Art Teacher In-Service Day Links Educators to Their Creativity Side

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Contact: Melissa Marullo
412.969.2530
mam@judith-kelly.com

Society for Contemporary Craft Holds Art Teacher In-Service Day

Educators Go Back to Their Roots as Artists

(PITTSBURGH, PA) January 10, 2011 – Art teachers are known for their ability to bring out the creativity in their students by showing them different forms of art, techniques, and how to express themselves. However, these teachers aren’t strictly educators, but they are artists themselves, and like to be reminded that every so often.

In the summer of 2008, the Society of Contemporary Craft (SCC) created the art teacher in- service day, where teachers from any school district are able to come to a workshop to rediscover their own creativity while learning new techniques and processes. Now, the teacher in-service day is known as one of the best workshops art teachers participate in for Act 48 professional development credit.

On Monday, January 17th, art teachers are invited to attend a workshop instructed by visiting or local instructors, hosted by the SCC in which they are able to get creative, work with their hands, and visit with other art teachers around the area. Each workshop provides seven Act 48 credits and information on how to adapt the learned techniques to the classroom.

Mary Ann Andreassi, art teacher at Pine-Richland High School, has attended multiple workshops, and finds the Teacher In-Service day to be very beneficial.

“Over the past 13 years of being a high school visual arts teacher, it has been challenging to find affordable enriching art experiences that build my own skill level and give me the tools needed to keep my students up to date with techniques and materials that contemporary artists are currently using,” Andreassi says.

Pieces made in the workshop will be exhibited in the downstairs studio exhibition space during the SCC 2011 Bridge Exhibition Series from April 16 - October 24th.

Andreassi says, “Workshops like these make me a more productive teacher, they give me skills to keep my students current with modern artistic practices, and they give me the reassurance and confidence as my artistic arsenal continues to grow.“

Tuition for the workshop is $140, which includes a box lunch, materials, and a gallery tour. Classes offered include:

· Needle Felting as an Art Medium [TT018] with instructor Briony Jean Foy, where participants will compose and paint with yarns and rovings to complete a landscape, portrait, or abstract composition.

· Fundamentals for Recycled Plastic Crafting [TT019] with instructor David Edgarwho will familiarize arts educators with a new way of exploring creativity using post-consumer plastics.

· Glass Beadmaking [TT020] with instructor Darlene Durrwachter-Rushing includes creating beads with hot glass and the art of flameworking with Hot Head touches.

· Splashes of Color Journal [TT021] with instructor Lily Hoy where participants will make a journal out of hand-decorated papers with a long stitch style binding.

Presenting contemporary art in craft media by international, national, and regional artists since 1971, the Society for Contemporary Craft offers cutting edge exhibitions focused on multicultural diversity and non-mainstream art, as well as a range of classes, community outreach programs, and a retail store. Exhibitions and family friendly hands-on art activities in a drop-in studio are always free to the public.
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