A house RESOLUTION

 

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA ARTS EDUCATION ASSOCIATION FOR ITS PIONEERING WORK IN THE STATE AND TO CONGRATULATE THE ADMINISTRATORS AND STAFF ON THE ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION.

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is grateful for the profound work of the South Carolina Art Education Association (SCAEA) in the State, and the members join in celebrating with its administrators and staff at the one hundredth anniversary of its founding; and

 

Whereas, in the heyday of the progressive era, SCAEA was founded by Clara Barratt, a graduate of Winthrop College, South Carolina's college for training teachers; and

 

Whereas, the SCAEA was founded under the auspices of the South Carolina Education Association (SCEA) in 1924 as one of numerous departments of pedagogical interest; and

 

Whereas, in most of its years, SCEA provided workshops for art educators at the state teachers conference. Teachers from all disciplines attended the state conferences, breaking off into their respective subject areas for specific professional development, during which sessions with one or more disciplines were often held to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching and learning. Workshop topics in the early era show a correlation with current educational issues and practices; and

 

Whereas, by the 1930s, art educators were providing sessions at the conferences to emphasize the need for art teachers to ally themselves with school administrators for support of arts in the school curriculum; and

 

Whereas, in 1933, interest in art from other cultures expressed remarkable insight into the needs of children, and by 1936, there was a pressing need to justify art education in schools as the country battled the Great Depression; and

 

Whereas, from 1943 to 1945, wartime efforts suspended or curtailed many activities of SCEA and its departments. Later, the 1951 conference emphasized interest in a statewide program evaluation and offered the first exhibition of elementary art; and

 

Whereas, in 1962, the Palmetto Education Association, which represented South Carolina's Black educators as an affiliate of NEA, organized their first art departmental meetings. Following the 1967 conference, the Palmetto Educators Association (PEA) unified with the SCEA to facilitate desegregation, which maintained separate officers for the two organizations only in the first year; and

 

Whereas, in 1972, the South Carolina Department of Education published the Administrator's Manual: Art Education, prepared by state art consultant Thomas A. Hatfield. The manual served as a guidebook for administrators in the development and implementation of art programs; and

 

Whereas, SCAEA continued as a part of SCEA until unification with the National Art Education Association (NAEA) in 1975. NAEA had been organized in 1947 with assistance from the National Education Association (NEA), along with regional art education associations; and

 

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives appreciates the century of enduring commitment that the South Carolina Art Education Association has provided in the education of the state's citizens.  Now, therefore,

 

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

 

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor the South Carolina Art Education Association for its pioneering work in the State and congratulate the administrators and staff on their one hundredth anniversary.

 

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to the South Carolina Art Education Association.

----XX----