On K. Lok (left), a teacher at PS 17 in Queens, learns how to teach drawing skills using the large, simple forms of inflatable pool toys in a workshop titled “What Floats Your Boat? Teaching Line Drawing with Inflatables,” presented by Caitlin Bludgus, a New Jersey educator and a student at the DaVinci Initiative in Port Reading, N.J.

Some of the 150 participants arrive at the NYCATA/UFT Artworks 2019 conference, where the theme was “How Art Education Shapes Lives.”

Joan Davidson, NYCATA’s president for 38 years, receives a Lifetime Achievement Award. She was conference coordinator for the 35th time. “Who does that? That’s crazy,” said Davidson, who was overjoyed by participants’ positive feedback. “They were so inspired and so happy to be there,” she said. “Many are the only art teacher in their school and they were so excited to meet new colleagues and be with other people who spoke their language.”

Teachers honored included Erin-Marie Elman (left) of IS 96 and Jessica Holske of PS 222, both in Brooklyn.

Joan Davidson (second from left), the president emeritus of NYCATA, and Artist of the Year Jean Chin (right) help congratulate state Sen. Jose M. Serrano, who was joined by his wife, Brunie, and children, Sofia and Carlos, as he was recognized by the group for his art advocacy.

The artwork at Beacon HS is larger than life as Noa Bogatch, a teacher at IS 313 in the Bronx, makes her way to the auditorium for the program.

NYCATA President Mario Asaro (right), an art teacher at MS 158 in Queens, introduces John Cloud Kaiser, the education director at Materials for the Arts, a creative reuse center of the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs, who was the conference Artist of the Year in 2018.

Artist of the Year Jean Chin gives the keynote address. Chin, a tenured adjunct professor of fine art at Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, has exhibited work in 150 museums, including MOMA, and is best known for monumental installations created from donated everyday objects, such as lottery tickets and empty medicine bottles.