I thought the NSEAD Conference weekend (March 16/17/18) was brilliant. I have lots of positive feedback and was delighted to see so many people there. As well as having inspirational speakers and information by the bucket load, we had great breakout sessions with practitioners sharing what they are good at (with enthusiasm and passion) and a really great start with the Friday night Artist Teacher session. Sunday ending at the Shipley Art Gallery with yet another inspiring set of speakers and a practical session….well, that was also an amazing day.
All the thank you messages in the world can’t do enough to show appreciation to everyone who was a part of this eventful weekend. At a time when our esteemed Secretary of State for Education seems ignorant of the value of the Arts, being with passionate people who truly do care and will never let go of their beliefs- is inspiring, is important, is invaluable.
Catch up with some of the speakers at this link:
NSEAD Conference videos
Then, I have to mention the Drawing Inspiration Event at Baltic on the 23rd March. This was to celebrate drawing as part of the gallery’s tenth birthday celebrations and we invited Eileen Adams (Campaign for Drawing, Big Draw etc) to come up and facilitate the event alongside myself and Lucy Smith and Leanne Forster. You might think running an event on a Friday evening is a bit bizarre, but 100 signed up and about 80 turned up. We explored our senses through drawing activities, long and short, individual, paired and in groups and everyone had a fun and creative time. Many of the activities could be taken straight into the classroom and can certainly contribute to a Big Draw event in schools/colleges.
