National Student Arts Leadership Conference

To register for the National Student Arts Leadership Conference, you must be an educator or a parent/guardian registering one or more students. Students cannot register for the conference directly. If you are a student interested in attending, please talk to your school’s administration, art educator, or your parent/guardian. Use this letter and digital flyer below to help make your case! 

Chaperone details:

Students attending the National Student Arts Leadership Conference must be registered by an adult chaperone, with one chaperone required for every 15 students under age 18. Chaperones are responsible for drop-off, pick-up, and supervision outside of conference program hours (July 24-25, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM; July 26, 8:00 AM–12:00 PM), and may remain on-site during the program but are not required to do so. Local students may attend without a chaperone if they live within commuting distance and submit an advance parent/guardian permission form allowing independent travel; conference staff cannot provide pickup supervision. If an art educator is interested in serving as a chaperone, they may consider registering for and attending the National Leadership Conference, which will occur simultaneously. 

Erin Harkey has over 20+ years experience helping individuals and communities succeed through the arts. Erin was the Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events (DCASE). Harkey served the City of Chicago as Projects Administrator, then Deputy Commissioner for Programming and First Deputy Commissioner. In her dual role as Senior Policy Advisor for Arts in Culture in the Mayor’s Office, she advised on cultural policy and arts strategy across all City departments and agencies. She previously managed public art programs at Los Angeles County Arts Commission and the Arts Council for Long Beach. Harkey holds two master’s degrees in Public Art Administration and Urban Planning from the University of Southern California (USC) and a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from Howard University. 

Katty Huertas is a multidisciplinary artist born in Bogota, Colombia and based in Washington, D.C., creating surrealist figurative work inspired by folktales and personal narratives. Huertas received a BA from Florida International University in 2016 and an MFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in 2020.

Her work has been exhibited in galleries across multiple cities, including New York, San Francisco, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., Austin, and Bogotá, Colombia. Through her practice, she has also participated in public art installations. In 2023, Huertas completed a mural  in Washington, D.C., as part of NoMa in Color. Her latest public art installation, incorporating projection and animation, is currently on view at the K Street underpass in Washington, D.C.

Huertas’ work has been featured in Elle Korea, Creative Review, Creative Boom, and by Adobe, Behance, and Booooooom. Her collaborators include the National Gallery of Art, HBO Max, Adobe, Disney+, The New Yorker, and The New York Times, among others. She has taught at the Latin American Youth Center, MICA and Corcoran School of the Arts & Design at George Washington University. She also currently works as an art director at The Washington Post. In 2026, Huertas was awarded the DC Arts and Humanities Fellowship.

Jen White-Johnson is a disabled and neurodivergent artist and designer educator who centers Black disabled joy and futures in her work, informed by disability justice and Black feminist disability framework. Jen has presented her disability justice activist work and collaborated with a number of brands and art spaces across print and digital such as Target, Coachella and Adobe Design. Jen’s work is also permanently archived at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the National African American Museum of History and Culture in DC. Jen holds a BA in Visual Art from The University of Maryland Baltimore County (UMBC) and a MFA in Graphic Design from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she also imparts her knowledge as a current instructor.

Check out the FAQ below, or send an email to PLiz@arteducators.org.