PNCA, as part of the Centennial Celebration, is excited to present Children’s Creativity: Why the Visual Arts Matter. Featuring Dr. Lois Hetland, Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz and Rachel O’Rourke this full program of speakers, workshops and lectures explores and reinforces the importance of visual art in our children’s development.

Download the print brochure.

Workshops

Workshops allow participants and experts to discuss art and childhood development through different paradigms. Designed to engage art educators, artists, counselors and parents in how to utilize best practices in education, mediation, development and therapy; this is an opportunity to work with three individuals at the forefront of the academic movement to enrich childhood with art.

Wednesday, November 11, 9:30am-12:30pm
Arts-Based Mediation + Conflict Resolution Rachel O’Rourke

Wednesday, November 11, 2-5pm
Studio Habits of the Mind
with Dr. Lois Hetland
Event Co-Sponsored by: Oregon Art Education Association

Friday, November 13, 2:00-4:30pm
Children’s Books and Children’s Imagination with Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz
Event Co-Sponsored by: Oregon Psychoanalytic Center

Saturday, November 14, 1:30-5pm movie screening and discussion *Child and Parent: Learning from the Visual
Arts*
Event Co-Sponsored by: Oregon Psychoanalytic Center

Saturday, November 14, 12-12:45pm
Panel Discussion of the PNCA Children’s Art Archive and Centennial Exhibit

The exhibition, Imagine: 100 Years of Work from PNCA’s Children’s Art Archive, is curated by Sally Lawrence, PNCA President Emerita, Amy Williams, former PNCA Youth Art Program Director, with additional support from longtime Youth Program faculty Bonnie Allen and MaryEllen Hartman.
No registration required!

Public Programing

Thursday, November 12, 6:30-7:30pm
Join Dr. Lois Hetland as she presents The Visual Arts and Children’s Creativity. Held in the PNCA Commons, this event is free and open to the public. Following the lecture Dr. Hetland signs copy of her latest book.

Keynote Address

Friday, November 13, 6:30-7:30pm
Dr. Ellen Spitz delivers the keynote address “Reflections on Space and Childhood,” in the PNCA Commons. Dr. Spitz will sign several of her books following the lecture. This event is free and open to the public.

Exhibition

Imagine: 100 Years of Work from PNCA’s Children’s Art Archives
November 11–December 1
PNCA Swigert Commons
This event is free and open to the public.

Since its founding in early 1909, Pacific Northwest College of Art (formerly the Museum Art School) has fostered generations of artists and designers through its youth art programs. A retrospective from the College’s youth art archives provides a time capsule of artwork spanning generations of Portland’s youth. The exhibition is curated by Sally Lawrence, PNCA President Emerita, Amy Williams, former PNCA Youth Art Program Director, with additional support from longtime Youth Program faculty Bonnie Allen and MaryEllen Hartman.

About the Symposium

This Symposium focuses on the relevance of artistic processes of inquiry, reflection, and expression to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children. Artistic activities are now recognized for more than enriching individual lives; the capacity for metaphorical thinking, the ability for creative problem-solving, and the engagement in life-long learning have been identified as key requirements for a fulfilled and productive participation in the cultural, social, and economic processes of the 21st century society. The symposium will report and explore the growing body of evidence that the arts nurture and develop complex thinking and communication skills, which are all too often marginalized in a discipline-focused and test-driven educational environment.