An award by The Jo Ann (Jody) and Dr. Charles O. Onstead Institute for Education in the Visual Arts & Design enabled Marie-Claire Valdez, PhD student in Art Education, to attend the Texas Art Education Association's Conference, Nov. 14-16, 2019, in Galveston, Texas, to help defray expenses to present at the conference.
In a letter to the Onstead Institute, Valdez wrote "The funding helped me to pay for my stay at the conference hotel and expenses for travel. It also went towards a portable projector so that I can provide my own presentation equipment, which is increasingly common at conferences.
"At the conference I presented two sessions about my recent publication and pedagogical strategies for teachers to use sound art. I feel fortunate to have gone to the conference this year because I had the largest turn out to my sessions to date. The first session had 84 participants and the second had 14. I had several productive conversations with educators and was able to network with other teachers and artists.
"Thank you for making this opportunity possible, I deeply appreciate it!"
About Valdez
Marie-Claire Valdez has a background in public school education, community art and outreach. She has worked as an elementary and high school art teacher. She also taught for many years at the Southwest School of Art, specializing in mobile art instruction for schools without art programs. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts from The School Art Institute of Chicago, specializing in sound and mixed media art. She earned her Master of Arts in Teaching from Trinity University and is currently an advanced doctoral student at the University of North Texas, where she teaches art appreciation and various art education classes. Her areas of interest include curriculum design, professional development, integrating technology and sound into art practice and advancing K-16 classroom pedagogy.
About TAEA
The TAEA promotes quality visual arts education in Texas by promoting visual arts education as an integral part of the curriculum through professional development of knowledge and skills, representation of the art educators of Texas, service and leadership opportunities, and research and development of policies and decisions relative to practices and directions in visual arts education; to sustain and advance professional development; to encourage and promote the advancement of knowledge and skills.