Symposium on
Anti-Racism
in Arts Education
In Fall 2020, AEMS restructured its annual arts educator conference into a Symposium on Anti-Racism in Arts Education.
Responding to ongoing violence against people of color and the larger social outcry around racial inequities ingrained in American society, the Symposium is part of a larger series of initiatives by AEMS to address the need for effective training on culturally responsive teaching, race-equitable pedagogy, and diversification of arts curriculums.
SYMPOSIUM SATELLITE SESSIONS
In the 2023-2024 school year, AEMS revisioned the Symposium on Anti-Racism in Arts Education in an effort to continue fulfilling our commitments to anti-racism while also addressing arts educators' capacity limitations and expressed desire for more in-person connection. The Symposium is now a series of "Symposium Satellite Sessions" presented by anti-racism content experts in the arts disciplines of dance, music, theatre, and visual arts at annual arts educator professional association conferences.
SAVE THE DATES
Conference Date TBA
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​"A lot of what was discussed really affirmed what I do in my class and also showed me what I can do more of, like having even more student voice."
- Feedback from a session attendee
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88% of Survey Respondents Agreed or Strongly Agreed that the information was helpful or useful in their understanding of antiracism in arts education.
PAST SYMPOSIUMS
2022-23
The 3rd Annual Arts Education Symposium on Anti-Racism returned on February 4, 2023 with keynote speaker Ivory Toldson Ph.D., national director of Education Innovation and Research for the NAACP, professor of counseling psychology at Howard University and editor-in-chief of The Journal of Negro Education.
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Additionally, participants experiences healing and learning sessions in affinity spaces with expert facilitators, collaborate in anti-racism arts education breakouts for each arts discipline, and more!​​
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2021
On November 13, 2021 AEMS hosted a a day of exciting, insightful, and compelling experiences to deepen Maryland arts educators' understanding of anti-racism and abolitionist teaching in arts education, produced in partnership with Baltimore Corps.
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The virtual symposium included keynote speaker Gloria Ladson Billings, breakout sessions focusing on racial equity facilitation, small group affinity spaces, and arts education centered workshops to address national trends that may affect the classroom.
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We encourage everyone to continue deepening their understanding of anti-racist and abolitionist teaching in arts education.
View Nikole Hannah-Jones’ presentation of The 1619 Project: Confronting Hard Truths during the 2022 Baltimore City Lit Festival here.
2020
Dr. Bettina L. Love is an award-winning author and Associate Professor at the University of Georgia, renowned for her research on antiblackness in schools, Hip Hop education, and urban education. Her work emphasizes the importance of building socially just, civically engaged schools in partnership with communities. She was named the Nasir Jones Hiphop Fellow at Harvard's Hutchins Center in 2016 and created the Hip Hop civics curriculum GET FREE. Dr. Love is a sought-after speaker on topics like anti-blackness, Black girlhood, queer youth, and Hip Hop feminism. She has been recognized with numerous awards, including a 2018 resolution from Georgia's House of Representatives. She has also contributed to various publications and authored key works, including We Want To Do More Than Survive and Hip Hop’s Li’l Sistas Speak. In 2017, she edited a special issue of the Journal of Lesbian Studies on Black and Brown lesbian educators.
SYMPOSIUM PRESENTERS
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Community Arts​
Theatre Action Group
McKinley Wallace
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Dance​
Vanessa Jackson
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Media Arts
​Camille Gibson
Patrice Lawrence
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Music​
MeLinda Ford
Krystal Williams
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​Theatre
Asia Maxton
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​Visual Arts​​
Matthew Adelberg​​​​​
Natovian McCleod
Address
190 W. Ostend St.
Baltimore, MD
21230