Professional Development Workshop – “North Alabama AAEA Mini-Conference”
Workshop Title: North Alabama AAEA Mini-Conference
Location: Alabama Center for the Arts, 133 2nd Ave. NE, Decatur, AL 35601 (downtown)
Room(s): You will be given the day’s schedule with meeting rooms for each session upon arrival. Check in/registration table will be in the main lobby.
*Note: Participants will sign in for each session attended.
Deadline to pre-register in Powerschool (REQUIRED): July 8
No pre-requisites.
Fee: $25.00 (for AAEA members) to help with the cost of supplies. Please bring cash to the mini-conference on July 14. No checks. No credit cards. There will be someone in the lobby of the Visual Arts building checking in attendees and collecting payment.
AAEA non-member fee: $75
*Open to all public and private art educators in the North Ala. Region
Overview and snapshot of sessions offered – The North Alabama Art Educators Association (AAEA) is hosting a one-day, hands-on Mini Professional Development (PD) session. This event is designed to provide art educators with practical, classroom-ready strategies that foster creativity, engagement, and skill development across multiple grade levels. All sessions will be conducted face-to-face and emphasize active participation, accessible materials, and adaptable techniques suitable for diverse learning environments.
Session 1: Get Your Students to Draw Big! (Pat Snow, Artist & Educator)
This engaging session focuses on helping students overcome hesitation in drawing by encouraging large-scale gesture work and reducing attachment to “precious” drawings. Participants will explore a series of gesture drawing exercises designed to build confidence and promote expressive mark-making.
A featured group activity will demonstrate how to incorporate a fun, collaborative face-drawing exercise that removes fear and builds classroom community. Strategies shared in this session can be adapted for a wide range of grade levels, including secondary and collegiate classrooms.
Pat Snow is a part-time instructor and alumnus (BFA 1990) of The University of Alabama, Dept. of Art and Art History, specializing in painting and drawing. A working artist with roots in Birmingham, AL, and Austin, TX, Snow’s work often explores narrative structures, informed by DIY and Outsider art movements. Snow was featured in the 2026 Faculty Biennial Exhibition at the Sarah Moody Gallery of Art and had a solo show, Pat Snow: You Will Never Read My Poetry, at The University of Alabama Gallery in 2022. Snow has extensive exhibition history in Birmingham, AL, and Austin, TX and was awarded the Individual Artist Fellowship/Grant by the Alabama State Council on the Arts in 2010 and 2011.
Session 2: Palette Knife Painting for the Classroom (Ahmad Austin, Art Teacher)
This hands-on workshop introduces educators to palette knife painting as a dynamic and engaging classroom technique. Participants will create a small floral painting while learning how to build texture, mix color effectively, and approach painting with an intuitive mindset.
In addition to completing a finished artwork, attendees will gain a clear, structured process that can be easily implemented in their own classrooms. The session emphasizes simplifying complex painting concepts, encouraging creative freedom, and increasing student engagement through tactile and expressive methods.
Contemporary artist and full-time art teacher, Ahmad Austin is known for his colorful, exciting canvases of jazz musicians and other individuals, which he paints using a palette knife. Austin’s work appears in private collections nationwide and abroad, including exhibitions in Belfast, Ireland.
Session 3: Beaded Bracelet Design – Color & Composition (Beth Bachuss, Art Teacher)
This interactive session uses beaded bracelet design as a means to teach foundational concepts in 2D design and color theory. Participants will explore color schemes, pattern development, and compositional balance while creating wearable art.
The lesson is highly adaptable and can be modified for a variety of grade levels. Educators will leave with practical strategies for engaging students through hands-on design projects that reinforce artistic concepts in a meaningful and accessible way.
Session 4: Mini Quilted Portraits (Kerrie Pirkle, Art Teacher)
Inspired by the work of contemporary textile artist Bisa Butler, this session introduces a simplified quilted portrait lesson designed for classroom implementation. Participants will create a 5×7 portrait using fabric, pre-printed facial images, and fabric glue.
This mini-lesson provides a manageable approach to teaching portraiture, value, and color through textile art without the need for sewing. Educators will gain a step-by-step process that supports student success while maintaining artistic rigor and creativity.
Session 5: Color Theory Class and Color Optical Illusions (Derek Cracco, Professor of Printmaking, UAB)
Derek Cracco is the associate Professor of Printmaking at UAB, Cracco has participated in numerous exhibitions nationally and internationally including Digital Printmaking Now at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in NY, “Risky Business”, P.P.O.W. Gallery, New York, NY, “Wrong Time, Wrong Place”, T.E.N.T. Center for Contemporary Art, Rotterdam, NL and Barrett Art Center, Poughkeepsie, NY which was juried by Claire Bell, Associate Curator of Prints and Drawings at the Guggenheim Museum, NY.
Cracco has been recognized for his innovative combination of traditional printmaking processes and computer graphics. His work has been purchased by several museums and by many private collections throughout the country and abroad.
Conclusion
This Mini PD session reflects AAEA’s commitment to providing meaningful, skill-based professional learning opportunities for art educators. Each workshop is designed to deliver practical techniques, encourage artistic exploration, and support immediate classroom application.
Maximum enrollment: 25 (minimum of 10 pre-registered to make)
Important: If this workshop is canceled for any reason, you will be notified via email on the email address you used to register. If you register and later find that you will not attend, PLEASE cancel your registration and don’t be a no show. Thank you.
Parking: Free parking is available in the Morgan County parking lot next to the ACA building at the corner of Lee Street and 1st & 2nd Avenues and on the street in front of our building.
Registration link: https://app.smore.com/n/dvfb1
