PNCA hosts the city’s first children’s creativity symposium, Children’s Creativity: Why the Visual Arts Matter, November 11–14, 2009, focusing on the relevance of artistic processes of inquiry, reflection, and expression to the cognitive, emotional, and social development of children.

The PNCA+FIVE Idea Studio will feature a range of activities—including workshops and lectures—reporting on and exploring the growing body of evidence that the arts nurture and develop complex thinking and communication skills. Featured speakers include authors/professors Dr. Ellen Handler Spitz and Dr. Lois Hetland.

An arts education is now recognized as providing keys tools for the development of metaphorical thinking, the ability to creatively problem-solve, and life-long learning. Fulfilled and productive participation in the cultural, social, and economic processes of the 21st Century society is a key aspect of a creative arts education. Join PNCA for this groundbreaking series that explores the breadth and depth of an arts education.

Complementing the symposium, Imagine: 100 Years of Work from PNCA’s Children’s Art Archives, features work by generations of children taught in PNCA’s Youth Program. The exhibition is curated by Sally Lawrence, PNCA President Emerita and Amy Williams, former PNCA Youth Art Program Director with additional support from long-time Youth Program faculty Bonnie Allen and MaryEllen Hartman.