Committee on Multiethnic Concerns (COMC) Column: Summer 2023

Celebrating and Looking Ahead for Our Collective Work as an Art Education Community

As I take on the role of Chair for Committee of Multiethnic Concerns (COMC), I have reflected on how being a member of COMC has been a space of joy and belonging for me within the larger NAEA community. At Convention this past April in San Antonio, Texas, we were able to gather once again in person and virtually, and it reminded me of the ways art educators cultivate joy and celebration.

At the Convention, we held our business meeting and our awards ceremony. The sessions were virtual as we continue to support a variety of ways to be accessible with our colleagues across the country and globally. Many thanks to our COMC board for their work and time to organize and gather to support the COMC work and all of the Convention events and organizing. The Grace Hampton Lecture Series was an opportunity to gather and celebrate our COMC colleagues that engage in inspiring work within art education! To hear and see their relentless commitment shows how they demonstrate the ways art educators act as changemakers and community builders each and every day. I want to take a moment to celebrate and thank our awardees from the 2023 conference:

COMC In Service Teacher Award: Rachel Yan Gu, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
J. Eugene Grigsby Award: Pamela Lawton, Maryland Institute College of Art
Grace Hampton Lecture Award: Vanessa López, Maryland Institute College of Art

[[image Pam "Pamela Lawton during her J. Eugene Grigsby Award Presentation: Telling Our Story: Diverse Histories in Art Education as Scholarly, Teaching and Artistic Practice."]]

[[image Vanessa "Vanessa López sharing her Grace Hampton Lecture Award Presentation, titled I Saw Things, I Imagined, Art and the Long Pandemics."]]

And I want to celebrate and thank all our COMC members and your ongoing work and dedication to your respective communities and stakeholders. I have the deepest respect and gratitude for our members and the work that is advanced because of your commitment! COMC is a place I have always found joy and celebration, and it is an honor to take a moment to pause and reflect on the ways art educators uplift and create space with our students and communities who represent the global majority, advancing more just futures for all whom we work with through creative imagination.

COMC would also like to celebrate and congratulate former COMC Chair and School for Art Leaders alum, Zerric Clinton, on his new text titled The Power of Popular Culture in Education: History, Music and Visual Imagery.

As we look to the future of COMC, please continue to join us as we ask for members to serve on the board in the upcoming months with hopes of expanding to regional representation and leadership. We ask our members to share current scholarship, art, and successes that we can highlight and champion as a community. We’re grateful for the multiple voices and perspectives that are present in our Interest Group, and for the collective work our members engage in with their respective stakeholders. For COMC members and NAEA members at large who wish to support the efforts and goals in COMC, please reach out and share your voice. As COMC grows and evolves, we strive to be a community space with our colleagues who represent the global majority and those who serve students and community members that represent the global majority. May our multiethnic voices, advocacy, and concerns within art education be opportunities for social good and for collectively building community with and through art with our communities and stakeholders.

Column by:

Ketal Patel, COMC Chair
Director of Field Experiences & Licensure Program, The Ohio State University. Email: patel.648@osu.edu