Perpich Visual & Media Arts Update
Jeremy Holien, Visual/Media Arts Ed. Specialist - Vol. 6
Live in Draft & Compose the Life You Want in the Year Ahead!
Greetings Art Educators!
There is likely no doubt that we are entering 2021 with more hope for the things to come than how we left 2020! We are entering a time where there are promising advances that leave us feeling a sense of gratitude for the lessons learned in the past year, and the reprioritization of life in so many ways. In a recent commencement address that I was honored to give at Minnesota State University Moorhead, I encouraged the graduates to “live in draft” and it resonated more with them than I could have imagined. Pretty soon it was showing up as the hashtag #LiveInDraft in various posts, comments, and messages sent to me after I was done. It has been a motto I have used for most of my career, but that is exactly what 2020 forced us to do. It modeled for us what was really important and taught us to hold things loosely. 2020 taught us to keep an openness to the world so that we don’t hold things so tightly that we can’t see a better version. It also taught us to not be self-limiting in what we think we can accomplish.
As I continued with the commencement address, I shared how the metaphor of a paint palette can be an illustration of lessons learned from this year. We all can choose what we want to include on our palette. While a palette’s intent is to be a space to play with the appropriate mixtures of color that will give you your intended results, if that is not working, if there is something contaminating your palette/life… scrape it off! Get rid of it. Start over, but don’t give up! Other times, life throws some unexpected colors on your palette that you did not choose. You can also intentionally make the choice to use those colors and blend them into something beautiful. You can choose to persist with it, embrace it, and use it as a learning event to do even more incredible work ahead.
Whether you are composing a painting, a song, a performance, or project to advance our world, there are basic rules of composition you can still apply to your own personal life. 2020 has caused us to ask ourselves to apply some of our own compositional conventions to our own life:
What do you want to be the focus of your story? Your life’s work? You may not know this on day one of your career, but it does reveal itself over time. We also begin to appreciate, during times like 2020, that your life’s work is not just your career. Perhaps you need to shift your focus or cause your eye to gaze in at a new part of the story you want to create and be remembered for.
Perhaps you need to be more intentional about your own story that you are creating. What ideas do you need to envision, draft, prototype, and wrestle with that will bring value to the overall composition or story arc that you are shaping in your career or more generally in life?
Perhaps we need to edit the life we were living and change it for a new draft that has the principles and values that 2020 taught us.
The story that 2020 gave all of us will impact everyone that we interact with for the rest of our lives. If you are willing to embrace the unknown, and actively work to construct the next chapters, while embracing the lessons learned from this past year, then there is nothing that can hold us back from a better future! I wish you all the best in the year to come in 2021!
Jeremy Holien
State Visual & Media Arts Education Specialist
Perpich Center for Arts Education
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Upcoming Workshops:
PLAYFEST 2021: Collaborative Stories - Constructing Digital Storytelling through Animation
I am happy to have been asked back to provide a workshop to the worldwide conference on playful learning at PLAYFEST 2021. I will be presenting a workshop using digital storytelling through animation. Join us in this investigation as we build coherent digital stories through animation techniques. Bring your ideas to life for your classroom by harnessing the power of art of the moving image!
This event will occur on January 29-30, 2021 and is completely free! Register here.
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Art-A-Fair 7: Virtual Teacher Professional Development and High School Student Workshops!
Art-A-Fair 7 is an annual tri-state high school outreach event of Minnesota State University Moorhead, where we welcome 35 schools, 250 pieces of art, and 300+ art students along with their teachers every January. This year, we have moved the workshop day to a virtual event that will be housed on this website. Although we will miss hosting hundreds of students and teachers in person, this move will allow high school students and teachers to engage in workshops for their unique interests. The exhibition will still be held in MSUM Gallery as well as online.
While the student exhibition opportunity is now closed, the teacher and student workshops will be available freely to the public. Our virtual workshop day event will officially "open" on Thursday, Jan. 28th with a live Welcome and Award Ceremony at 3:30 p.m. All other workshops and demonstrations will open at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 29th. There will be some "live" events such as a "Student to Student Panel" where high school students can talk to current college students, as well as a "live" Art Careers session, among others. There will also be live teacher events, as well as several recorded short workshops which I will be offering related to distance teaching practices that will continue to be useful in a post COVID-19 era, to digital arts integrations, to practical ideas for standards implementation processes. Learn more about this event by checking out this website, and be sure to register here by January 22nd to gain FREE access for yourself or students!
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Online Professional Development Workshops:
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The MN Academic Arts Standards Are Approved!
The rulemaking process for the 2018 Minnesota K-12 Academic Standards in the Arts is complete! Students CREATE – PERFORM – RESPOND – CONNECT. The (new) standards are based on National Core Arts Standards (2014), contemporary research, and best practices in arts education. Implementation of these standards will lead to improved instruction and learning in our schools.
The Minnesota Department of Education has set the 2021-22 school year as the year for full implementation of the new anchor standards and music-specific benchmarks. Full implementation is defined as:
Instruction in arts education in grades K-8 must include all the required 2018 arts standards and grade-level benchmarks in at least two arts areas.
Instruction at the high school level must include all the required 2018 arts standards and benchmarks for grades 9-12 in at least one arts area.
Achievement of standards/benchmarks is monitored [within the district].
If you have already started the transition process to the (new) 2018 standards, be aware that there is one minor clarification in anchor standard 10. It now reads, “Demonstrate an understanding that artistic works influence and are influenced by personal, societal, cultural, and historical contexts, including the contributions of Minnesota American Indian tribes and communities.” (No changes were made to the grade-level benchmarks.)
If your district/department has not yet started to look at the new standards, help is available to make the process as easy, straightforward, and clear as possible. Email me for availability and more information at: jeremy.holien@pcae.k12.mn.us
Perpich has the current Minnesota K-12 Academic Arts Standards along with tools to assist with implementation, curriculum development, and more. You can see all of these resources at our website.
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Application for the Comprehensive Arts Planning Program (CAPP) Now Open
Perpich Center for Arts Education is proud to announce the opening of 2021- 2023 applications for Minnesota’s Comprehensive Arts Planning Program (CAPP). We cordially invite your school district to apply.
Please find all materials for the application HERE. Scroll down to the eligibility heading.
Minnesota’s Comprehensive Arts Planning Program (CAPP) provides assistance to selected public school districts as they design three-year, strategic plans for K-12 arts education programs. CAPP provides financial and technical assistance to support the strategic planning process through workshops, site visits, leadership training and resource materials. Examples of arts education improvements through CAPP in school districts and communities include:
Development of leaders in arts education
New or revised curriculum and assessments in arts areas to meet the Minnesota Arts Standards
Professional development opportunities for arts and non-arts teachers
Added arts staffing
Opportunities for students to work with professional artists
New or updated arts facilities
Policies adopted to support arts education
Stronger school/community collaborations including partnership with arts and community organizations and high education institutions
Upcoming Deadlines-
Fri, Jan 8th, 2021 @ 4PM (passed)- Please submit any additional questions about the CAPP application process by this deadline.
Fri, Jan 15th, 2021- We will post an addendum to the FAQ section with answers to additional submitted questions.
Mon, Feb 1, 2021, 4PM- Closing deadline for 2021- 2023 CAPP Application
Please direct all questions to Lon Lamprecht, lon.lamprecht@pcae.k12.mn.us
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Thank You!
-Art
-Entertainment Industries & Technology
-Media Arts & Design
-Performing Arts
And Departments of
-English
-History
-Languages
-Critical Race & Women’s Studies
-Philosophy
I have so much gratitude for this incredible institution!
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Get Connected!
Jeremy Holien - State Visual & Media Arts Education Specialist
Email: jeremy.holien@pcae.k12.mn.us
Website: http://perpich.mn.gov/
Location: 6125 Olson Memorial Highway, Golden Valley, MN, United States
Phone: 763-279-4185
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Perpich Arts High School Admissions Deadline - February 1, 2021
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Helpful Links & Resources
Perpich and MDE Resources:
You are able to find a series of tools, standards resources, and instructional support on my page of the Perpich Center for Arts Education website located here.
Additionally, all of the official MDE standards resources, state policies in arts education, and COVID-19 resources that we have collaborated on are curated here.
Featured Resources: Resources for Distance Learning from MN Department of Education
Check this page from Minnesota Department of Education for general information on providing student instruction via distance learning. Under the heading Academic Standards Support, the first link has information specific to the Arts.