Early Childhood Art Education in Action: Stories from the Field

Includes a Live Web Event on 06/04/2025 at 7:00 PM (EDT)


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Early Childhood Art Education in Action: Stories from the Field
Wednesday, June 4, 2025 | 7–8pm ET
FREE for NAEA members; $49 for nonmembers

Learn from early childhood art educators who work with young children as they share stories from the classroom illustrating contemporary art education practices alongside theoretical foundations—all while emphasizing the unique artistic abilities of young children. Join us to gain valuable insights into the transformative role art plays in early childhood education.

Gigi Schroeder Yu

Assistant Professor in Art Education, University of New Mexico

Gigi Schroeder Yu is an assistant professor of art education at the University of New Mexico and the president of the National Art Education Association Early Childhood Interest Group. She cofounded the New Mexico Collaborative Teachers Institute, a Reggio Emilia–inspired community of practice for early childhood educators from diverse contexts, including classrooms, museums, and arts-based programs. Her research explores collaboration as an affective entanglement among children, artists, and educators. From 2019 to 2024, she was an editor for the North American Reggio Emilia Alliance (NAREA) publication Innovations in Early Education: The International Reggio Emilia Exchange.

Shana Cinquemani

Associate Professor, Teaching + Learning in Art + Design, Rhode Island School of Design

Shana Cinquemani is an early childhood and elementary art educator and researcher. Her research interests are grounded in ethical research practices with children, relationships between children and adults in the art classroom space, curriculum inquiry and theory in early childhood art, the conceptualization of children’s art as a meaningful sociocultural practice, and motherscholarship.

Mary Geisser

Art Teacher, Parker Elementary School, New Bedford, MA

Mary Geisser is the art teacher at Parker Elementary School in New Bedford, MA, and is Early Childhood and Art Education Certified in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. She has taught art at the RI School for the Deaf and has experience as an early childhood teacher and college professor. Mary has worked to establish representation for early childhood education within the Rhode Island and Massachusetts Art Education Associations.

Helen McDonald

Early Childhood Educator, Santa Fe Early Childhood Center, Santa Fe, NM

Helen McDonald has taught in early childhood and elementary education for almost 20 years as a program director, classroom teacher, and arts coordinator. She is passionate about advocating for the strong image of the child and fostering children’s relationship to the expressive arts and the natural world through the lens of emergent curriculum.

Upon completion of this NAEA webinar, you may earn 1 hour of professional development credit as designated by NAEA. Once the webinar is completed, you may view/print a Certification of Participation under the "Contents" tab. You may also print a transcript of all webinars attended under the "Dashboard" link in the right sidebar section of the page.  

Clock hours provided upon completion of any NAEA professional learning program are granted for participation in an organized professional learning experience under responsible sponsorship, capable direction and qualified instruction, and can be used toward continuing education credit in most states. It is the responsibility of the participant to verify acceptance by professional governing authorities in their area.

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