One week until the Journey Begins!

Hello Everyone! Sorry I'm so late in joining the conversation here. I just got back from a great trip to Edinburgh for a Children's Theatre Festival. I can't wait to share more about it. My name is Meriah Sage and I have been working with Aesthetic Education (AE) for about seven years. I worked with Kalamazoo's program and as a member of LCI's National Facilitation Team with their teaching artist professional development program. I'm really excited to share this week with you. It sounds like there is a lot of experience, knowledge and talent among all of you and I can't wait to learn more. I think one of the best things about the LCI program is that while its philosophy stays solidly grounded in John Dewey, Maxine Greene and works of art themselves, and the hallmarks of the teaching stay the same, they are constantly striving to improve their practices and methods to reach the current and individual workshop participant (child or adult). I've been out of the loop for about a year- so I'm excited to see what's changed! Additionally each workshop is created for the specific work of art and group so all of the experiences will be new for me as well. The NEW is usually filled with educators of all kinds- teaching artists, classroom teachers from elementary to high school, dance, art and music teachers in the schools, university professors, education directors at art organizations, etc. I always find the diversity rewarding and exciting. The teaching artists conducting this workshop are great. The visual artist, Barbara Ellmann, has been working with LCI for over 20 years and is a master at her craft (and she's very fun and full of energy). She also works as a museum educator at MOMA and is the founder of the New York Artists Circle. The other artists and staff are also wonderful- it should be a great week!

Also- I wanted to mention logistically that the workshops begin daily at 8:30am, but there is free continental breakfast from 8-8:30am at the workshop site. Lunch is an hour long and is on our own. There are many great small local places to go for lunch within close walking distance. The workshop site usually has free water, pop and quick snacks (granola bars, trail mix, etc) for the participants throughout the workshops. Lastly, the building where the workshops will be held tends to be warm in some rooms and cool in others (not extreme in either case, but I suggest wearing layers). If you have any questions about the city, philosophy or workshop, I'm happy to try to help! I'm not sure I'll know the answer, but I can certainly find it for you. I'm looking forward to next week!