Committee on Lifelong Learning (LLL) Column: Spring 2023

The upcoming NAEA Convention brings us together to discuss needed change and share the challenges and successes in the work we do in lifelong learning. At our business meeting we will welcome new members, vote on several offices and changes to bylaws, and officially welcome Chair-Elect Deborah Wall. Following are highlights of presentations by Committee on Lifelong Learning (LLL) members who are presenting research, best practices, and hands-on workshops in San Antonio and remotely.

Thursday

11:30 am. Melanie Davenport and Marjorie Manifold answer the question: What role might art education play in the lives of this growing population of older adults? Their presentation, “Creative Engagement Is Not Just for Kids!,” addresses the need for art education for a growing aging population.

2:30 pm. We will honor two members for their research and teaching at the LLL awards session. The committee honors Susan Whiteland as the recipient of the Pearl Greenberg Award for Teaching and Research in Lifelong Learning and Eli Burke, the recipient of the Murray Greenberg Award for Emerging Scholars in Lifelong Learning. At the awards, both will present their research and experiences in art education that focuses on lifelong learning.

Friday

7:30 am. We are sponsoring a workshop aptly called “Coffee Talk: Making Mugs, Meeting Mentors.” The workshop aims to develop networks of support among experienced and novice K–16 art educators. Proven advice from Thomas Hoerr, author of the ASCD book, The Formative Five: Fostering Grit, Empathy, and Other Success Skills Every Student Needs (2017), and Coffee Talk, targeted conversations in intergenerational pairings, will inspire the decoration of commemorative mugs to mark new mentoring friendships. An intergenerational group of art educators—Liz Langdon, Marjorie Manifold, Maggie Peeno, Sierra McCloskey, and Mariah Geels—are working to make this a successful experience for all. Tickets are still available for $20.

11:30 am. Pamela Lawton, Liz Langdon, Angela LaPorte, Susan Whiteland, and Rebecca Bourgault explain “What Is Lifelong Learning?” In this informational session, LLL’s mission and purpose is shared using interactive dialogue and participant’s recent research and teaching on creative aging, intergenerational community arts, scholarly publication, and monetary awards available for teaching and research in lifelong learning.

11:30 am. Samuel Peck, along with K–16 experts, discusses “Visual Journals as the Foundation for Student-Directed Artmaking” as a solid ground for students to develop Studio Habits of Mind; discover global connections; and become more independent in their stylistic, conceptual, and contextual choices as artmakers.

1:30 pm. Liz Langdon and Melanie Davenport present a case for coloring in “To Color or Not to Color?” Coloring is often disparaged in art education but flowers in popularity outside of schooling. From retirement communities to 5th-grade classrooms, coloring is recognized as therapeutic and skill-building. Consider how, when, and where art educators might find benefit in engaging with the concept of coloring across the lifespan.

4:00 pm. Linda Helmick presents “A Legacy of Love: Friedl Dicker-Brandeis,” which investigates the life and work that informs and expands visual exploration in service of love to others through arts-based wellness that blends tenets from art education with values of art therapy. We will engage in a discussion about the affective significance of arts-based programs.

Saturday

For those participating remotely, at 11:30 am, Angela LaPorte and Melanie Davenport will be live streaming from San Antonio to present “Universal Design for Learning in Art Education Across the Lifespan.” They will explore the intersection of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) and art education for lifelong learning, including the sharing of ideas for utilizing the UDL framework in teaching and learning across the lifespan.

Additionally, two sold-out workshops are being presented for LLL. One has applications for engaging with adults with dementia. In “Puppet Construction for Purposeful Play,” member Susan Whiteland constructs extraordinary sock puppets and teaches animation techniques to make puppets come to life for use in the community and to engage with students, after-school groups, and older adults. In “Journaling Toward Antiracism Practices Through Self-Reflection and Community Sharing,” participants are encouraged to reflect on cultural identities and practices with students through conversation and visual journaling.

Last, but importantly not least, at 1:30 pm we will have the Committee on Lifelong Learning Business Meeting. We welcome our new Chair, Deborah Wall. Deborah is a senior lecturer of art education at UNC Charlotte, where she recently received a doctorate in educational leadership. Prior to teaching at the higher ed level, she taught 9–12 high school photography and visual arts, K–6 art, and special needs art in both Charlotte-Mecklenburg and Union Counties in North Carolina.

Column by:

Liz Langdon, LLL Chair
Associate Teaching Professor, University of Kansas. Email: lizlangdon@ku.edu