In June 2026, KID smART is hosting its second biennial arts and education conference – celebrating 26 years of joyful learning through the arts! The 3-day conference, to be held June 24-26th at the newly opened KID smART Center for Arts & Education, will spotlight KID smART’s leadership in arts education, arts-integrated learning, and bring together artists and educators from across the region to share strategies and innovations in arts education.
Interested in sponsoring the 2026 Arts & Education Conference?
Want to present at the 2026 Arts & Education Conference?
Interested in presenting at this year’s conference?
Participants will join specialized KID smART learning cohorts each morning and attend afternoon breakout sessions on various arts education topics presented by local arts partners.
100 K-12 teachers from around the city and region will attend the conference. It is important to us to highlight the amazing work being done throughout the city in the arts education field, and we would love the afternoons to be full of a variety of arts sessions presented by our partner organizations. Following is guidance to support the development of a session proposal.
● include hands-on, practical, arts-based strategies for K-12 teachers
● center principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and/or cultural responsiveness
● promote social-emotional development and wellbeing
● center student voice
● center teacher voice
● focus on one or more of the following throughlines:
■ How do we support strong and productive
collaborations?
■ How do we cultivate belonging through our
work?
■ How does arts integration lead to deeper
learning and understanding?
KID smART Invites Submissions That
KID smART works from the understanding that the arts consistently show up in schools in four different ways:
Types of Art Education
Commitment to Accessibility
A successful conference is one in which attendees are able to participate fully. KID smART is preparing for this conference with an awareness and care for different needs attendees may have. We ask that presenters consult the following guidelines, offered in
A Planning Guide for Accessible Conference, as they develop their sessions:
● Present key points in multiple ways, including visual, auditory and tactile approaches. This includes describing images on slide shows.
● Present visual materials/ slide shows in a format that allows everyone to follow. (KID smART offers this style template that uses high-contrast colors and large, easy-to-read type).
● If using video materials, try to arrange for captioning of the videos ahead of time.
● When projectors or video screens are not in use, turn them off. This reduces background noise and helps focus the audience's attention on the speaker.
● Use a microphone to help you be heard in case you trail off.
● For questions from the audience, have people speak into a portable microphone. If a question is not spoken into a microphone, you should repeat the question into the microphone before answering.
● Speak clearly at a normal pace. Include pauses after presenting complex points or visual elements to allow any translation service to catch up
● 75 minute afternoon sessions will take place on June 24 and 25 from 1:15-2:30 pm and 2:45-4:00pm. We would like you to facilitate your session twice on your assigned day. If you are unable to facilitate twice, please let us know.
● Participants will select among 4 offerings, and each workshop will have a max of 25 participants
● An honorarium of $375 will be provided per session ($750 total for facilitating the session 2x in one day)
More Details
Ready to submit?
Apply below!