The Ohio Art Education Association was invited to host 83 art teachers for their annual Summer Symposium this year at Kent State from June 27 through the 28. 

The symposium, which is a conference held on different college campuses each year across Ohio, offers workshops centered around artmaking. It is tailored to present and former art teachers throughout the state. 

The event also serves as a fundraiser for the Ohio Art Education Foundation, which gives scholarships to students going into art education and money for teachers to purchase classroom supplies. 

Juliann Dorff, Kent State art education lecturer and one of the three symposium chair members, said this conference is an opportunity for art teachers to focus on creating for themselves.  

“This is all about our teachers having an opportunity to set aside two days where they can start to create for themselves because obviously, all art teachers got into it because we really love art, and so that making is really important to us,” she said. “The rigors of being an educator make it very hard for that to happen.” 

The workshops allowed teachers to work with a variety of materials, including jewelry, metals, ceramics and wood. 

According to Carly Sherman, another chair member for the event, they were able to work with many new techniques that few of the participants had heard of, including cuttlefish jewelry making. The process involved carving into cuttlefish bones and pouring hot melted brass inside before the bones cool and disintegrate. 

“Everyone was loving it,” Sherman said. “We had people that stayed a little extra because the jewelry department was fantastic in the School of Art, and they really worked with the teachers in order to finish.” 

Teachers also learned techniques they could bring back to their students. One of these new skills they learned was using Procreate, a digital app for drawing and painting. 

“I did also have the aspect of not only igniting their artistic souls but also what they could take into the classroom, and they were pros at Procreate by the end of it,” Sherman said. “I was honestly shocked at how well they learned the program.”  

For Linda Hoeptner Poling, a Kent State associate professor in art education and a chair of this year’s symposium, the most special part of this event was the different people who were able to be involved in the workshops. 

“What I really loved about this experience was the blend of Kent State School of Art faculty teaching and OAEA members also teaching,” Hoeptner Poling said. “It was just a wonderful, wonderful blend.” 

Jennifer Appelfeller, a junior high art teacher, was one of the participants who taught at last year’s symposium but was able to view the experience this year as a student in the workshops. She found the experience rewarding for teachers who are looking to expand their horizons.  

“It’s really important for us teachers to go to this symposium to catch up on different skills that we were not introduced to in college, because art is always evolving,” she said. “It’s nice to kind of have your own sense of purpose and your own connection to the art world.” 

Appelfeller also found that listening to other teachers share their skills and collaborate together was a special opportunity to learn new techniques. 

“It gives us those moments to share the skills that we have with our peers and allow us to be in that leadership positions,” Appelfeller said. “It’s such a unique experience.”

Kayla Gleason is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].