By Meg Brazill

The last twenty minutes drive to Bread Loaf kept getting better. The crisp air and bright blue skies made for perfect companions on this mid-week adventure. The two-day VAAE Conference, held September 24 and 25 on Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf Campus, was full of the promise of enriching, educating, and inspiring its participants.

More than 250 arts educators, administrators, artists and members of the education community attended this year’s conference. “That’s a record,” said VAAE’s Executive Director, Anne Taylor. “What this year’s conference has to offer combined with the excitement generated from conferences over the past few years appears to be the right direction for all of us.”

A dynamic choice of over fifty workshops filled the two-day schedule. The workshops included an interesting and eclectic mix, reinforcing the conference’s theme, “Integrating World Arts.” By investing the theme directly into the curriculum each attendee was able to personally sample and absorb other world cultures, a taste at a time. World culture choices included Japanese Bunraku puppets, Inuit Blanket Designs, African Mask Making, French Canadian Step-Dancing, Roots of Latin American Music, Oral Tradition Musicianship from Africa, Chinese Dragon Puppets, Polish Folk Arts, Middle Eastern Dance, Quelques Chansons, World Music for Chorus, and Thai Dances and Games, among others.

A complementary palette of workshops such as “Open the Art Box: Working the Arts into the Curriculum” and “Putting Together a Cross-Cultural Curriculum” provided specific tools for arts educators. Art Costa, Judy Dow, Donald Knaack, and David Martin provided unique, new perspectives on the use of recycled materials for making art, in and out of the classroom. 

Technology was well represented by Marty Leech in her PowerPoint Presentations class as students ran outside, digital cameras in hand, to capture photos of the glorious Vermont autumn morning. Back inside they learned how to transfer those images into powerful presentations for engaging teachers, students, parents and peers. J. Duncan McCutchan took workshop students out into the larger world, exploring the Web for Intercultural Learning and International Student Email.

Traditional workshop favorites were well represented by sessions in clay sculpting, kite making, mural painting, making marble papers, singing, weaving, storytelling, and others. The Arts and Accountability in the 21st Century and Vermont Arts Council’s Grant Writing workshops were also well attended.

Widely disparate scenes emerged around the campus throughout the day. An open barn door would reveal a handful of painters, standing with five foot poles, daubing paint on murals spread out across the floor. Led by professional scenic painter Terry Sylvester, the group practiced transferring small images to large ones, prior to painting. Over the two days the group completed two large murals on paper. 

Just around the corner, nearly twenty teachers were engaged in instrument making, under the tutelage of Giovanni Ciarlo and Kathleen Sartor of the group “Sirius Coyote.” Ciarlo kept up a patter of useful instructions combined with playful commentary while Sartor provided detailed lists of materials on the blackboard. Between the two, they made instrument making seem like something a child could do – and so could a teacher! Arts Administrator, Sabrina Brown (Pentangle Council on the Arts), took advantage of Ciarlo and Sartor’s visit to Vermont to invite them to teach instrument making at Woodstock Elementary School. The conference is, of course, intended to foster connections just like this one. 

Upstairs, feet moved joyfully to hip hop music during one session and to French Canadian Step Dancing during the next. A few doors away, Li Min Mo presented her vision for combining literature with the visual arts, while making a connection to her own Chinese culture. Meanwhile, back downstairs, Gerry Gatz inspired a roomful of artist educators in a different Asian artform: Bunraku puppets. Smiles broke out around the room as workshop participants lifted their finished puppet, bringing it to life and life to it. They stood there, admiring one another’s work and showing a bit of astonishment at their own. Gatz seemed to take it all in stride, an indication that this kind of accomplishment is typical for his workshops.
 
 

Participants work with Giovanni Ciarlo (right) in the Roots of Latin America Workshop.	Participant puts finishing touches to her puppet in the Bunraku: Traditional Japanese Puppet Form Workshop.

Everywhere, conference participants hurried excitedly to their classes, emerging from them armed with new creations, samples, and information on how to bring this work into their own classrooms. Fortunately, the busy schedule allowed ample time for socializing and networking at meals, viewing the artists’ showcases, attending student performances, and visiting the exhibitors. 

Familiar names on the Vermont Arts Council’s “Juried Artist Register” became familiar faces on Tuesday evening when Donald Knaack (aka The Junkman), Rik Palieri, Recille Hamrell, Jeremy Seeger and Karen Amirault performed at the VAAE Conference. The extremely diverse group presented an unusual gathering – from conservatory-trained percussionist and composer Donald Knaack’s infectious drumming grooves on junk/recycled materials to Jeremy Seeger’s beautiful dulcimers and dulcimer music. All the artists are available for school bookings.

The work of arts educators came into tight focus when Deputy Commissioner Doug Walker from the Department of Education briefly took the stage. He presented a promising picture of the “No Child Left Behind” Act and how it will open an important role for the arts in education. The arts are now recognized as a core of education. While the recognition of the arts is critical, it seems likely that funds will also line up behind this acknowledgement. He also quoted Vermont Education Commissioner, Ray McNulty, “What we’re all about is preparing kids for the test of life.” 

Hafiz Shabazz, the keynote speaker at this year’s conference, delivered his speech on a very personal level in his engaging, relaxed manner. Shabazz is widely known for his work as Director of the World Music Percussion Ensemble at Dartmouth College where he is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Music. From his opening remarks, where he described the human voice as the ultimate instrument – the most compelling and none more demanding than it, to his analysis of the state of rap music, Shabazz touched on large and important issues. In the end, hearkening back to Dr. Martin Luther King’s question, “Where do we go from here?” – he called on each person in the room to love themselves for who they are. Shabazz said that, in this way, “you’ll be able to walk through any door, exuding love.”

Deputy Commissioner Doug Walker briefly explains the “No Child Left Behind” law that includes the arts as a core subject.	Shabazz demonstrates West African rhythms to teacher Mike Turk.

People who attended his drumming workshop later that day experienced that first hand. Shabazz projects an awe-inspiring energy and talent through his hands and the sound he delivers on his drums. He is also a warm and kind teacher, drawing from his students a willingness to work extremely hard for him and for themselves.

Wednesday afternoon the conference concluded. With afternoon snacks and certificates in hand, participants began the trek home under a spectacular blue autumn sky. Were there any regrets? “Not being able to do it all,” laughed several participants in unison. Maybe next year.

For information about the 2003 VAAE Conference, watch for details on the Web site at: www.vaae.org. Be sure to be on the mailing list for announcements.