A team from MAAE met with State Commissioner of Education Dr. Karla Eslinger and DESE Fine Arts Director Dr. Kendra Franks. Also in collaboration with DESE, Missouri Fine Arts Leaders convened in Jefferson City for professional learning. MAAE Ally and former Arts Across the Curriculum Specialist, Kristi Ponder attended the successful Fall conference for Missouri Art Education Association. Dr. Cynthia Williams Phelps and Rachel Johnson presented at the Gifted Association of Missouri Conference. Kristen Engelhart and I attended the career fair at Potosi High School. State Board of Education Meeting attendance found us congratulating Kimberly Sixta, 2026 Teacher of the Year and Dr. Gretchen Shull - newest member of the State Board of Education. The DESE Spotlight on Success featured arts educator Kristen Ferguson (JC Public Schools Strings teacher and an inspirational video celebrating teachers going above and beyond, helping students succeed. Check it out on youtube - it's more than worth the 4 minutes to view! We'd love to capture more inspirational stories like this, because it helps our stakeholders gain a deeper understanding of the transformative power of arts education.

We need your nominations for MAAE awards. Deadline is Dec. 1, 2025. NOMINATE TODAY!!

• Creativity and Innovation in Teaching - honoring arts educators who inspire their students and others.

• Administrator of the Year - recognizing school leaders who support the arts, their arts programs, arts teachers and students.

• School District of Distinction - applauding school districts with a depth and breadth of arts education success.

• Arts Education Community Champion - heralding local arts advocacy

• Government Advocate for Arts Education - recognizing either elected or non-elected governmental positions who champion the arts.

learn more

Please also consider becoming involved in our Fine Arts Education Week, 2026 April 6-11, 2026. It includes a brand new format for the Wednesday Show-Me Arts Student Civics Learning workshop, and a Friday Dulcimer Workshop for School Educators. The performance/exhibit showcase day is set for Thursday April 9. 2026. Another new addition is the Tuesday “Capitol Concerts” featuring student pianists. 

Giving Tuesday is this month and we'd like to encourage you to make a contribution to help the Alliance continue to fulfill its mission. We exist to support you, but we need contributions to ensure we can continue this important work. Even a small gift can help! You may also know of a local business in your region who might like to support the work to strengthen arts education in Missouri. Pass along their info to me at director@moaae.org.

Happy November to all. May you all have a moment to reflect on the things you're grateful for, and may you all enjoy happy times with friends and family!

Phyllis Pasley

In October, Rachel Johnson, our Awards and Contests Coordinator, and I presented Inspiring Creativity through the Power of STEAM at the GAM (Gifted Association of Missouri) conference in Springfield at the Missouri State University.

Harnessing the power of STEAM and Arts Integration in gifted classrooms can be a compelling tool for inspiring and engaging gifted students.  In this workshop, attendees explored scaffolded lesson ideas through a creative, arts-centered process.  This hands-on experience helps students build confident music listening, artistic behavior skills, and deeper learning connections to science, math, and technology.

Dr. Kendra Franks and I led a Fine Arts Ed Leaders workshop in Jefferson City at the Truman Building on October 6. Fine Arts Directors from around the state gathered to explore the concepts of arts integration and creativity, professional learning practices, teacher recruitment and retention, course coding, and best practices. An overview of the Arts Education Data Project was shared. Jessica Wagner, Fine Arts Coordinator for Springfield Public Schools, led a workshop on Arts Integration and Curriculum Mapping.

In Case You Missed It! October ELEVATE: Honoring and Engaging Indigenous Voices in an Arts Based and Culturally Responsive Classroom. Dr. Lori Santos and Dr. Steve C. Willis shared their experiences as art educators, approaches for honoring indigenous knowledge, and practices to engage students through arts-centered, culturally responsive learning. Thank you  for sharing your expertise!

I hope you find this November full of artful adventures and as always, let me know how I can help you curate your next professional learning experience!

In conjunction with its 150 th Anniversary, the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District is excited to provide a venue for students within the Eastern District to express their view of “What do courts mean?” through artistic expression. Entry in the competition is free and open to all students in grades 1-12, including public, private and home-schooled, within the territorial jurisdiction of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.

Artwork will be judged based on the following criteria: originality, design, technique, content, and appeal to the theme of “What do courts mean?”.

View full details and entry form here.

Entry and Deadline

Each entry must include a completed and signed Student Entry and Release Form, along with the original artwork. NOTE: Teachers may contact us for a bulk-submit option for classes.

Entry must be postmarked or hand-delivered no later than 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 13, 2026, to:

Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District
Attn: 150 th Anniversary Art Contest
815 Olive, Suite 304
St. Louis, Missouri 63101

Please read the guidelines completely. All guidelines must be followed or entry will be disqualified.

Guidelines

• All entrants must be students in grades 1-12 within the territorial jurisdiction of the Missouri

Court of Appeals, Eastern District for school year 2025-26, spring semester. To see the geographic boundaries of the Eastern District, visit: https://www.courts.mo.gov/page.jsp?id=151

• No entries will be accepted from employees, employees’ spouses, or relatives of an employee or an employee’s spouse by second-degree consanguinity.

• All artwork must relate to the theme of “What do courts mean?” and must be original.

• Only the following mediums will be accepted: painting (oil, watercolor, etc.), drawing (pencil, ink, pastels, charcoal, etc.), prints (block prints, silkscreen, etc.), mixed media (must use more than two mediums such as pencil, ink, watercolor, etc.), and/or collage (two-dimensional only).

• Artwork must be no larger than 16” x 20” and no smaller than 8” x 10”and can be any shape so long as maximum dimensions are not exceeded. Layout may be horizontal or vertical. No frame is necessary.

• No three-dimensional entries will be accepted. Entries must be flat and on paper, thin canvas, or similar.

• No photography or computer-generated entries will be accepted.

• Only one entry per student is allowed.

• Student should sign or initial entry in lower right corner.

• Students should enter only original artwork. Plagiarism is not acceptable, including work copied from photograph, painting, graphic, etc., created by someone other than the student. Students should visit the Scholastic website: https://www.artandwriting.org/awards/how-to-enter/copyright-plagiarism/

Student Information and Release

All students must submit a Student Entry and Release Form (p.3-4 of this document). Page 4 contains a legal release and certification that the artwork is original in design and execution. The student, a teacher, and a parent or guardian must sign where appropriate. Entries without signed originality certifications and artwork releases may not be accepted.

Both pages of the Student Entry and Release Form must be securely attached to the back of the artwork to certify the originality of the piece. Please retain a copy for your records.

Awards

The art will be blind judged by judges of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District.

Entries will be divided into groups by grade:

- 1 st and 2 nd grades = Lower Elementary

- 3 rd, 4 th, and 5 th grades = Upper Elementary

- 6 th, 7 th, and 8 th grades = Middle School

- 9 th, 10 th, 11 th, and 12 th grades = High School

Three winners will be selected for each group. Winners will be notified during the week of March 30, 2026.

Each group will receive three awards:
First Place: $75
Second Place: $50
Third Place: $25

All winners will also receive a certificate. The first-place winner in each group will be displayed in the Old Post Office at the location of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District during the ceremony celebrating the 150 th Anniversary and up to one year thereafter. Each winner will be invited to the ceremony and their accomplishments recognized by the Court during the ceremony.

NOTE: All winning and non-winning entries become the property of the Missouri Court of Appeals, Eastern District and will not be returned except upon special request.

Direct questions to: Joy Hannel, Court Administrator at 314-539-4300 Joy.Hannel@courts.mo.gov

View full details and entry form here.

Classroom teachers and arts specialists:

As a new school year is upon us, I want to reach out to share all the support MAC can offer you to create the best arts-infused curriculum for your students. MAC is your state arts agency and main public funder for the arts in Missouri. One of our top priorities is supporting and enhancing arts education both during and after school.

Grants for Schools:

•  exposure opportunities [BYSB and Touring]

•  residencies [AIR]

•  and professional development.
  
  

Applications are due the first Monday of the month for projects occurring 60 days out from the submission; we award up to $4,000 for projects throughout the school year.

Annual arts education grants will open for FY27 in December.

Our school transformation model, A+ Schools Missouri, is seeking up to three schools to take on a different way of doing school through whole-school arts integration and the

adoption of eight pillars of best practices for joyful learning and teaching. If you are dreaming of something new for your community, plan to attend the pre-application meeting on September 23. You can register for the meeting, in-person in St. Louis, here: A+ Schools Pre-Application Meeting Registration

Check out this teaser: Coming to Missouri

Contact me for more information: Jenni.ryan@ltgov.mo.gov

-Jenni Ryan

Visit DESE’s Virtual Art Gallery here, which features creations this month from Pierce City and Northwest Schools. For more information about how your school can participate in the art exhibit, please contact Dr. Kendra Franks, DESE’s Fine Arts Curriculum Director at Kendra.Franks@dese.mo.gov.

Artwork is on display in the Jefferson Building 8:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m. on Monday-Friday (except for state holidays). Please contact Kendra Franks, Arts Education Director before visiting.

Started in 2004, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education has invited public schools throughout Missouri to submit samples of their students' artwork. The art is displayed in the Department's main office in Jefferson City and in the room where the State Board of Education holds its regular monthly meetings. Artwork from each featured school is showcased for a month. The same artwork is now featured here. For privacy reasons, the full names of the student artists will not be published here.

Schools that will be featured in the Virtual Art Gallery are already scheduled for several months in advance. Please do not submit unsolicited artwork. For more information, contact:

Kendra Franks, Ph.D.
Director of Fine Arts Education
573-751-9610
Kendra.Franks@dese.mo.gov

Image Credit: Amber, Pierce City

Register Here

November 22, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
Generative AI and Creativity: Avoiding the Convenience Trap
Matt Worwood Generative AI is a multi-purpose technology with numerous known and emerging applications in education. Already, it is being used as a writing tool, a reading aid, an assessment resource, and a chatbot that provides feedback and supports idea generation. As we continue to explore best practices for integrating this technology into the classroom, it is essential to prioritize our understanding of creativity in learning to mitigate the impact of the Convenience Trap—the risk of diminishing students’ engagement in divergent and convergent thinking. This presentation will examine two GenAI scenarios, analyzing their potential effects on the cognitive process and considering the long-term implications for mini-c and little-c creativity in education.

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January 10, 2026 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
Models and Frameworks for Differentiating Instruction and Developing Expertise and Talent
Tamra Stambaugh
How can we modify lessons that support students’ learning, talent development, and expertise? What does it mean to add depth, complexity, and abstractness as part of differentiated and advanced instruction? Frameworks and models are important tools  teachers can use to create challenging learning opportunities, promote advanced thinking, and make thinking visible. Students can rely on models and frameworks to guide their own thinking and to engage in practices of the discipline.   Add to your pedagogical toolkit and learn various models and frameworks that help students examine problems, relationships, and concepts in different disciplines and guide teacher questioning.

Make Music Day has been celebrated in several Missouri communities who've chosen to join in this international music festival held annually on June 21st. Matt Fox with the Make Music Alliance is hosting a free meeting to support local chapters on November 17. Previous Missouri Communities participating in Make Music Day have included: St. Louis, Kansas City, Neosho, Rolla, Columbia, Innsbrook, Springfield, Jefferson City. Communities can be involved in ways that make sense for them. Contact Matt - matt@makemusicday.org - for the Zoom link and consider joining the festivities. 

Learn more and register here.

This just in! MAEA Spring Conference 2026 will be in Cape Girardeau, MO for the first time! Mark your calendars for March 26th-28th, 2026. We are currently collecting team

2026 MAEA Conference Request For Presentation Proposals

Vendor workshops proposals will be accepted at any time.

Here are some suggestions from our members:

Pre-K to 2nd grade lessons / Collage & Mixed Media / Cross-Curricular Connections / Paper Mache / Ceramics / TAB / Found Art / Photography / Drawing / Motivation / Mental Health/ Artist Skills / Printmaking / Fiber Arts / Raku / Budget Projects / Book Binding / Artist Talks / Comic Books / Nature Art / Wire Sculpture / Batik Dying / Classroom Organization

Submit here

Missouri Historical Society

A variety of open positions including Museum Educator, African American History Initiative manager, and a part-time creative technologies videographer.