence, independent artistic voice, and lifelong creative practice. Best suited for higher education, teaching artists, and advanced secondary educators.
Saturday October 24Th
10:00-11:30 am Session 1
Art Trading Cards ACO
Presenter: Sara Fohrenkamm
How to build a network with your ACO
Stephanie Dillion
Rejuvenation through Creativity
Presenter: April Malphurs
Community Room
Take time to create and enjoy the creative process yourself with mixed media and fibers. Learn about my journey of creative rejuvenation as an art educator. Explore self-care and learn trauma informed practices while you create and explore your own work of art.
Easy Florals in acrylic
Drew Benson Gallery
Presenter: Diana De Moraes
Create soft edges and bold detail on 8x10 canvases to depict colorful and easy floral images.
Explore with Encaustic
Presenter: Jodi Reeb
Encaustic and oil stick make and take with ampersand boards.
Crayon Kelly
continental clay
Presenter: Tara Swartout
Come learn about kilns and clay with Continental Clay!
TBD
1:00-2:30 pm Session 2
Professional Face Painting
Presenter: Tamina Muhammad
Learn the basics of face painting, the right tools, paint, safety measures and more. This session has a extra $25 supply fee you will receive your own professional face painting supplies to keep!
Crayon Kelly
How to make Chalk Paint
Presenter: Richard Strohmeyer
Learn to make chalk paint to use on the sidewalks and playgrounds.
Stephanie Dillion
Scribble to Characters
Presenter: Jon Reiss- Sweater Jon
Use watercolor and lines to create a scribble background. After looking at it define characters and create finished pieces of art from scribbles.
Drew Benson Gallery
Intuitive abstract
Presenter: Leigh Deschamps
A meditative state and then draw from your energy as you create with reiki master.
Community Room
continental clay
Presenter: Tara Swartout
Come learn about kilns and clay with Continental Clay!
TBD