October 8, 2010

Northwestern Oklahoma State University, along with staff from the Oklahoma Arts Council (OAC), Freedom West Community Development Corporation and the Alva Arts District will play host to a Regional Arts Education Forum on Oct. 21. The Forum is scheduled from 1 to 4:30 p.m. in Studio Red, room 312 of Jesse Dunn Hall on the Northwestern-Alva campus.

To register, please contact Ken Kelsey, adjunct instructor of history and fine arts at Northwestern and the OAC Regional Arts Network Coordinator for Northwest Oklahoma. He can be contacted at (580) 603-0103 or kdkelsey@nwosu.edu.

The forum will be designed to help educators and teaching artists better meet the needs of students in formal and informal classroom settings.

"It will include content that could be useful for professional development for educators of any subject, with the approval of the administration of the school districts represented,” Michael Eddens, Director of Arts Education Programs for OAC, said.

In addition, this forum will address OAC arts education grants, and identify arts learning assets in the area.

"Identifying assets is important, because it helps those involved in arts-learning in the region to share resources and extend their capacity,” Eddens said. “As a result, all involved are better able to meet their programming goals.”

Those who should consider attending this meeting include the following:

• Pre-kindergarten-12th grade educators (teachers, administrators, etc.)
• Higher Education educators (professors, administrators, etc.)
• Community and Arts Organizations with an interest in arts-learning experiences (libraries, community centers, clubs, etc.)
• Artists interested in serving the region with arts-learning experiences
• Facilitators and patrons interested in helping schools and organizations develop arts-learning programs.

The meeting’s agenda will include professional development for certified educators; networking sessions for artists, educators, community members; generating program ideas; assessment of needs and assets; and detailed information on OAC grants and services related to arts education.

Anyone interested in learning more may contact Eddens at (405) 521-2023 or michael.eddens@arts.ok.gov or Kelsey at the information above.

-NW-