Creative Connections Arts Educators’ Conference

On Monday, October 24, 202, the Guild will host local arts educators from our 3 area school systems: Dalton Public Schools, Murray County Schools, and Whitfield County Schools for a full day of professional development.

The goals of Creative Connections are:

To offer accessible, local, quality professional development for our area arts educators
To offer opportunities for vertical teaming and cross curriculum/cross disciplinary discussion
To build and strengthen community partnerships by sharing resources across our three area public school systems
To support area arts educators so that they feel validated and celebrated and so leave Creative Connections refueled and eager to get back into the classroom and share the arts with their students

Workshops

Creative Connections offers a wide variety of workshops taught by high quality arts educators and teaching artists from all over our region. Each conference participant was able to select two 1.5 hour workshops through the online registration process. For more info, please contact Creative Arts Guild Arts in Education Director, Amanda Walker at 706.278.0168 or amandaw@creativeartsguild.org.

List of 2022 Workshops (Printable PDF)

2022 Creative Connections - Monday, October 24 Schedule

About Creative Connections

Creative Connections was born from a re-visioning process of the Creative Arts Guild that began in summer of 2015. The purpose of our process was to ensure we are doing our best to serve our current community needs in the areas of arts in culture as our community stands today. One thing that came out of the yearlong process was our renewed focus on supporting working artists and our arts educators. As the Guild has always had a strong interest and focus on arts education for the art student, the opportunity to deepen that relationship and broaden arts exposure to all - through professional development for arts educators is an exciting new venture. The Creative Arts Guild worked very closely with a team of administrators and arts educators - with representatives from all of our area public school systems - who acted as an advisory panel during the development of the conference. Because of their guidance and input, we can be sure that the conference is geared towards the needs of our teachers. We look forward to hosting everyone again and to having a day of celebration, exploration and learning focused entirely around the arts!

We - at the Creative Arts Guild - want this to feel like gas in the tank for our arts educators - something to nourish their minds and souls - so that they are ready to jump back into the classroom with some fresh energy – feeling supported, appreciated and celebrated for the work they do! We are honored to be your trusted resource for arts and culture in our community! Thank you!

2022 Keynote Speaker - Sponsored by O.N. Jonas Foundation

Dr. Sarah Erickson

Dr. Sarah Erickson has worked in the metro Atlanta area in art education for the last 18 years. Last year, she transitioned into a teacher leadership role in Atlanta Public Schools. She develops professional development for visual arts teachers, organizes an annual District-wide arts field trip program called Cultural Experience Project with the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs, mentors new arts hires, and assists a new arts integration and STEAM cohort.

In addition to her work in public education, Sarah works with The Art of Education University, teaching graduate-level courses with concentrations in curriculum, instructional methods, and arts integration. When she is not a teacher, she hones her creativity as a member of the Atlanta Printmakers Studio.