NAEA Open Studio Conversation: We Make Us Safe: Creative Resistance for Empowering Art Educators to Support Immigrant and Mixed-Status Students

Includes a Live Web Event on 09/18/2025 at 7:00 PM (EDT)

NAEA Open Studio Conversation: We Make Us Safe: Creative Resistance for Empowering Art Educators to Support Immigrant and Mixed-Status Students 
Thursday, September 18, 2025 | 7pm ET
Cost: FREE!

Students and educators from immigrant, refugee, and mixed-status families face unique challenges, fear of separation, cultural erasure, and emotional trauma that impact their sense of belonging in schools. In this Open Studio Conversation, presenters share personal narratives and professional expertise to explore how the visual arts can serve as safe and brave spaces for connection, resilience, and authentic expression. Participants will gain actionable strategies for protecting student privacy, navigating restrictions on cultural and linguistic representation, and responding to urgent scenarios (including ICE presence on campus). The session emphasizes best practices grounded in lived experience, offering tools that affirm identity, strengthen community, and empower educators to support every learner with care, creativity, and confidence.

Please note that participation in this live event or recording does not include NAEA professional learning credit. 

Anna Pilhoefer

Past Chair, NAEA Equity, Diversity,& Inclusion Commission

Anna Pilhoefer, an artist and arts educator with more than 20 years’ experience, has led TK–12 teaching, districtwide arts leadership, and nonprofit program management. She has expanded arts access for thousands of students and served on the team of 20 that developed the California Arts Framework. She is currently the TK–12 arts program specialist for Santa Barbara Unified School District. 

Isa Obradovich

Art Education & TESOL Student; English Language Learner Writing Center Consultant, Miami University

Isabella “Isa” Obradovich is a senior at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, studying art education and Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). Isa was born in Washington, DC, to immigrant parents from France and Peru, and she was raised speaking French and Spanish, learning English upon entering school. Isa is a passionate artist, educator, activist, and content creator, and she was awarded the National Preservice Art Educator of the Year award by NAEA in 2025. In addition to her role as Preservice Commissioner on the NAEA ED&I Commission, she serves on the Ohio Art Education Association (OAEA) DEI Committee. 

Cathy Rosamond

Chair of Art Education, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

Cathy Rosamond has an extensive background in higher education teaching and research, as well as museum education for K–12 students. At NAEA, she serves on the Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Commission. Her scholarship interests include artistic research, specifically in investigations that focus on diverse approaches to inquiry.

Components visible upon registration.