✨ Happening Now!

October 2–3
MAEA’s Fall Conference is October 2–3 at Knob Noster State Park, with the theme “Our Town, Our World: Elevating the curriculum to expand artistic boundaries.” MAAE is connecting across Missouri! We’re excited to be part of the MAEA Fall Conference this October as arts educators gather to learn, share ideas, and strengthen the future of visual arts education.

🌟 Happening Soon!

Gifted Association of Missouri — October 16–17
Phyllis Pasley will present on the connections between gifted education and the arts. When we connect the arts with other areas of education, new possibilities emerge. MAAE is proud to continue building our partnership with the Gifted Association of Missouri and exploring how the arts can enrich gifted learning.

October ELEVATE Professional Learning
Keep Learning. Keep Connecting. Keep ELEVATING. Every month, MAAE brings Missouri educators together for free, collaborative professional learning through ELEVATE. Bring a colleague, share an idea, and discover something you can take directly back to your students.

💫 Coming This Spring! 

October is a good time to move from “mark your calendar” to “start thinking about how you want to participate.”

Save the Date: Fine Arts Education Week 2027
April 6–7, 2027
The arts belong in every school, for every student, every day—and Fine Arts Education Week gives Missouri educators, students, families, and advocates an opportunity to make that belief visible at the State Capitol.

2027 MAAE Awards & Student Opportunities
MAAE is currently accepting nominations/applications for its 2027 awards and student opportunities, including the Student Arts Ambassador and Student Content Creator opportunities, as well as awards recognizing schools, educators, administrators, and community champions. 

Know Someone Making a Difference Through the Arts?
October is a great time to begin thinking about who deserves to be recognized. MAAE’s annual awards celebrate the students, educators, administrators, schools, and community members who are strengthening arts education across Missouri.

Art is often thought of as something that belongs on a canvas, in a gallery, or on a stage. I’ve started to see it differently: art can also be a way of making information feel accessible, especially to people who might otherwise feel like they have no place in the room.

Over the past few months, I’ve been working with Blue Springs City Hall to find new ways to get young people involved in local government. One of the ways I approached that work was through a guide designed with a zine-like feel. Instead of filling pages with walls of text, I used hand-drawn illustrations and visual storytelling to make unfamiliar parts of city government easier for teenagers to understand and engage with.

I’ve used the same idea through my work with the Blue Springs School District. The district tasked me with creating a Client-Connected Project Guide to help high school students explore internships and connect with potential employers. Rather than making another database that students would have to decode, I focused on making the information visual, organized, and approachable, giving students enough context to make informed choices about the opportunities they pursue.

My work with the Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art has pushed this idea in a different direction. As a member of its Teen Arts Council, I’ve been working with other Kansas City-area teens to develop programming that reflects what young people actually want from an arts institution. I’m grateful to the Missouri Alliance for Arts Education for giving me a place to think about art this way, and to see how the skills I’ve developed through art can show up in places I never expected.

Basic Guidelines 

• Brevity

• Address by their title: Senator… Representative…

• If you get a “no” - be aware that there may be little you can do in that moment to change their mind.

• Be courteous to maintain a positive relationship and leave behind a brief list of talking points with evidence and contact info.

• Respect boundaries - briefly greet at a grocery store of such, but set an appointment to discuss issues.

In Person Meeting Guide

• Schedule 1-2 weeks in advance if possible

• Dress: Business or Business Casual

• Show up 5 minutes early

• Developing a positive relationship with staffers can support your goals - Staffers not only perform secretarial duties, but they also serve as scheduler, policy advisor, chief of staff.

• Leave behind a clear concise position paper with your contact info.

Phone Call Meeting Guide

• Be brief

• State the following

  • your name

  • who you’re representing

  • if you’re a constituent

  • why you’re calling and

  • what response you would like: (return call, email, support for a bill.)

• If there is background info, are talking points - send them via email and refer to that email in the voicemail.

• Thank them for their time.

• Don’t call back repeatedly, or leave an angry voicemail.

EMail Guide

• Be brief

• Include an attachment with no more than 1-2 pages to back up your case.

• If a large group is sending the same email, take a moment to add a personal touch.

• Copy staff on emails.

The KS/MO Kennedy Center Partners in Education, a partnership between the Midwest Trust Center at Johnson County Community College, Shawnee Mission School District, and Liberty Public Schools, provides free arts integration professional development and support for educators.
Learn more about upcoming sessions here.

• Tiny Toy Tales: Storytelling and Early Childhood Literacy – 'Anansi and the Moss-Covered Rock' with Kassie Misiewiczq
9 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday, October 3, 2026 | SMSD Center for Academic Achievement | Pre-K-2
Tired of the same old read alouds? Ready to put the arts back into language arts? Tiny Toy Tales are well-known books that have been adapted for interactive storytelling and integrate multiple curricular objectives.

• Visual Art Through a Social Studies Lens: Integrating Art and History - Bonnie Thomas, Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
October 6th from 4:30 - 6:00 PM
During this session, participants will learn strategies for incorporating art into the teaching of social studies. Drawing on the collection of The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, we will consider how works of art can function as primary source documents reflecting the time, place, and historical context in which they were made, and we will practice analyzing art alongside other texts to learn what art can tell us about the past and our present world. Social studies topics and themes addressed in this session will be especially applicable to secondary grades.

• Don't Say It… SING IT! The Power of Music Education in the Elementary Classroom with Aaron Fowler
4:30-7 p.m. Monday, October 19, 2026 | Johnson County Community College
Think about how many times each day you ask students to line up, clean up, transition, or refocus. How often do you repeat those directions? Instead of saying it over and over, learn how to sing or chant your classroom routines to capture attention, build consistency, and make transitions smoother. Music can also bring academic standards to life through original songs, familiar folk tunes, or melodies your students already know and love. Whether it's a tune from Frozen, Wicked, or another favorite, music helps students engage, participate, and remember what they're learning. This session will leave you ready to inspire your students with the power of music!

The Midwest Teaching Artist Coalition is pleased to announce the first Toolbox Talks professional development session of the 2026-2027 season! 

"Games with a Purpose" led by Allison Nissley! 

• Free

• In person at the Coterie Theater
  Crown Center, 2450 Grand Blvd., Kansas City

• Tuesday, October 13th from 10:00-11:30 a.m.

• RSVP Here

About the Session

Theatre games are an essential part of acting classes and camps! They build essential performance skills, encourage teamwork, and help young people tap into their creativity. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore a variety of theatre games and discover how each game supports and develops specific skills. Come ready to play, collaborate, and explore the many ways theatre games can enrich your work as a teaching artist!

About Allison

Allison Nissley, Coterie Theatre School Director, is an experienced teaching artist, performer, director, and stage carpenter. A Kansas City native, she earned her theatre degree from Northwest Missouri State University and began her career as a teaching artist with The Coterie. She has also toured and performed educational theatre with the National Theatre for Children in Minneapolis before returning to Kansas City.

To Register

As always in the Toolbox Talks series, this session is free. 

Please use this link to RSVP and share the invitation with a teaching artist friend or colleague!

Hello Missouri Educators,

I’m reaching out to share an exciting opportunity for your school: America’s Field Trip: Virtual Artist Residencies with Focus 5, made possible by Crystal Bridges celebrating America’s 250th anniversary through the arts. These residencies are FREE/NO COST for schools and bring high-quality, arts-integrated learning directly to your classroom—virtually.

To learn more about these Free Virtual Artist Residencies please go to: https://tinyurl.com/CrystalBridgesResidencies.

Taking place through December 2026.

While you are there, be sure to check out my virtual residency: Warhol’s Wild Adaptations (Grade 3- 5).

In this three-day high-engagement residency, students investigate how Warhol adapted and abstracted images in his animal series—and ask: How do animals adapt to survive, and how can we abstract that idea into movement? Studying the two strategies of adaptation and abstraction, they create original movement phrases that embody real animal adaptations. The result is pop-art thinking meets life-science insight—students don’t tell you what an adaptation or abstraction is; they show you.

Participation requires a minimum of 4 classes to take part. If you don’t have 4 classes, we can pair you with another school.

If you’d like to secure a spot, you can register here:

• Register: https://tinyurl.com/WarholAdapt 

You can also learn more about Focus 5 arts integration at www.Focus5ArtsIntegration.com

If you have questions I’m happy to help.
- Harlan Brownlee

Contact Harlan via email here.

The Missouri Arts Council Big Yellow School Bus grants provide up to $500 in transportation assistance for K-12 school field trips to arts education programs.

Eligible Projects: Field trips that demonstrate direct exposure to or integration with arts education. 

Maximum Award Amount: Up to $500 per year in transportation costs.

Application Deadlines: Rolling deadlines (must apply at least two months prior to the scheduled event date via Missouri Arts Council).

Eligible Funding Period: July 1, 2026 through June 30, 2027.

Learn more here.