Imagine This! A Creativity Symposium for Educators
Tuesday, June 16 – Thursday, June 18, 2015
Portland Art Museum | 1219 SW Park Avenue, Portland, Oregon
2015 Theme: How Place Inspires Thinking
Designed for K-8 educators of all subjects and arts disciplines. See full schedule of sessions and register at: http://imaginethis2015.eventbrite.com
3-day registration: $250 | Single-day option: $100
Early bird registration (for 3-day registration only): April 22 – May 3. General registration opens May 4
“Imagine This! is ultimately transformative and tremendously valuable.”
— Past symposium participant
PORTLAND, ORE — This June, The Right Brain Initiative brings its arts education symposium back by popular demand for three inspiring days, hosted by the Portland Art Museum. Imagine This! helps classroom teachers, arts teachers, principals, curriculum directors and teaching artists deepen their ability to integrate the arts into the K-8 classroom setting. This symposium is presented by Bank of America.
Symposium participants will join peers in the field, as well as local and national arts education leaders. They will choose from dozens of workshops, hands-on studio sessions and facilitated lesson planning sessions designed to provide tools participants can directly apply to their work in schools. Sessions include The Arts: Closing the Opportunity Gap for English Language Learners, The Museum as a Classroom, Poetry Off the Page, andCelebrating People and Places Through Music.
The Right Brain Initiative, the arts integration program of the Regional Arts & Culture Council, has received three awards from the National Endowment for the Arts in support of its professional development program for teachers and teaching artists. Imagine This! has received additional support from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
Space is limited to 125 attendees. Register by May 3 to take advantage of the early-bird rate athttp://imaginethis2015.eventbrite.com.
Featured Speakers and Workshop Leaders
Glenis Redmond is an award-winning performance poet, praise poet, teacher, and writer based in South Carolina. Glenis has been published in numerous literary journals and has authored several full-length books. As a performer, she placed in the top ten twice in the National Individual Slam Championships. She performs for audiences of all ages in venues ranging from top performing arts centers to juvenile detention centers. As a teacher, Glenis Redmond is part of the national touring roster for the Kennedy Center’s Partnership in Education Teacher Training. She helps professional and amateur writers from 9-90 find their own poetic voice.
Deborah Brzoska is a national leader in arts education who presents professional development for teachers and teaching artists across the country on behalf of The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Deb also serves as Implementation Specialist for the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities’ Turnaround Arts Schools nationally. A former dancer and teacher, she was also the founding principal of The Vancouver School of Arts & Academics, the award winning arts-based public school in Washington State.
Rachel Carnes is the founder of Sparkplug Dance Educational Resources, a Eugene, Oregon non-profit organization, dedicated to making learning fun for everyone through dance. Sparkplug Dance has provided direct services in early childhood arts education, K-8 arts integration in the schools, and teacher training, working with the Oregon Department of Education, Springfield Public Schools, the Oregon Music Educators Association, and many other partners. Rachel holds an undergraduate degree in dancetheater from Reed College and has studied dance therapy at the New School in New York City.
Aaron Nigel Smith’s mission is to connect and empower children, families and communities through music. As a performer, he has produced several nationally recognized children’s albums, and is a former cast member of the PBS Kids show, Between the Lions. Aaron is a founder of FUNdamentals of Music and Movement, an arts program that has served over 100 early education centers in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston. He is also founder of One World Chorus, a non-profit providing music programs to children in Portland, Los Angeles, New York, Kenya & Jamaica.
Thank you to Bank of America for serving as the Presenting Sponsor of Imagine This!
The Right Brain Initiative is a sustainable partnership of public schools, local government, foundations, businesses and the cultural community, which brings creativity to nearly 20,000 students in 59 schools. The program’s goal is to transform learning through the arts for all K-8 students in the Portland metro area. In fall of 2014, Right Brain released data connecting the program to an above-average increase in student test scores, with greatest results for English Language Learners. Right Brain is an initiative of the Regional Arts & Culture Council. Young Audiences of Oregon & SW Washington serves as Implementation Partner. Read more online at TheRightBrainInitiative.org.
The Regional Arts & Culture Council is the local arts agency for Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington Counties, providing grants for artists, schools and nonprofit organizations; conducting workplace giving for arts and culture (“Work for Art”) and other advocacy efforts; presenting workshops and other forms of technical assistance; providing printed and web-based resources for artists; and integrating art into public spaces. Online at racc.org.