College of Fine Arts and Design

April 1, 2011

The University of Central Oklahoma will host the first ever Arts Integration Conference from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. April 16 in the Nigh University Center, Third Floor.

Workshop sessions will focus on collaborative and creative ways to integrate arts into the classroom through visual art, dance, design, music and theater arts.  The conference is presented by Central's College of Fine Arts and Design in association with the Oklahoma Center for Arts Education, a division of the college.

Ines Burnham, program manager of the Oklahoma Center for Arts Education, stresses the timeliness of the conference in light of the current, national economic strain.

"The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) budget is proposed to be cut by $43 million for next fiscal year; and the NEA cut directly affects our state agency, Oklahoma Arts Council, which also funds grants for schools, non-profits, as well as our budget," said Burnham.

"This trickle-down effect hinders the opportunities schools have to bring in professional artists to teach the arts."

The conference will help teachers and administrators find creative, cost-effective ways to incorporate the arts into core curriculums, whether in history, English, the sciences or mathematics.

Conference session highlights include Music with Humanities, "Be a Risk-Taker! ... and Teach Every Note as if Beauty Really Matters;" Dance with all Core Subjects, "Notion of Motion;" Art with Math and Science, "Visual Art, Math & Science;" Theater through Leadership, "Leadership: Act the Part;" and Design with Environmental Education, "Trash to Treasure: Integrating Information about Product Design into Social and Environmental Studies."

The conference's opening session will be presented by the executive director and program director of Central-based Oklahoma A+ Schools, the state's only research-based whole school network whose mission is to nurture creativity in every learner, located on Central's campus.

Registration is $75 per person, which includes materials and meals.  Oklahoma A+ School members pay $60, and Central students, faculty and staff pay $25.

For a detailed conference agenda or for registration information, visit www.ocae.net/arts-integration-conference.

For more information, contact Burnham at (405) 974-3784 or at iburnham@uco.edu.