Jonathan Juravich began teaching art to students in elementary grades near Columbus, Ohio, in 2005, and continues to teach art to young students. His personal and professional focus is the importance of social and emotional learning in the daily lives of young children. This is his topic for research and presentation, including his PhD dissertation, his TED Talk How Do We Teach Empathy?, the limited series podcast The Art of SEL, and his Emmy award-winning drawing program Drawing with Mr. J. In 2018, Juravich was named Ohio Teacher of the Year, and was one of four finalists for National Teacher of the Year. In 2023, he was named the National Elementary Art Teacher of the Year by the National Art Education Association and the 2024 Ohio Art Educator of the Year. He lives with his family in Columbus, Ohio.
Cardboard is a free and plentiful resource which can spark limitless creativity and should be considered an essential art room material. Using this humble material as a launching point, participants will explore diverse contemporary artists and unique applications. This activity will result in meaningful conversations about awareness and responsible decision-making while creating some beautiful and unique works of art.
Serena Rios McRae is a native of Tucson, Arizona, who is passionate about the fine details of nature, prismatic color, and local food. McRae is a working artist, mother, and mental health advocate. She speaks openly about her experiences with postpartum depression, bipolar disorder, and ADHD, and works to break stigmas around mental illness. McRae follows her impulses to learn many mediums and create art in often unusual forms that include watercolor paintings on animal skulls, murals on taco trucks, intricate relief carvings on tiny pink erasers, and classic watercolor on paper. She is the creator of Affirmations Moms Actually Need and the Pink Eraser Art Project, for which she has written her first book, scheduled to be published this fall. McRae posts on social media @cactustcloudsart and has more than 345,000 followers across multiple platforms. Much of her work is inspired by her experiences with mental illness, and she strives to help others find healing in art.
Art supplies and projects can feel intimidating. For some people, a beautiful new sketchbook or professional art supplies can feel like a roadblock. In these sessions, participants will learn how to create prints and idea books out of overlooked items, such as pink erasers and paper lunch bags. There is magic in using everyday items in artistic practice, because low cost means low risk. Low risk creates a feeling of freedom in the artistic process and helps hesitant students explore art fearlessly.
Summer Brown is a graduate of Howard University in Washington, D.C., where she majored in drawing and painting in the College of Fine Arts. She received her master's degree in museum exhibition planning and design at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brown has worked at Staples & Charles, Ltd. as an exhibit designer; Hargrove Inc. as a special events and exhibit designer; the United States Center of Military History as a curatorial assistant; the National Library of Medicine as an exhibition coordinator; and the Washington Latin Public Charter School and the Children's Guild as an art teacher. She is an adjunct lecturer at Prince George’s Community College and teaches classes at Howard University as master instructor. Brown is still a very active practitioner in her craft as she paints, draws, and exhibits her work frequently. She received a regional Emmy Award for art direction for the short film Vote.
Participants will be delving into foundational methods in drawing and painting as they create concise compositions guided by clear instructions. The instructor will demonstrate the methods suggested and will offer feedback on the work completed in class. Participants will leave these sessions with an abundance of confidence after creating masterpieces of their own.
Clara Lieu is the founder of Art Prof Projects LLC, an online educational platform for learning about the visual arts. She spent sixteen years in academia as an adjunct instructor, teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design, Wellesley College, the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, and Lesley University. For seven years she taught at the Rhode Island School of Design's Project Open Door, an art program for under-served teens in Providence public schools. Lieu has written for the New York Times, lectures widely, and provided expertise on articles for National Public Radio's Weekend Edition and for the Washington Post. Recently she appeared on an episode of The Nature of Things, a Canadian television series of documentary programs. Lieu has been awarded grants from the Massachusetts Cultural Council, the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and the Puffin Foundation. Her work has been exhibited at the International Print Center New York, the Danforth Museum of Art, the Currier Museum of Art, and the Davis Museum and Cultural Center.
This session will explore fundamentals of 3D design through the construction of sculptures using chipboard and styrofoam sculptures. Discussions will include ways to shift mindset into three dimensions and think spatially about design elements. The session will incorporate specific techniques to manipulate ordinary materials and transform them into forms that show dynamic movement. Composition approaches for portraying movement and a sense of direction in the sculptures will be discussed in depth. Cutting and shaping techniques, the role of shape, and various construction methods will be presented.
