Call for Proposals
Walking in Seven Directions
An Intergenerational Confluence Honouring 70 Years of Art Education with CSEA/SCÉA
(Deadline for call for Proposals: June 27th, 2025)
To mark the 70th anniversary of the Canadian Society for Education through Art (CSEA/SCÉA), we invite graduate students (master’s and doctoral) studying in the field of art education, as well as established and emerging scholars across Canada, to submit proposals to participate in an online gathering that will happen on Saturday, November 22nd, 2025. Through organizing and holding this online event, we seek to honour seven decades of CSEA/SCÉA’s work in expanding education through the arts to (re)imagine the future of art education in these critical times. We hope to create conditions for intergenerational conversations among emerging and established art education scholars. Together, we will reflect on the current landscape of art education and its potential to respond meaningfully to the nuanced complexities of art education from 70 years ago, and into the next 70 years.
Our inspiration for this event is drawn from the resonance between CSEA/SCÉA’s 70-year history, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s 94 Calls to Action (62-65)[1], and the teachings of the Seven Sacred Directions in Indigenous ways of knowing [Please review the details at the end of the call for more information] (Lane et al., 1984/2020; Peltier, 2022)[i]. These teachings guide our vision for this event as a collective walk in art education, honouring past, present, and future relations in the field.
“As a result of the need for dialogue in a time of reconciliation, [we invite (re)imagining ways of walking with/in/through art education] to connect to self, family, community, place, the land, and animals by [...] explor[ing] the Honourable Murray Sinclair’s four guiding questions:
Who am I?
Where do I come from?
Why am I here?
Where am I going?” (Mamàhtawisiwin, 2022, p. 16).
Structured around seven themed sessions, the gathering will activate a metaphorical, conceptual, and critical collective walk in/with/through the Seven Directions, holding space for artful storytelling, shared reflections, and generative dialogue. We aim to activate conversations that span generations, rooted in values of reciprocity, relationality, and social imagination.
In addition to the presenters, we warmly welcome art educators in Canada (and perhaps beyond) to join as participants, contributing to the making of a shared space of learning, dreaming, and walking together.
What We Are Looking for
We invite proposals that explore what it means to walk the Seven Directions in art education [choose a direction to walk!] in these critical times. We welcome contributions that reflect personal, collective, and pedagogical journeys to activate relational, political, land-based, and artful ways of knowing. Proposals may take the form of (but are not limited to):
● Personal or collective stories
● Experimental, artful, and/or poetic works
● Visual and textual essays
● Images, artworks, spoken word pieces, or other expressive forms that animate the theme
● Anecdotes and reflections that trace connections to CSEA/SCÉA’s history or envision its future
All submitted proposals will be peer-reviewed. Selected submissions will be thoughtfully grouped into themed sessions based on resonances across ideas and forms. Each presenter will be invited to share for 10 minutes, followed by 15 minutes of facilitated group conversation to foster deeper dialogue with fellow participants and attendees.
Flow of the Gathering
This online event will be structured as a six-hour gathering, designated to hold space for careful listening, artful sharing, and meaningful dialogue.
The event will be organized around seven sessions, inspired by the Indigenous Seven Directions (Lane et al., 1984/2020; Peltier, 2022).
Each session will include three presentations and one facilitated discussion, supported by a moderator who helps hold the space, offers reflections, and guides the conversation.
[You do not need to be a presenter to serve as a moderator—we especially welcome established or retired educators, scholars, and community members whose care and perspective can help guide our conversations. If this resonates with you, please indicate your interest in becoming a moderator at the end of the Google Form.]
Opening and closing remarks, along with invited keynote contributions, will frame the day, grounding our time together in shared intention and vision.
The flow of the day will include land acknowledgments, short breaks, and space for collective conversations that cultivate connection across generations, geographies, and lived experiences.
We imagine this gathering not as a conventional symposium, but as a collective walk; one that honours the past, engages the present, and imagines the future of art education from coast to coast.