Last year, the Art Educators of the Northern Territory (AENT), came together on Larrakia Country to participate in the 2021 Nurturing Creativity Conference. 

Zooming into talks from Boonwurrung artist Maree Clarke and Gugu Yimithirr artist Vernon Ah Kee were among many highlights!

We had a wonderful time participating in the conference; getting together for any professional learning is always a joy with the AENT, and this was a fantastic opportunity to connect and make some art in good company.

The conference sparked a lot of great conversations and reflections on our practice, using the topics from the conference as a platform to collaborate and share some projects that we are currently doing in our classrooms and discuss how we can do them better. The conference was so uplifting and inspiring; we were all supplied with amazing materials, it was such a celebration of teaching.

There were so many fantastic workshops to dial into, we spent the morning together for the keynote speakers and then worked in smaller separate groups for the art-making sessions, setting up in homes and art spaces to get into what we love the most: experimenting with new materials and ideas.

Diving into sessions of dynamic creating were mirrored by insightful dialogue and inquiry, rooted in conversation about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art in the classroom. The space was buzzing as we enjoyed switching over into the place of students, being totally engrossed in what each of the facilitators were sharing.

Leaving a two-day conference with so many ideas as well as the guidance and structure to implement the learning into the classroom was a clear indication of a successful learning experience for educators. We have been able to continue this sharing with each other since the conference, already transferring some of the knowledge and activities into both primary and secondary schools.

Thank you for having us, I know we will be there again for the next one!

Lucy Found
President of the Art Educators of the Northern Territory