On what might appear as an ordinary Saturday in Seattle, over 50 visual arts educators gathered at the Seattle Asian Art Museum for an intensive day of professional development, forging paths to cultivate inclusive and diverse learning environments. The Creative Advantage, in partnership with the Seattle Art Museum, orchestrated the second annual Seattle Visual Arts Education Coalition Professional Development Day, focusing on educator-requested topics. The day was brimming with collaborative workshops designed to enrich the pedagogical toolsets of those shaping young minds in visual arts.

The sessions were diverse, each unique in addressing the multifaceted nuances of art education. According to the Seattle Office of Arts & Culture, elementary visual arts teacher Julie Trout and multilingual specialist Nicole Shimizu led “Building Belonging, Agency, and Cultural Identity for Multilingual Learners in the Visual Arts Classroom.” Boasting over half a century of collective experience, the pair spotlighted the visual arts classroom as a haven for multilingual students, focusing on the speech emergence stage and ways to express culture and identity visually.

Fostering creative independence, Mary Howard Logel, a West Seattle High School art teacher and teaching artist Alicia Betty, led the workshop “Implementing Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) Across Classroom and Informal Learning Settings.” Participants delved into the TAB methodology, a student-centered approach that shepherds students to think and create with the autonomy reflective of artists at work.

Amid artwork that inspired transformation and embodiment, attendees at Joanna Warren and Lauren Appel’s workshop melded art therapy with classroom practices to craft process-based sculptures, a session that highlighted the nuances of conveying complex themes through tangible art forms. Meanwhile, Special Education Specialists Alison Spencer, Michelle Bammert, and Melissa Baron conducted “Meaningful Inclusion: Engaging With Distinct and Focus Pathway Students in Visual Arts Classrooms,” a workshop aiming to bridge gaps and carve spaces for learners in intensive education pathways.