By Frank Juárez

The 79th annual National Art Education Association Convention took place in Chicago, Illinois, March 5-7, 2026. 5,000 art educators from across the country attended the convention. Over 600 sessions and hands-on workshops were offered, ranging from best practices, AI, E,D, & I, SEL, sketchbooks, policy, research, regional awards, keynote speakers, and much more. This event comes at a time when most educators are running out of steam with the high demand of teaching and need that extra boost of motivation. 

There was a great mix of preservice students, Pre-K, elementary, middle, high school, art professors, administrators, and retirees in attendance. A wealth of knowledge eagerly to be shared and absorbed. The art cup definitely overfloweth. It has been a few days since the convention. Even as a veteran art educator, I am still trying to process this national art experience. How does someone capture the essence of what it means to attend this highly anticipated art education event? In what ways do we take what we learned and apply it to our teaching practice, classroom, and students? And, how do we continue to foster those new professional relationships?

This convention was the busiest to date, in the almost 20 years that I have been attending. The prep work, co-presenting, facilitating, representing SchoolArts magazine, National Art Education Foundation, Connected Arts Network, and Sheboygan North High School, and the switching of those various hats took a toll; mentally and physically. But, my spirit is full swing as we continue to do the work we are meant to do.

What does an art education convention look like these days?

From the moment you step into the convention, there is never a dull moment. Excitement fills the air, educators re/connect, and professional relationships continue to be nurtured. I believe these relationships are key to professional development and well-being. Creating a national support system provides a gateway for further conversations, problem-solving, and camaraderie.

National Art Education Foundation (NAEF)

I joined the National Art Education Foundation (NAEF) in 2018 as a trustee, which led to becoming the Communications Chair (2022-2024). In March of 2025, I became the NAEF Chair. During the past 8 years, I have learned and experienced how impactful NAEF is in support of NAEA members and art education. The foundation offers 5 grants focusing on professional development, art equipment, instructional resources, curriculum model, classroom based action research, and scholarly research. As a grant recipient of the Mary McMullan (2015), I know firsthand how this grant has shaped a contemporary art project centered on literacy in a secondary setting come to fruition. The NAEF Board of Trustees is composed of past NAEA presidents, K-12 art educators, art professors, and lifetime trustees. After the convention, I transition into NAEF past chair.

NAEF was founded in 1985. In 2025, it celebrated its 40th Anniversary with a 40 for 40 Campaign with the goal of raising $40,000 for the foundation. I am thrilled to announce that it surpassed it goal, with donations going toward NAEF grants.

As the chair, I carried out a wide range of responsibilities.

The National Art Education Foundation (NAEF) invests in innovative initiatives to support instructional practice, research, and leadership in visual arts education. As an independent, philanthropic organization, NAEF has supported 395 individual projects for NAEA members since its inception in 1985. A sister organization to the National Art Education Association (NAEA), NAEF helps fund a variety of visual arts education programs for the Association and its members, providing $630,000 for NAEA Initiatives since 2011.

National Art Education Foundation (NAEF) 15th Annual Benefit

The National Art Education Foundation (NAEF) 15th Annual Benefit featured Chicago-based art educator and artist, William Estrada. NAEF invites a local arts professional to present during its annual benefit. This year, we extended the benefit with a hands-on Risograph Printing workshop for participants.

William Estrada is influenced by his experiences in California, Mexico, and Chicago, which have indelibly shaped his artistic process and pedagogical philosophy. He is currently the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Art Education and an Assistant Professor at UIC School of Art & Art History, and was a teaching artist at Telpochalli Elementary School for 23 years. His work delves deep into the pressing issues of social inequities, the migrant experience, historical amnesia, and the imperative of cultural recognition within communities that have been historically marginalized. Estrada’s artistic practice is rooted in documenting and actively engaging with public spaces. He sees these spaces as arenas for amplification, questioning, and connection with both established and organic systems. Through dialogue, artistic creation, and the amplification of existing narratives, he strives to challenge and reframe the understanding of these spaces.

Estrada’s approach to both art and teaching is centered on collaborative discourse. He encourages a critical re-examination of both public and private spaces by engaging with existing images, texts, and the political landscape. His roles as a teacher, artist, and cultural worker are intertwined. He draws on academic literature, educational settings, and personal interactions to report, record, reveal, and amplify lived experiences, aiming to foster radical imagination.

Visit https://werdmvmntstudios.com/home.html to learn more about William.

Takeaways

Who gets to make art?

Who belongs in these spaces?

“I would not be here, if it wasn’t for you – art educators” – William Estrada

Connected Arts Network (CAN)

The Connected Arts Network (CAN) National Teacher Leaders received a leadership award in recognition of their commitment to the program, art education, art teachers, and students. The past five years involved monthly virtual meetings on professional learning communities, mentorship, E,D, & I, SEL, Liz Lerman’s Critical Response Process (CRP), and Dr. Gholdy Muhammad’s Five Pursuits. As of June 2026, CAN will come to close. These K-12 art educators spent over 200 hours on PLC, with each facilitating their own PLC. To demonstrate how important and relevant this program is to art education, over 40 sessions were led by CAN national teacher leaders and teacher participants at this convention, that is 15% of its total 600 sessions. The CAN program consisted of educators from music, dance, theater, and visual arts.

I am grateful for being one of CAN’s 17 national teacher leaders.

To learn about CAN, visit https://www.arteducators.org/community/connected-arts-networks-can/connected-arts-networks-can-overview/.

DAVIS Publication/SchoolArts magazine

May of 2024, I took on the role of editor-in-chief of SchoolArts magazine. Through this role, I engage with NAEA members, share all of the great things the magazine provides, recruit new authors and maintain relationships with published authors. It is my belief that all educators should have the opportunity to be published. Aside from my role, I co-presented with fellow art educator and artist, James Rees. Our presentation, “In Dialogue: Connecting Students to Contemporary Art, Ideas, and Practices,” introduced preservice students of how “Contemporary Art in Context,” featured in SchoolArts magazine, can be a catalyst for classroom inquiry and creative exploration. They examined artist interviews, analyzed lesson connections, and developed their own studio investigations inspired by featured works. Through dialogue and hands-on practice, they left with ready-to-implement strategies that connect students to the living voices of art today.

Keynote Speakers

One of the draws to the convention is its keynote speaker series. This year NAEA welcomed Bisa Butler, Liz Flores, and Jeffrey Gibson. Each keynote sharing life stories about life, art, challenges, and the impact of educators.

Bisa Butler creates arresting portraits—composed entirely of vibrantly colored and patterned fabrics—that reimagine and celebrate narratives of Black life. 

Butler often works with photographs as source images, reimagining the figures captured as attentive portraits with layers of color and stitched details. She strategically selects fabrics, using the history or imagery of the prints to reinforce the stories she wants to communicate in each quilt. Layering materials and meanings, Butler brings to life personal and historical narratives of Black life and invites viewers to look closely and think deeply about the potential and purposes of portraiture. Source: https://www.artic.edu/artists/116361/bisa-butler

Takeaways

”You are GOLD”

Teaching taught me to be human.

Find a way to love.

We are gonna make it together.

​Liz Flores is a painter and muralist based in Chicago. 

She is deeply influenced by the everyday human experience, storytelling, and the female body. Working primarily with acrylic paint on canvas, her work is a representation of the human condition through lines, shapes, and abstract figures. It’s a reaction to life, an emotion, or a memory and is driven by her interests in community, womanhood, and Latinidad. While the women in her paintings are influenced by her experiences, they remain ambiguous in face and form, giving the viewer the opportunity to see themselves.  Source: https://www.lizfloresart.com/about

Takeaway

There is never a straight path to success.

Take a risk if you are okay with not winning.

Jeffrey Gibson grew up in major urban centers in the United States, Germany, and Korea, where he absorbed the transgressive soundtrack of the 1980s through limited access to MTV. Gibson graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1995 and received a Master of Arts in painting at the Royal College of Art, London, in 1998. While in Chicago he also worked as a research assistant on the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) for the Field Museum, a formative experience that fostered an ongoing interest in questions of ownership and notions of cultural translation. Though trained as a painter, Gibson began incorporating materials and techniques that deliberately reference his heritage—such as raw hides and bead work—around 2010. A major turning point in his career, in 2012 he presented ‘one becomes the other,’ his first solo exhibition of sculpture and video, at Participant Inc. Sculpture, moving image, and sound have since become an integral aspect of his practice. He is known for his immersive, multi-sensory installations that invoke and interweave such disparate contexts as faith-based spaces of communion and night clubs. Source: https://www.hauserwirth.com/artists/jeffrey-gibson/

Takeaway

Amplify your identity

Chicago, Illinois

In 2024, I shared this in my convention reflection – Well, it is a non-stop walking, connecting, reflecting, and learning marathon sprinkled with a sense of urgency to learn from the nation’s top K- post secondary art educators. There is so much to explore and engage in, but with so little time. It is important for educators to attend this type of convention. Otherwise, we will never know how much of an impact it has on us.

For me, the takeaways I leave with are the most rewarding. They help me assess what I am doing in the art room, implement new curricular ideas, take a closer look at how we are preparing students for life after high school, and reinforce that we are always learning and developing as educators and humans.

The convention is always a highlight, but I have to remind myself to take a break and enjoy the city.