9th Annual Houston Arts Partners Conference Sparks Creativity In Every Classroom

The Houston Arts Partners Conference will be held on Sept. 13 and 14, 2019, at the University of Houston-Downtown. With the goal of ensuring participation in visual and performing arts for all students in the Houston area, this annual event generates cross-curricular learning, partnerships, and innovation for K-12 teachers of all subjects, fine arts educators, and teaching artists. Registration fees are $45 for one day or $75 for both days. For more information, to view the full schedule, or to register, visit www.HAPconference.org.

The conference theme, IGNITION: Sparking Creativity in Every Classroom, highlights the galvanizing potential of partnerships among arts organizations, colleges, and schools - and prompts teachers to reconnect with their inner artist or performer. The 2019 event is the 9th professional development conference held by the Houston Arts Partners (HAP) coalition, a collaborative partnership among Houston's professional, non-profit arts organizations, institutions of higher education, and public school districts. The event's co-chairs are Susan Chiboroski, Director of Fine Arts for Goose Creek Consolidated Independent School District, and Jonathan Minchew-Gonzalez, the Director of Education and Youth Engagement at Main Street Theater. Young Audiences of Houston, a 501(c)3 organization, is the managing partner for the HAP coalition.

The event's keynote speaker, Courtney J. Boddie, is the director of Education/School Engagement for the New Victory Theater, New York City's premier nonprofit performing arts theater devoted year-round to kids and their families and classmates. Ms. Boddie will be reporting on research on the intrinsic impact on children of attending professional performing arts events. Additionally, she will be leading a masterclass and conducting an "office hours" session during the event.
The 2019 HAP Conference features more than 25 breakout sessions in all arts disciplines. These sessions showcase the work of the coalition's partner institutions, with classroom-tested, innovative, and unexpected strategies to integrate the arts and creativity into every classroom; demonstrations of how to connect students with Houston's professional visual and performing artists; and artistic experiences that have teachers rolling up their sleeves and activating their inner artist, performer, or musician for a "HAPpening" on Friday afternoon. Some sessions will explore partner venues with excursions to the Ensemble Theatre or the Contemporary Arts Museum Houston.

To emphasize that every moment of the HAP conference is an opportunity to learn, participating faculty from the University of Houston-Downtown will lead a wraparound experience throughout the conference focused on peer learning and engagement. Attendees are encouraged to group themselves by focus areas including Culturally Responsive Education, Addressing Social/Emotional Issues, Advocating for the Arts on Your Campus, and Initiating Collaboration on Your Campus. HAP Coalition Members: A.D. Players, Aldine ISD, Alief ISD, Alvin ISD, Art League Houston, Artist Boat, Asia Society Texas Center, Brazosport ISD, Contemporary Arts Museum Houston, The Ensemble Theatre, Express Children's Theatre, FotoFest - Literacy Through Photography, Galena Park ISD, Goose Creek CISD, HITS Theatre, The Hobby Center for the Performing Arts, Holocaust Museum Houston, Houston Center for Contemporary Craft, Houston Community College, Houston ISD, Klein ISD, Lamar Consolidated ISD, Lone Star College - Tomball, Main Street Theater, MECA - Multicultural Education and Counseling through the Arts, Mercury, MUSIQA, New Caney ISD, Pasadena ISD, SAN JACINTO College, Sheldon ISD, Spring ISD, Texan-French Alliance for the Arts, Theatre Under The Stars, Tomball ISD, The University of Houston, Young Audiences of Houston More media resources: fact sheet, photos, and logos More about Keynote Speaker Courtney J. Boddie:

Courtney J. Boddie, New Victory Director of Education/School Engagement, oversees all programs related to school communities including the New Victory school partnership program, teacher professional development training in the performing arts and an innovative approach in the professional development of more than 50 New Victory Teaching Artists. In the last 7 years alone, Ms. Boddie has expanded the theater's scope of work in such programs as Victory Dance, which provides free dance and dance education to NYC summer schools; Create, a theater-based teacher professional development track for the city's Pre-K expansion, the largest in the nation; and GIVE, a brand new initiative to address equitable student engagement in inclusion classrooms.

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