NYC AIE Roundtable Face to Face Conference Features National and International Speakers
By: Harmony Wheeler Feb. 15, 2012
Face to Face 2012, the annual conference of the New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, will feature presentations on best arts education practices in communities outside New York, both nationally and internationally. In her Keynote Address, Gigi Antoni, President and CEO of Big Thought in Dallas, Texas will report on the integrated citywide arts instruction system her organization has created. She will discuss the challenges and opportunities inherent in developing a comprehensive instructional delivery system that coordinates the work of school-based instructors with programs and services offered by cultural partners.
Complementing her address, a Plenary Session entitled “Arts Education: A Global Perspective,” will focus on arts education in three countries. Internationally-renowned arts education consultant and author Eric Booth will moderate a conversation among Chrissie Ruckley, Development Director of Creative Scotland, Dr. Eija Kauppinen, Counselor of Education at the Finnish National Board of Education, and Anne Fitzgibbon, Executive Director of the Harmony Program. Ms. Ruckley and Dr. Kauppinen will discuss policies and practices in theirrespective countries; Ms. Fitzgibbon will report on Venezuela’s renowned community-based music education program, El Sistema.
In addition to these sessions, Hollis Headrick, arts education consultant, and Courtney Boddie, Associate Director of Education at the New Victory Theater, will provide opening and closing remarks. Richard Kessler, former Executive Director of the Center for Arts Education, will be honored at a special reception.
This year’s conference will take place on Wednesday, February 22 and Thursday, February 23 at the Frank Sinatra School of the Arts, 35-12 35th Avenue in Queens, NY. Conference organizers anticipate an enrollment of approximately 500.
The two-day gathering of arts-in-education program administrators, teaching artists, and school personnel has become the largest such event in New York State. In addition to the Keynote and Plenary sessions, the conference will feature breakouts, panels, and workshops on a variety of topics, including current trends and recent developments in the policy arena with implications for advocacy; aligning arts education with The Common Core Standards; arts education and social media; and challenges and successes in bringing the arts into previously low-arts schools. There will be several sessions addressing management issues such as creating and sustaining a start-up arts education organization and using video to document instruction and promote programs. There will also be a session devoted to freelance teaching artists’ financial and legal issues. The conference will again offer “Open Space at Face to Face,” during which participants will have the opportunity to engage in informal, minimally-facilitated conversations on a wide range of topics selected by participants.
The Face to Face conference is a major initiative of The New York City Arts in Education Roundtable, which enables arts organizations providing arts education in the New York City schools and community to meet and share information about the field. The Roundtable also provides information about arts education to the media, government and general public. Established in 1992, the Roundtable serves major cultural institutions as well as smaller, community-based organizations. This member-driven consortium began as a grassroots effort to provide support and networking opportunities for its members, as well as to improve and advance the state of arts in education. The Roundtable currently has over 110 member organizations, representing all five boroughs of New York City.
Face to Face has been funded by the Arts in Education Program of the New York State Council on the Arts, and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
Further information on the Roundtable and Face to Face 2011 is available at the Roundtable Web site: www.nycaieroundtable.org .
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