Supervision & Administration Division Column: Fall 2023

Dear Colleagues in Service,

We are beginning the new school year with a strategic lens for the Supervision & Administration Division. As your liaison and voice on the Board of Directors, alongside your elected S&A Division Director-Elect Sarah Ackermann, we will be moving forward with intentionality and purpose. We will bring in our strengths as we work with the NAEA President (Wanda Knight), the NAEA Board of Directors, the NAEA Regional Vice Presidents, and NAEA Executive Director (Mario Rossero) and his leadership team.

The lens that I bring is one of equity and doing what will be most beneficial for our students. Years ago, I was eager to one day be in the rooms where I could make a difference. Now that this day is here, I want to ensure that I am bringing your voices to the table. This is not about one person—rather it is about our students. Art is a conduit to discuss topics that may not always feel comfortable but should always provide the platform for safety and bravery. Because of this, it is paramount to allow our future generation of learners to come to classrooms all over the country to bring all their identities and use art to give them agency, because the root of art is culture and storytelling. So why does this matter? Because in visual arts education, it is solidified with curriculum and leadership—which is what our S&A Division authors. It is imperative that not only are we directing but also reimagining, collectively building, and listening.

As Sarah and I model these notions, we began our divisional leadership by hosting three listening sessions during the months of June and July, and we heard you. And we encourage that the conversations don’t stop there—instead we see them as just beginning over the next 4 years.

In the coming months, we are planning within my leadership to put together a strategic plan for our Division alongside Mario Rossero and hope to become or continue to be a resourceful space for you. We utilized the Listening Sessions as a starting point and wanted to share some of the larger themes that surfaced: teacher retention; revitalization of the arts after the pandemic; budgetary constraints; staffing shortages; and equity, diversity, and inclusion awareness and understanding. Many of these themes matched the challenges that surfaced in this year’s business meeting at the NAEA Convention in San Antonio and last year’s Convention in New York City. This shows that these issues are steadily increasing, and we want NAEA to be a resource for you.

To help with these issues, we had a callout for Regional Division Directors last month, and we are happy to announce that we have selected our Regional Division Directors. Further, we are beginning a new role with an At-Large Regional Division Director, because another subset of our Division is with leaders who oversee the visual and/or media arts yet have expertise in the performing arts.

Sarah and I are thrilled to continue on this journey with you. We want to shake things up and amplify the good work you’re doing, give divisional updates, and share in the issues and challenges within our field paired with beneficial resources.

Following this column, we have short videos for you to meet your new Regional Division Directors. Click on the link to meet your specific Regional Director!

Thank you for your membership to NAEA and reach out to us anytime. You can contact me at my email address: trinity.villanueva@board.arteducators.org

With gratitude,

Trinity Villanueva
Supervision and Administration Division Director

Column by:

Trinity Villanueva, Supervision and Administration Division Director
Founding Department Head, Arts Integration & Culture, Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Washington, DC. Email: trinity.villanueva@board.arteducators.org

Elect: Sarah Ackermann, Executive Director for Teaching Innovation, Ball State University. Email: snackermann@bsu.edu

Regional Directors:
Western: Tim Lowke
Pacific/At-Large: Andrew Frey-Gould
Eastern: Antonia Germanos
Southeastern: Laura Mitchell