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2008 Letter from the President

President’s Message
By LynnAlison McGavack-Martin

I am very excited about the prospect of working with all of our members for the next two years and getting to know more of you through your involvement with AAEA.

First and foremost, I want to thank Sue Raymond for her dedication and work with our organization. She has been the rock we have needed and I look forward to working with her closely over the next two years. She brings such a wealth of knowledge and “pizzazz” to our organization that will help us grow in the future. Thank you, Sue!
Next, I want to thank our returning Council members and welcome our new Council members. I know that because AAEA is an ALL-volunteer organization, the people that agree to be on the AAEA Council do so because they are dedicated to the mission of our organization “to further Art education through professional development, service advancement of knowledge, advocacy and leadership and to increase creative connections to human experiences”. Our newest Council members are: Kathryn Blake – Museum Division; Jon White – AAEA Photographer & VASA; Lorna Corlett – Awards; Emily Holgate – Student Chapters Representative; Debbi Engbring & Teri Sisulak – Ways & Means; and Heather L. Serfling Williams – Upper Northeast Regional Representative. All of the information about the Council members can be found on our Web Site at: www.azaea.org . Be sure to visit the Web Site often because the latest news about upcoming events will be published on it regularly. We still have a few vacancies on our council. They are: Advertising; Public Relations; Student Chapter Advisor Representative; retired Art Educators Division; Southwest Regional Representative; Central East Regional Representative; Southeast Region Representative; and South Region Representative. If you are interested in filling one of these positions please give me a call at 623-535-9712 or e-mail me at lamcm@cox.net.

If you are getting this message, you have received the “In Perspective” newsletter. This is probably the largest undertaking of any of the Council positions and one of the best ways to get information out to our membership as well as non-members. I want to thank Nancy Cahill and Nancy Fiering for their dedication and expertise in doing this. It is my personal belief that our newsletter is one of the best across the nation and should be noticed by NAEA for this effort. This brings me to one of the most important goals that I have as your president…. Improving recognition to promote excellence. We all need to make the extra effort it takes to recognize excellence in our field. Take a moment and go the Web Site www.azaea.org to nominate someone who is doing an extraordinary job in the field of art. The more we “toot” our own horns the better especially in light of the budget crunches that all school districts are experiencing. By doing this we can also help reach another important goal…. Increase Marketing & Public Relations to promote Art Education. Reaching this goal will give us the opportunity to be an advocate for the arts, be more politically active, increase the public’s awareness of the arts through YAM, VASA and professional development programs and cause us to support other Arts organizations within our state. It is my opinion that if the public knows more about the important work we do it can only help us reach our mission as an organization.

Another large undertaking for this organization is the yearly AAEA Conference. Last year we had 100 more people attend than the previous year and it is my hope that we will increase that number each year. The conference, “Back to the Elements, But We Haven’t Lost Our Principles”, is being held in Prescott at the United Christians Youth Camp on September 25 – 28, 2008. Wendy Pleake, Cindy Gross and Jackie Johnson have some wonderful happenings planned and I look forward to seeing you all there. More information can be found on our Web Site www.azaea.org. This yearly conference is the best place for all art educators to get quality professional growth and become empowered to be the best at what we do. The conference is just one-way for us reach another of my goals for this organization which is to “Increase Membership to stimulate growth and empowerment” by providing more regional and divisional workshops and sponsor arts related trips. I know that it is difficult for school districts to offer the professional development that we need and want as an art educator, so if you have an idea for a workshop that you would like to present, contact our Outreach/Leadership Chair, Pat Burdette at patburdette@gmail.com or myself at lamcm@cox.net. Robert Benson recently presented an idea to the AAEA Council for an Outreach Program that will be fabulous once it is implemented and I know that he and Pat will be working closely to make it happen.

Finally, I want to say “Thank You”…. for giving me the privilege to serve as the president of AAEA. I look forward to working with all of you. If you have any questions or comments you would like to share, please call 623-535-9712 or e-mail me at lamcm@cox.net. If I do not know the answer to your questions, I will connect you with someone who does.

LynnAlison McGavack-Martin