Arts Are Education: An Advocacy Conversation

Arts Are Education: An Advocacy Conversation

View the February 16 recording here

Download the accompanying handout here.

Arts ARE Education is a new national campaign in support of arts education for all students. NAEA is helping lead the charge, representing the visual arts in this initiative. Join us as we discuss strategies and support for communicating the importance of the visual arts in the success of the social and emotional well-being of students, fostering a welcoming and safe school environment, and encouraging inclusivity through multiple pathways for every child’s creative voice.

Panelists

Lorinda Rice
Art Curriculum Specialist
Lincoln Public Schools, Lincoln, NE

Lorinda Rice is the curriculum specialist for visual arts at Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, Nebraska, and serves 95 K–12 art educators. She earned a BFA and MSEd in art education from Northwest Missouri State University, and a MEd in administration from Concordia University, Nebraska. Her career has included graphic design work for Bailey Lauerman, as well as positions as a high school art educator in Columbus Public Schools and elementary art specialist with Lincoln Public Schools. In addition to her 22 years in art education, Rice serves as National Art Education Association (NAEA) Supervision & Administration Division Director, and has also served as Elementary Division Western Region Representative, NAEA Professional Research and Learning Supervisor & Administration Representative, and has served on the NAEA Delegates Assembly. At the state level, she served as Nebraska Art Teacher Association Co-President and Youth Art Month Chairperson, as well as Nebraska Fine Arts Standards Team. Rice has been the recipient of the NATA Elementary Art Educator of the Year and Supervisor of the Year awards. She has presented at museums as well as state and national conferences on various topics, including arts integration and the importance of arts education for future creative problem solvers. She is a practicing artist with studio space at the Burkholder. She lives in Lincoln, Nebraska, with her husband and son.

Tara “Trinity” Villanueva (she/ella)
Founding Program Director, Arts Integration + Culture
Carlos Rosario International Public Charter School, Washington, DC (ancestral lands of the Anacostans)

Tara “Trinity” Villanueva is an advocate for equitable access to DC arts organizations for its immigrant communities. Trinity elevates arts accessibility in adult basic education and at all levels for English language learners. She is the Past President of Art Education DC and cofounded Mixt Collective, a space for artists navigating paucal communities. To engage in self-care, she paints murals with her son, writes on topics that speak to her, and performs in a hip-hop band. She brings knowledge to her work from her Taino, Ilocano, and Kanaka Maoli ancestors, and is an alumna of Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University Bloomington, Trinity College Dublin, University of Pennsylvania, and NAEA School for Art Leaders.