Membership
Join the largest creative community established exclusively for visual arts educators, university professors, researchers and scholars, teaching artists, administrators, and art museum educators.
Join NAEA Renew MembershipPromoting the Arts
We must be prepared to communicate in a constantly changing world. The ubiquity of images in the lives of young people already has transformed the way they learn and perceive the world. It follows logically that if students’ lives have changed dramatically in recent years then the lives of their teachers should change as well. Media arts were in their infancy twenty years ago. Now they are a growing staple of student studies in a number of schools and demand our attention, according to Olivia Gude and Doug Blandy. Yet, Bennett Reimer cautions that we don’t want to change everything. How do we best combine old truths with new realities? Help us meet that challenge.
Advocacy Video Clips 
John Mahlmann Defines the Problem
John Mahlmann on What We Should Want for All Children
Olivia Gude on the Emerging Role of Media Arts
Doug Blandy with a Concern about the Media Arts
Terry Peterson on What Every 21st Century Student Should Know
Bennett Reimer on How to Argue for the Arts
Terry Peterson on What's Necessary to Promote the Arts
Mary Ann Stankiwicz on Who We Have to Champion
Barry Shauk on What's Necessary
Kent Lydecker on Expanding Support for the Arts
Of General Interest Video Clips
Deborah Reeve on the Current Moment
B. Stephen Carpenter, II on the Importance of Balance
A Reason Terry Peterson Values the Arts
Barry Shauk on What Needs to Happen to the "Flat World"
Mary Ann Stankiewicz on the Importance of Engaging NAEA Members
Mac Arthur Goodwin on the Risk of Narrowing the Field Too Much
Discussion Prompts: Advocacy
How do we tell our own story as effectively as possible?
How do we build a justifiable case for creativity in our world?
What do you see people doing in your community that is working effectively to promote learning in the visual age?
At the Aspen Summit, music association leader John Mahlmann spoke about the importance of being able to be specific about what we want.
What should we want?
From Aspen, many of us now talk about living in the visual age rather than the digital age. Some members are talking more about a future where every classroom’s a studio, every school a canvas, every community a museum and every child a work of art.
How do you respond to these messages?
What messages do you use that are effective?
Discussion Prompts: General Interest
How have the arts impacted the life of a close friend or family member?
Discussion Prompts and Transcripts 
BECOME A LEADER
Host an Aspen-like discussion in your community. Get started by reading NAEA's Guide for Community Conversations in a Visual Age
PREPARE FOR TRANSFORMATION
Read NAEA's New White Paper on Learning in a Visual Age
HONOR TRADITION
Read NAEA's classic 1977 statement on "What We Believe and Why"