National Art Education Association to Receive National Endowment for the Arts Grant for National Visual Arts Standards Professional Development Initiative

In the second major grant announcement of fiscal year 2015, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) will make a $50,000 award to the National Art Education Association for the NAEA National Visual Arts Standards Professional Development Initiative. This initiative will support visual art educators in their knowledge and use of the National Visual Arts Standards released last year.

Through this one-year Professional Development project, expert instructors will engage 10,000-15,000 PreK-15 visual art educators through Face-to-Face Professional Learning Forums, monthly Interactive Virtual Learning Experiences to include Webinars, and an Interactive Virtual Learning Conference. ArtTeachersFreeSpace is a new virtual portal that will be developed and launched through this Initiative to support art educators in sharing ideas and images that inspire the design of curriculum and instruction. The Instructional Resources Gallery will offer online curated resources (lesson plans, unit designs, student art) aligned with the national visual arts standards.

Read full press release below.