CEDFA Summit 25:
The Heart of Fine Arts

Come Celebrate and Create!

CEDFA Summit 25 is a celebration and a creative playground. We will look at where we’ve been, how far we’ve come, who we are, and who we hope to become.

Why do we make art?

Investigating this central question ties back into CEDFA’s four strategic goals:

  1. facilitating systemic change through TEKS implementation

  2. providing a network of fine arts leaders

  3. strengthening instruction in fine arts, and

  4. increasing student achievement.

The Heart of Fine Arts explores how high-quality fine arts education programs serve as the center of every school—nourishing, invigorating, challenging, growing, and connecting all learners during these times of momentous technological and societal change.

At Summit 25, we will grapple with big ideas, and tap into strategies that strengthen our programs, our campuses, and our communities. From June 15–August 15, the Summit will welcome fine arts educators with integrated, asynchronous online sessions that provide structured inquiries into the following topics:

  • the role of the fine artist, authenticity, and creative ownership in a time of AI and machine learning;

  • how to use technology tools to help flex and strengthen creativity;

  • the importance of curiosity, critical thinking, and creative expression and performance skills;

  • how to leverage change to foster arts experiences that connect communities and forge new leaders; and

  • how educators will chart the future of humanity through art, dance, music, and theatre.

Summit 25 features four interdisciplinary anchor sessions that lay the groundwork for discipline-specific “deep dives” that build skills and showcase innovative programs and practices.

Anchor Session 1: Creativity and Meaning-making in the Age of AI

Session 1 begins by asking an elemental question at a personal level: Why do you make art? And if you’ve fallen out of touch with your creative practice, how can you re-establish that rhythm, that heartbeat that nourishes your own creativity? After discovering each participant’s “why” that drives their creativity, presenters will share new technological tools, practices, and instructional strategies that can deepen each educator’s purpose, grow their teaching, and reignite their passion for the power of the arts.

Discipline-specific Deep Dives aligned to Anchor Session 1:

  • Building Creative Muscle through New Tools and Technology

  • Novel Technological Innovations in the Fine Arts Classrooms

Anchor Session 2: Authenticity and The Creative Voice

Session 2 focuses on how to help each individual student tap into their authentic voice—how to nourish and energize them creatively. Session 2 situates the historical/cultural and critical evaluation and response TEKS within the context of our changing world. In a group of diverse people, what does it mean to develop a unique and creative voice? How do you develop honesty and truth in creative practice?

What are the roles and responsibilities of both creators and audiences? What is the value of authenticity? When machines are making art too, how do you assess art products?

Discipline-specific Deep Dives aligned to Anchor Session 2:

  • Charting Your Place in the Lineage of Makers

  • Showcasing Creative Practices Built from Authenticity

Session 3: Forging Connections through Fine Arts

Session 3 explores how fine arts learning can serve as the backbone for connection, developing empathy, and strengthening interpersonal relationships on a campus. This session investigates how the fine arts help grow creative leaders from within our programs—leaders who are students, educators, parents, administrators, and community members.

Discipline-specific Deep Dives aligned to Anchor Session 3:

  • Sparking and Sustaining Creative Connections on Campus

  • Examining Model Programs that Energize, Nourish, and Invigorate a Community

Session 4: Creating the Future through Fine Arts

Session 4 examines how the fine arts help us to challenge the status quo and question the algorithms that pattern our lives. The fine arts serve as powerful connectors between members in a community and can function as tools for tackling difficult problems in new ways. Not only do the creative and critical skills taught through fine arts engage learners in looking for novel solutions, but the empathy and interpersonal leadership skills honed in fine arts practice help young creators both envision and manifest a better world. Session 4 pushes fine arts educators beyond the classroom walls and into the community to tackle challenging problems and chart the future through the fine arts.

Discipline-specific Deep Dives for Session 4:

  • Tackling Challenging Problems through Fine Arts

  • Fine Arts Experiences that Impact Communities