Dear Art Education Majors:

As the incoming chair and on behalf of the entire Art Education faculty and staff, I want to welcome you back to MassArt.  We anticipate another great year of working, learning, teaching, making work and socializing together. 

 To get the year started, you are cordially required to attend the Majors Orientation Day on Wednesday, September 3^rd.  We convene as a department at 9:00 a.m.  in the Student Lounge (2^nd Fl., Kennedy) for the ArtEd Café. Don't miss the opportunity to have your faculty serve you coffee and Danishes.  During the Café, Dr. Lois Hetland facilitates a morning of small-group conversation about perceptions of the teaching and learning in the Art Education majors.  This morning offers us an opportunity to learn from each other in a relaxed, ‘coffee-house' setting.  

After the morning session, you are encouraged to grab lunch on your own in small groups and reconvene at The Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA).  We wrap up around 3:00 PM, after which, you are invited to linger at the ICA.

Some important details: 

•         We start at 9:00 a.m.  on Wednesday, September 3^rd in the Student Lounge.

•         Bring a Charlie Card to get to the ICA.

•         Bring your MassArt Student ID - this gets you into the ICA free.

•         Expect the day to finish at the ICA at 3:00 PM.

Warmest Regards,

Dr. Dan Serig

 Photo:  Dan and his daughters in Ecuador

 A Message from Maureen Kelly 

Hello and almost welcome back to all our students in the Art Education Department! I wish you an upcoming academic year full of challenge, opportunity and accomplishment. And I wanted to let you know of several staffing changes within the department that will soon take effect.

 Beginning on Wednesday the 20^th of August, faculty member Dan Serig will take over as Art Education Chair. This is Dan's fourth year at the college, and he has served as Graduate Program Coordinator for the last three. Dan came to us from his doctoral program at Teacher's College, Columbia University. He brings expertise in both teaching and art making. I am sure you will enjoy working with him. His office is in South 107, really next to Deborah in South 106 if the wall was not there! His contact info is: 617-879-7 549 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Congratulations to Lois Hetland who, with research partners Lynn Goldsmith and Ellen Winner, has been awarded a major National Science Foundation grant.  The project, entitled "Can Visual Arts Learning Improve Geometric Reasoning? A Transfer Study," is under Lois's direction.

The Art Education Department welcomes the new cohort in the MSAE Program. 

New students are encouraged to create accounts at MassArtEd.
Just sign up and your account will be activated by the admin. 

When you create your account, you will be added to the active MSAE student pages and will have access to department documents and information, job listings, course pages, blogs and personal pages, and galleries. Students with exhibits should submit  exhibit images and information to Deborah at least 2 weeks before their show so it can be featured at the site. 

This year, the MSAE students will be using Digication to host their e-Portfolios.  You will create these accounts during Teaching  in New Media.

Students are also reminded to activate their massart.edu email accounts.
You will need this email account (and your massart ID information) to access the school's wi-fi, library resources and other important  school information.

The Computer Arts Center offers workshops in various software and hardware during the school year. Check the CAC Webpage for  more info.

Please make sure you note the username and passwords you use to create your accounts and keep them secure.

The first MSAE trip to Ecuador was a great success!

Students experienced the Andean cultures of Ecuador as part of the Masters program's new travel course.

Dan Serig, accompanied by Art Ed faculty Lois Hetland and John Crowe, visited Ecuador for a two-week journey. Juan Ormaza, Ecuadorian and MassArt Foundations professor, guided the group through the incredible mix of cultural, social, historical and biological diversity that makes Ecuador one of the most remarkable places to visit. 

More information about this course

(Which will be offered again in Summer 2009.)