Introduction

by Claudine K. Brown

From the comments made by many of the participants, Claudine Brown was sure that the last three days had proved very enlightening and fulfilled many of the goals of the planning committee, including stimulating discussion and interdisciplinary exchange. The conference may not have generated many definitive answers, but Brown was convinced that the group was, at least, closer to finding answers than they were before the conference. The issues being addressed are incredibly complex and simple solutions will not suffice.

Belief systems have been challenged and new professional relationships formed. The only way the conference could have a negative outcome, Brown asserted, was if the participants did not continue their dialogue beyond this forum.

The speakers for this final plenary were reporting on the conclusions of the Affinity Group Breakout Sessions. Catherine Leffler is an elementary school teacher in the Encino Elementary School. Leffler also coordinates the school's computer lab and a community school art gallery that exhibits work by students and professional artists. As the curriculum designer for her school's discipline-based art program, she has conducted discipline-based art education training and presentations for the news media, school board members, and other educators.

Judith Bryant is an art specialist for the Portland public schools, grades 6 through 12, as well as a practicing artist. She taught middle school for nine years and has been a curriculum coordinator for the past six. Ms. Bryant holds a B.F.A. in painting from the University of Oregon and an M.S. in elementary education from Portland State University.

Martin Rosenberg is associate professor of Art History and a member of the women's studies faculty at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. He also serves on the education committee of the College Art Association. In recent years he has focused on bringing the concerns of feminism and cultural diversity to the study of art history. One of the architects of the Prairie Visions consortium, Professor Rosenberg has coordinated the University of Nebraska's preservice program in DBAE.

Enid Zimmerman is professor of Art Education and Gifted and Talented Education at Indiana University, as well as an adjunct women's studies faculty members. Dr. Zimmerman has conducted numerous research and development projects in art education, focusing on curriculum development, multicultural art education, and women's issues.

Janis Norman is an associate professor and chair of the Art Education Department at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. With more than twenty years of experience teaching and coordinating art programs for students at all levels, Dr. Norman has worked extensively in curriculum development. She is the founder of the Art Education Connection of Greater Kansas City and has produced many presentations and publications on arts advocacy.

Anne P. El-Omami is curator of Education at the Cincinnati Art Museum and holds a B.A. in Art History, a B.F.A. in Art Education, and an M.A. in Art History and Art Education from the University of Nebraska. She has spent two years in Africa and Egypt working toward her Ph.D. in the History of Art and Cultural Anthropology from Northwestern University. Ms. El-Omami has served as a consultant for the National Endowment for the Arts, the Getty Education Institute for the Arts, and The Journal of Aesthetic Education.

Peter Pennekamp is vice-president of Cultural Programming at National Public Radio's Program Services division. In this capacity he works to spotlight America's wide-ranging cultural mix. Previously he served as the director the Inter-Arts program of the National Endowment for the Arts and assistant dean of the College of Creative Arts and Humanities at Humboldt State University in California.

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