Artist Connections: Open Studio Conversation With Shannon Downey
Includes a Live Web Event on 11/19/2026 at 7:00 PM (EST)
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Register
- Non-member - Free!
- Member - Free!
Artist Connections: Open Studio Conversation With Shannon Downey
Thursday, November 19, 2026
Cost: FREE!
Join us for the next Artist Connections, an exclusive online series for students who are members of a National Art Honor Society chapter. Each live Zoom event features a 30-minute artist talk followed by a 30-minute student-led interview and Q and A, giving members the opportunity to connect directly with inspiring artists and creative leaders. Sponsors also receive pre-event instructional materials to spark discussion and can access the recording afterward to watch on demand or share during chapter meetings.
This month, students will meet Shannon Downey—an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and author who uses craft-based art to bring people together and inspire meaningful social change. Through storytelling, creativity, and collective action, Shannon encourages makers to become changemakers while exploring how art can build community and imagine a more hopeful future. Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from this amazing artist and ask your own questions during the live student interview.
This event is open to both art educators and students from National Art Honor Society (NAHS/NJAHS/NEAHS) Chapters.
If you are a sponsor registering students, please complete the registration form and forward the email confirmation, including the Zoom meeting link, directly to your students in accordance with your school’s privacy and online learning policies.
If you are registering for yourself and not for students, please complete the registration form. You can skip the questions related to NAHS. Completing the registration form is necessary to receive the Zoom link, as you will not be able to join the meeting through our Professional Learning Studio.
Please note that participation in this live event or recording does not include NAEA professional learning credit.
Shannon Downey
Art Activist
Shannon Downey, aka Badass Cross Stitch, is an artist, activist, craftivist, community builder, and general instigator. Shannon leverages craft-based art forms to bring people together and offers them opportunities to transition from makers to change makers. Her work is about telling the truth and confronting harsh realities while simultaneously inspiring radical hope and a vision for what is possible. Shannon has served as adjunct faculty at DePaul University, Columbia College Chicago, Salem College, and Mary Baldwin University. Her first book, Let’s Move the Needle, an activism handbook for artists, crafters, creatives, and makers who want to build community and make change, can be found anywhere books are sold.
