The Avenue Art Gallery at 114 Washington Avenue, Endicott, NY is proud to present an exhibition highlighting the works of Art Educators, those who work with our youth and young adults in the public schools, K – 12, and the College/University levels. It has often been stated that those who cannot do, teach. The Art Educator is, by the very nature of their subject matter, the antithesis of this statement.

Art Educators, more often than not, are required to be able to demonstrate the skills they are attempting to teach, both conceptual and practical. The nature of the Arts finds many educators who are very passionate about what they do and as a result most work as practicing artists as well. Educators are in the position where they can show students not only how to create, but show them how to be artists in a real world setting.

Being a practicing and exhibiting artists allows educators to reach and motivate students on an entirely different plane. Artists who teach, create and then exhibit what they have created within a commercial or educational context possess more comprehensive knowledge enabling them to motivate students on several levels. In essence this type of art teacher is able to present to students both the stereotypical view of the artist as the romantic, living in a lofty garret, separating themselves from the notion of mixing art with economics, in contrast to the artist who excepts and understands the role of economics and our sociopolitical world impacting the artist on various levels.

From a purely statistical standpoint, there is substantial research to indicate that the Arts, when integrated into the core curriculum of a school district can have an important and substantial positive impact on students. This impact has been shown to help improve student performance, raise standardized test scores, improve student motivation, attendance and can help re-connect students to school and community.

Art Educators are in the unique position of teaching the subject that can, when properly administered, touch on and integrate almost every aspect of the curriculum and can touch on nearly every subject area. The Arts can expose students to cross curriculum connections allowing them to see the larger educational picture, to see how each of the fractured parts of the curriculum interlock and connect. The Arts, when properly administered, can teach young students many of the skills they will need to succeed in today's media based global culture. Skills like self-discipline, patients, self-introspection and healthy self-expression, cooperation and tolerance of others (other ideas and other cultures).

In addition the Arts can and do teach such important high end thinking skills in such demand by employers in today's work force. These skills include, but are not limited to such concepts as analytical thinking, lateral thinking, creative problem solving and critical thinking.

The Arts can be a means to enhance a students learning, their world-view, increase their sense of self and the quality of their daily lives, and help foster a connection to the world around them.

It is Art Educators who are on the cutting edge of this educational possibility, and as such they can indeed, through the Arts, not only shape the thinking of our children, but our community and the world.

The purpose of this historic and groundbreaking exhibition is to allow the general public a view into the inner thinking of many such teaching artists, not only to show the depth of their talent and skill, but to give some insight into how their work reflects their philosophies and how their philosophies are impacted by their work.