As many of you end the first grading period and are in the midst of the fall season, we encourage you to take time for your own mental health and well-being. Take a breath, and allow your focus of attention to include an internal wellness check. You will be better able to serve your students, if you are at your best.

In September, MAAE participated in the MMEA New Teacher Mentor Conference, Tri M Conference, Speech and Theatre Association of Missouri Conference, and look forward to Missouri Art Education Association Fall Conference. Read on for more resources, information, and learning opportunities gathered for you by the Alliance. 

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. 

‘Tis the season, so enjoy a pumpkin spice beverage and have a great October!

Phyllis Pasley

Fall 2025 September Conference Highlights:

• MMEA TRI-M Summit– Dr. Phelps and Dr. Cooper presented an advocacy workshop to 100+ high school students.  The workshop was titled Advocacy: #BuildingaBetterFuture. Workshop description–”Through interactive activities like creating social media content, writing postcards to legislators, and practicing conversation starters, you’ll learn how to use your voice to support arts education in your community. Discover how to connect with decision-makers, use hashtags to amplify your message, and invite others to events like SMarts 2026. Whether you're new to advocacy or already passionate about the cause, this workshop will give you the tools to speak up for what matters—music education and the arts in our schools!” The students engaged in peer and group collaboration, and had the opportunity to share ideas for advocacy through social media content creation. Thank you Sarah Sacco and MMEA for this incredible opportunity!

• STAM Conference– Dr. Phelps and Dr. Cooper had the opportunity to attend the conference as exhibitors and connect.  We connected with Speech, Debate, and Theatre educators and shared MAAE highlights at the Business Luncheon Meeting. Thank you STAM educators for your hard work and commitment to quality arts education!
  
  

Coming up in October– Dr. Phelps and Rachel Johnson will be attending and presenting at the GAM Conference in Springfield. 

I hope you have a few Fall artful adventures and as always, let me know how I can help you curate your next professional learning experience!

In Case You Missed It!

Our September ELEVATE "Unlocking Creativity: Arts Integration as a Pathway to Whole-School Success" Presented by Cayla Barnes, Julia Coggins, and Kristen Burkemper is now available to view online here.

Discover how to transform your school's approach to learning through arts integration!  In this session, we'll explore how incorporating the arts (visual, performance, and STEAM) across all subjects not only enhances student engagement but also boosts academic achievement, creativity, and social-emotional learning. Participants will gain actionable strategies for creating a school-wide culture that fosters artistic expression while meeting instructional goals.  

Have you seen the data dashboard for that publishes student fine arts enrollment data for your school? Quadrant Research, sponsor of the National Arts Education Data Project has partnered with MAAE, DESE, and MAC to bring this powerful Missouri-specific-data tool to you! View enrollment data (collected from local school districts as part of their reports to DESE) by arts discipline, by county, district, or school level and examine trends over time.  Identify areas of abundance and opportunities for growth. 

Access this dashboard through the direct link. You can also find access on the MAAE website and on the DESE Fine Arts webpage.

We'd love to hear your stories about how you are using the data. Whether it is for grant proposals, reports, research, or to make the case with your administrators for programming changes, let us know. We are collecting stories and testimonials that will help us ensure that we can maintain the funding required for Missouri's continued participation. Please share those stories at fineartsdata@dese.mo.gov and cc: director@moaae.org.  If you see any errors in the data displayed, we need to know that too! Please reach out at any time.

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.

The Department of Art & Design, the Judith Enyeart Reynolds College of Arts and Letters, and the Board of Governors of Missouri State University will host a virtual Juried Exhibition for secondary art students again this year. The virtual exhibition will showcase artworks from talented students and give them an opportunity to participate in a competitive, juried summer exhibition, and provide a platform for their work to be displayed in a college venue. Please note as this is a juried show, entries are not guaranteed acceptance.

Exhibition format:

+ All aspects of the jurying process and exhibition are virtual! Images are submitted online.

+ Instructions for uploading images are on the prospectus (link below).

Eligibility:

+ All currently enrolled high school students.

Submission Requirements:

+ Each student may submit up to 3 works (1 detail image per piece if needed).

+ Students should submit works from the previous or current school year.

+ There are no fees associated with submission.

Winning entries will receive award certificates and scholarships that can be applied towards tuition at Missouri State University Art & Design:

1st–$5,000.00

2nd–$3,000.00

3rd–$1,500.00. 

Entry Deadline: October 24, 2025 (entry portal opens October 1)

Notification of Acceptance: December 12, 2025

Virtual Summer Exhibition Opens: June 2, 2026

Learn more 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

To the super amazing MO fine arts educators, I want to welcome you to the school year of 2025-26! I hope your summer included time with family and rest. As school is starting now, I want to highlight important info and share resources and opportunities for you and your students.

1. FAM – Fine Arts Family –We will meet on the third Thursday of each month. We will discuss an important topic, network, and share encouragement with each other. Ask your admin for this to count as PD credit for you. Our first one was August 21st, and we had a great team of educators from all over MO sharing and learning together. Please make plans to join me and other teachers September 18th from 3:30 – 4:30pm. Contact me for a Teams link. Kendra.franks@dese.mo.gov

2. MO Fine Arts Academy – FREE for selected 9th – 12th grade students. A 2-week camp in June, held on the campus of Missouri State University, with art specialists and opportunities for collaboration, integration, growth, and networking. Through State Legislature funding and generous donors, this is FREE for accepted students. Deadline for applications is early January. For info and to submit an application and portfolio, visit the Missouri Fine Arts Academy website.

3. PD days with your school – I would love to come and share in PD at your school. Please have your administrator contact me for scheduling. If we can schedule other directors from the DESE curriculum team to come on the same date like math, ELA, or science as well, that would be super!

4. Join your state arts association like MAEA and MMEA. Not only do they host fantastic annual conferences, but they provide resources and helps online. Ask your school to help you join and put the conference dates on your calendar! I’ll see you there!

How can I help? I am here for you…as a sounding board, a problem-solver, an encourager, a mentor, a teacher…please let me know how I can help you this school year. I would be delighted to hear from you about what you have going on and the amazing art you have students doing too! Please email or call anytime!

Kendra Franks, Ph.D.
Director of Fine Arts, Office of College and Career Readiness
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Kendra.franks@dese.mo.gov
(573) 751-9610

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

October 25, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
Books as Mentors: How to Ignite, Delight, & Cultivate Interests, Knowledge, & Curiosity to Making Them Happen
Susannah Richards

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November 22, 2025 (11 a.m. to 12 noon Eastern time)
Generative AI and Creativity: Avoiding the Convenience Trap
Matt WorwoodGenerative 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 October 23 and 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

Needing a line-drawing assignment that also engages students in a discussion around local civics?! Look no further than the MAEA Coloring Book Contest 2025. Open to grades K-12, all accepted works will be published in a coloring book available for purchase online. Now is the time to let your students shine!

See more details on MAEA's website!

DEADLINE: Entries must be submitted by October 24, 2025 11:59pm CST 

Missouri Historical Society

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