Pacific Region Column: Summer 2023

Celebrating Both/And

According to the calendar, it is springtime. And the weather still feels like winter. Both are true. The end of the year gives us pause to reflect and celebrate. Recently, we’ve been able to enjoy community, learning, and celebration at the NAEA Convention, state conferences, networking, and more in communities as art educators. There is so much abundance in arts activities and opportunities, especially as the year ends. We are both excited to see the final presentations put on display for parents, students, and community members, and we are bushed after many months of being in the process of teaching and preparing learners to demonstrate their learning. The arts are consistent in providing possibilities for both/and to happen all the time, through various opportunities that connect students with life and learning alike. We know the investments we make in our students are worth it, and it requires a lot of time and effort, which pulls on our work–life balance.

Both/and thinking offers a new framework for decision making and framing our own narratives. With an either/or mindset, our world appears full of complex choices and difficult sacrifices. By adopting a both/and mindset, we can transform tough choices into fruitful opportunities—no sacrifices necessary. Artists, often stereotyped as dreamers or unstructured, have learned to embrace paradox by accepting that more than one thing can be true at the same time. Artistic process is beautiful and chaotic. Art is technical skill and intuition. Displaying one’s art requires confidence and vulnerability. This is an essential skill for us to have in our tool kit to practice within our classrooms, state boards, families, communities, and the world, as we seek to deepen authentic connection and elevate humanity. Consider how we might see the world through an artist’s eyes, where it is both messy and full of creative possibility, where it is challenging in progress and exhilarating in peak experiences. Where it feels like we are moving forward and backward, up and down at the same time to create magical engagement and opportunities for our students. In the weeks ahead, the Pacific Region hopes we can meet at the intersections of both/and to sow and sew our common threads as we weave together what is possible for all.

Speaking of celebrating, we are thrilled to highlight some of these celebrations:

• NAEA VP Elect, Abi Paytoe Gbayee successfully defended her doctorate. Congratulations Dr. Abi!
• NAEA Pacific Region just launched a podcast—the Be Pacific podcast can be found on Spotify and Apple Podcasts: https://spotifyanchor-web.app.link/e/p5CSZnh9qzb
• National Convention Pacific Region Award winners—another round of congratulations to those we got to celebrate in person and virtually. Keep up the great work!
• Pacific Region’s Linda White Kieling is officially on the NAEA Board as Secondary Division Director.

Don’t forget to reserve your spot at the NAEA Pacific Region Art Conference in Laramie, Wyoming.

We hope you and as many of your board members as you would like to bring with you can attend at least the first half of the conference, June 24–26, 2023. This will be a time to go through your constitution and bylaws, look at policies and procedures, and work with folks from NAEA to answer questions.

This conference is open to art educators across the Pacific Region. We are keeping the entire conference open to anyone, so if someone from your state who is not part of your leadership decides to come to the first part of the conference, it might lead to growing leaders in your state.

The cost to attend is: Early Registration, by May 31, 2023, Full Conference: $150
Early Registration Leadership Conference only, by May 31, 2023: $100
Early Registration Art Education Conference only, by May 31, 2023: $100
Late Registration Half Conference, June 1, 2023, or later: $125
Late Registration Full Conference, June 1, 2023, or later: $200

More details, the schedule, and registration are available here: https://caeaco.org/event-5172725

If you have any questions or would like additional information, please feel free to reach out. You are welcome to share this information with your leadership and members.

[[image #### "Abi in her doctoral garb."]]

[[image #### "Some Pacific Region Award winners."]]

Column by:

Robyn MacNair, Regional Vice President
Visual and Performing Arts Coordinator, Santa Ana, CA. Email: naeapacificvp@gmail.com

Abi Paytoe Gbayee, Regional Vice President–Elect
Middle School Art Educator, Laramie, WY. Email: abipaytoegbayee@gmail.com