The newly formed SLC Art Educators Association teamed up with the St. Lawrence County Arts Council for their professional development sessions recently.

Over thirty K-12 art educators from across St. Lawrence County met to discuss current issues facing them with the implementation of the Common Core, new assessment strategies and engage in curriculum enrichment workshops.

“We were thrilled to host the art teachers at SLC Arts, it is such a natural and necessary alliance for all of us,” Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton, SLC Arts.

With funding from the Teacher’s Learning Center and administrative support from SLC BOCES, the teachers were able to spend the day learning from one another, building a community of teaching artists, and participate in workshops with local artists.

After a session on sharing best practices in the classroom, the teachers participated in hands-on workshops.

Fiber and paper artist, Velma Bolyard, taught two workshops on papermaking. Sharon Cheng, painter and sculptor, taught two workshops on mixed media sculpture and creative self-expression. Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton taught an additional two workshops on monotype printmaking.

The SLC Art Educators will meet in the coming months to form a leadership committee in order to effectively engage burning issues in their field both locally and at the state level. The St. Lawrence County Arts Council plans to assist their efforts by providing meeting space and administrative support.

For more information, or to register for an upcoming class, contact 265-6860 or www.slcartscouncil.org.