International conference to celebrate young children's art

January 12, 2007

An international conference in Armidale next month will examine - and demonstrate - the life-enhancing role of young children's art in the community.

Experts from 18 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australasia will gather at the University of New England on Monday 5 February for the 2nd International Art in Early Childhood Conference. The conference will continue till Thursday 8 February, and will include events for the whole community as well as a program of talks for those - such as teachers, parents and researchers - involved more closely with children's art.

The title of the conference will be "Our people, our place, our time". One of the conference conveners, UNE's Dr Margaret Brooks, explained that it would be, among other things, "a celebration and sharing of early childhood art education, recognising that young children's early childhood experiences are linked to people, place, and time".

"Collaborations with the wider communities and people - such as artists, galleries, museums, community groups, parents, and other educational settings - are important," said Dr Brooks's co-convener, Rosemary Richards from Massey University in New Zealand. Public events at the New England Regional Art Museum (NERAM) and the C.B. Newling Centre ('the Old Teachers' College') on the afternoon of Wednesday 7 February will demonstrate those collaborations.

At NERAM, the events will begin at 2 pm with a talk by one of the keynote speakers at the conference, Dr Barbara Piscitelli AM. Dr Piscitelli is Chair of the National Review of Visual Education as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Queensland Museum and a Director of the Collections Council of Australia. Her wide-ranging research on arts education includes work on children's learning in museums. At 3.30 pm there will be a floor talk by the Curator of NERAM, Andrea Gledhill, on an exhibition of Australian children's book illustrations that will be on show at the museum, followed by a presentation by Dr Brooks and the artist Christine McMillan on the practical involvement of young children in the work of artists and art museums.

The program at the C.B. Newling Centre will begin at 3.30 pm. It will comprise an illustrated talk about children's art works from around the world (including those of Australian Aboriginal children), an open rehearsal for a music performance by young children led by Jodie Winton of the New England Conservatorium of Music, and a workshop on digital art for children. There will also be a tour of the adjacent Museum of Education. Community members attending these events can contribute to their presentation with a gold coin donation.

For more information on these programs, as well as the conference as a whole (including registration details), ring Dr Margaret Brooks on (02) 6773 2654, or go to:
www.artlearn.net/artEC/conference.html

The conference papers themselves - to be presented in UNE's Education Building on the Tuesday (morning and afternoon), and on the Wednesday and Thursday mornings - will include about 30 by overseas speakers. They will explore topics ranging from the theory to the practice of children's art. "Art making is an essential human experience that allows young children to explore, understand and share ideas about the world in which they live," said Dr Brooks. "Early childhood art experiences help children's learning, development, and emotional wellbeing. The presentations at this conference will help us to understand young children's art experiences and how we can better provide for and support them. They will be of interest to everyone involved with young children and their art."

Keynote speakers at the conference will include the internationally renowned art educator and researcher Dr Anna Kindler, the teacher, artist, writer and filmmaker Ursula Kolbe, and Giovanni Piazza from the Reggio Emilia Schools in northern Italy. The guest speaker will be Dr Sylvia Chard, Professor Emerita of Early Childhood Education at the University of Alberta, Canada.

THE PICTURE displayed here is the prize-winning work in the infants' section of last year's UNE School Art Prize.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at January 12, 2007 04:39 PM