Advanced Topics for Arts Educators

Advanced Topics for Arts Educators is a two-day professional learning workshop for a national audience of education directors at cultural institutions, arts education organization leaders and experienced teaching and social artists.

The workshop offers small group, in-depth time with big national thinkers and leaders, paired with space for reflection and planning to advance your work at home.

This year, the theme for our time together is Moving the Needle on our Equity Goals. We are honored to present workshops with two outstanding leaders who will work with us to address issues of equity at every level of our work, Shawn Ginwright, PhD and Vu Le, paired with processing and reflection time with Nicole Amri.

Our goal for our time with these leaders is to offer a comprehensive deep dive into the varied and complex ways that issues of equity must be considered at every level of our work, from how we design programs, to how we build strong relationships with young people, to how we hire employees and run our organizations. Our two days together will include specialized workshops with Dr. Ginwright and Mr. Le, as well as time with Ms. Amri to process our discoveries and make plans to bring them back home with us.

Admission is by application. Our goals in the application process are:

To build a cohort of no more than 40 people in order to produce a small group, in depth learning environment;
To build a diverse cohort so we engage our commitment to equity in order to produce a dynamic learning context with varied experiences and expertise in the room;
To include individuals who are positioned to drive progress in terms of equity in their home communities.

Note: As a reflection of MINDPOP’s commitment to Austin’s Creative Learning Initiative, the cohort will be split roughly 50/50 between participants from the Austin area and those from across the country.

Applications are due September 15th, though we encourage you to submit your information at your earliest convenience. We will be building a national cohort of up to forty participants.

Cost: $400, with scholarships available. Thanks to our generous funders, this is a significantly underwritten fee, and we are able to offer a limited number of full scholarships.

Advanced Topics for Arts Educators: Workshop Leaders and Facilitators

Shawn Ginwright, PhD is one of the nation’s leading innovators, provocateurs, and thought leaders on African American youth, youth activism, and youth development. He is Professor of Education in the Africana Studies Department and a Senior Research Associate at San Francisco State University. His research examines the ways in which youth in urban communities navigate through the constraints of poverty and struggle to create equality and justice in their schools and communities.

Vu Le (“voo lay”) is a writer, speaker, vegan, Pisces, and the former Executive Director of RVC, a nonprofit in Seattle that promotes social justice by developing leaders of color, strengthening organizations led by communities of color, and fostering collaboration between diverse communities. Known for his no-BS approach, irreverent sense of humor, and love of unicorns, Vu has been featured in dozens, if not hundreds, of his own blog posts at NonprofitAF.com.

Nicole Amri Driven by learning and creating, Nicole’s great passions are education and the arts. As a multidisciplinary artist she explores human rights issues with a focus on interpersonal relationships and societal conditions. In addition to her position as Program Director for SAY Sí, Nicole currently serves on committees in San Antonio and nationally, including SA2020, Excel Beyond the Bell SA, San Antonio’s Trauma-Informed Care Consortium, and the ARE (Artists for Racial Equity) Network under the National Guild for Community Arts Education. When she’s not working or creating, Nicole loves to dance, cook and listen to music (often at the same time).