On Tuesday, June 4^th UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator from Art, Professor Emerita of Illustration, Department of Art & Art History, Cora Lynn Deibler met with a group of 16 UConn ECE certified Art Instructors for a professional development workshop.

After welcoming comments from Prof. Deibler, the teachers joined for a roundtable discussion regarding the fundamentals of drawing. They acknowledged the fundamentals of drawing can initially be "boring" for today's young student artists as their usual visual world is fast, colorful, and immediate. While educators recognize the value of foundational work, they also know they are competing with TikTok, anime, and drawing apps. They shared strategies and insights into captivating Drawing I students, discussing impactful assignments and classroom activities that yielded enthusiastic responses from their students.

Later in the day, the group was privileged to gain insights from Professor Deibler and guest speakers Kathryn Myers, Professor of Art at UConn, and Jeanne Ciravolo, a distinguished faculty member of UConn's Department of Art and Art History, who also serves as the Director of the Alexey von Schlippe Gallery. Together, they explored portfolio preparation and admission criteria, providing valuable guidance to support students contemplating applications to collegiate-level art programs.

UConn Art courses offered through ECE

On Wednesday, April 26^th, UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Art, Prof. Cora Lynn Deibler, met with ECE Art instructors for their virtual professional development session. Dr. James J. Hughes was invited to speak with the group about AI in the art world. Dr. Hughes is an American sociologist and bioethicist. He serves as the Executive Director of the Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies and as Associate Provost at UMass Boston. He is the author of Citizen Cyborg: Why Democratic Societies Must Respond to the Redesigned Human of the Future, co-edited Surviving the Machine Age, and writes and speaks often on topics of bioethics, technology, and Buddhism. Dr. Hughes holds a doctorate in sociology from the University of Chicago, where he served as the assistant director of research for the MacLean Center for Clinical Medical Ethics. Dr. Hughes lives in Willington CT with his wife, UConn professor of art Monica Bock.

The group listened to Dr. Hughes’ presentation and engaged in a lively conversation discussing the rise of technological art-generating tools that use artificial intelligence. While students are interested in new AI tools, established artists are skeptical – even fearful. The group discussed strategies for talking about, contextualizing, and using or discouraging use of AI artmaking in our classrooms.

UConn Art courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday, April 27^th, UConn Early College Experience, and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Art, Prof. Cora Lynn Deibler, met with ECE certified Art Instructors for their annual professional development conference.

The day began with introductions and a roundtable discussion about the critiquing process and innovative solutions for both remote and in person critiquing. Later instructors took turns sharing one piece of student work from their courses and collaborated on a group critique. After a short break the instructors discussed “Imagination and Play—How Sketchbooks Fit into Art 1030” and shared the sketchbook assignment that generated the best student responses.

UConn Art Courses offered through Early College Experience.

On Wednesday May 19^th UConn Early College Experience and the UConn ECE Faculty Coordinator for Art, Department Head, ad interim and Professor of Illustration Cora Lynn Deibler met with certified Art Instructors for their professional development workshop.

The group started the day with a round table discussion about teaching studio art during the pandemic—trials, tribulations and best practices.  Later UConn ECE Instructor’s shared student work with each other and discussed grading strategies.  After a short break the instructors spoke about teaching and being an artist—how to balance two full time professions and not go crazy!

UConn Art courses offered through Early College Experience.

Along with ECE Faculty Coordinator, Cora Lynn Deibler, certified UConn ECE ART 1030: Drawing I instructors were able to visit the Thomas J. Dodd Center on the Storrs campus at to take a firsthand look at the Maurice Sendak archives.  Recently, the Maurice Sendak Foundation chose to share Sendak’s archives with the University of Connecticut who are now housing and stewarding the Collection.  Project Archivist, Clara Nguyen shared her knowledge with the group who were able to learn more about Sendak’s life, and view his original artwork, sketches, books and other materials.

UConn Art Courses through UConn ECE