National Association Arts Education Association Convention

The National Art Education Association (NAEA) National Convention is recognized as the largest gathering of visual arts education professionals in the world, bringing together thousands of educators, researchers, administrators, museum professionals, and teaching artists each year.

The annual convention secves as NAEA’s primary in-person professional learning event and reflects the full scope of visual arts, design, and media arts education. Programming is developed by and for professionals across the field, including pre-K–12 art educators, museum educators, college and university faculty, researchers and scholars, arts supervisors and administrators, teaching artists, and retired art educators.

Convention offerings typically include hundreds of learning opportunities such as hands-on workshops, research presentations, panel discussions, demonstrations, and interactive sessions. Additional components often include general sessions, artist showcases, business meetings, and a large exhibit hall highlighting instructional resources, materials, and emerging technologies relevant to arts education.

Content is drawn from proposals submitted by NAEA members representing diverse professional roles, ensuring programming remains relevant to classroom practice, institutional leadership, and research in the field. Beyond professional development, the convention provides a national forum for networking, collaboration, and community-building, reinforcing NAEA’s mission to advance high-quality visual arts education for all learners.