COMING SOON: The Tobin Center’s SECOND ANNUAL Arts Integration Conference!

Wednesday, June 4th, 2025

Harvey E. Najim Arts Integration Program

For Teachers PreK - 12th grade and Arts Specialists
FREE professional development in Arts Integration!

Credit (3 hours per workshop) is provided upon completion of each session.

Coffee, Snacks, and Free Parking!

Through the generosity of our donors, Generation NEXT will offer a full day of professional learning at no charge to teachers! These inspiring workshops pair a curricular subject area with an art form, providing STEAM strategies that can be used immediately.

Five Artists - Eight Sessions - ALL FREE!

Registration Coming Soon

Schedule

8:30 - 11:30 am - first four concurrent sessions
11:30 am - 1 pm - lunch
1 - 4 pm - second four concurrent sessions

Networking Lunch

Pre-purchase your lunch ($15), hand-crafted onsite by our own chef! Your lunch will be waiting for you after the first session. Network with your peers and the professional artists here at the Conference!

For your convenience, make your Networking Lunch meal choice during the reservation process for MOMENTUM.

Menu:
Roasted Turkey Breast, Baby Swiss Cheese, Lettuce and Tomato, Mayonnaise and Mustard on a Croissant with Kettle Chips and a cookie

-OR-

Grilled Italian Vegetables and Provolone on an Artisan Roll with Kettle Chips and a cookie

Served with Coffee, Water, or Lemonade

$15
Due to food allergies and liability for our onsite catering department, outside lunches may not be consumed within The Tobin Center.

Complementary Parking

The Tobin Center Parking Garage

EASY TO FIND!
227 4th St, San Antonio, TX 78205

Parking vouchers will be handed out at the registration table.

Workshops

Kay Thomas

First Session: The Art of History: Creating Memorials for Historical People and Events | 2-12

Good design like good construction is an essential element in any engineering or art experience. In this workshop, we will be manipulating paper by folding, bending, and cutting to create 3-dimensional works of art that represent objectives from across the curriculum. Whether you utilize a STEAM curriculum in your classroom or want students to discover the connection between the arts and other subject areas, Let’s Build will actively engage you in a deep art experience designed to give you all the knowledge and skills you need to present an art lesson with confidence. Give your builders and non-traditional learners a voice with paper sculpture. Let’s build!

Second Session: Bringing Literature to Life Through the Art of Paper Sculpture | 3-12

Bring out the inner sculptor in your students! During this hands-on workshop, teachers will bend, fold, and roll paper into sculptural models that depict the setting, characters, details or events from stories and books. Join Kay Thomas, sculptor and national teaching artist from Texas for this deep art experience guaranteed to reveal the builders in your classroom and give 3-dimensional thinkers a voice.

Garrett Brown

First Session: Boom! Bang! Pow! Creating Cause and Effect Connections Through Comics | 4 - 12

Kids and adults worldwide love comics! Join Garrett Brown as he invites you to bring this vibrant and energetic art form into your classroom. In this session, explore ways students can create comics that demonstrate the cause and effect relationships found in life science, language arts, and social studies. Participants will deepen their knowledge of the comics medium and have a chance to create a miniature comic book based on grade-level academic content!

Second Session: Think Like a Scientist: Observational Drawing | 3-12

Scientists, engineers, architects and many other professionals rely on observational drawing in order to record and communicate important data. This workshop engages teachers in a strategy that teaches students how to carefully observe and draw an object from nature in order to develop a robust and detailed understanding of its attributes, patterns, and functions. Far from a method reserved for gifted artists, scientific observational drawing can be learned by all students just by practicing a few skills and habits. Join us as we go from STEM to STEAM!

Kuniko Yamamoto

First Session: Folding Fractions: Origami and Math | 2 - 6

Looking for something highly mathematical, packed with geometry and fractions? Origami-the art of folding paper-is the answer! Award winning origami artist & storyteller from Japan, Kuniko, introduces you to the art form of origami and how to fold a variety of origami models so students can create folding patterns that demonstrate their understanding of shapes, angles, and geometric attributes. Math vocabulary will begin to make sense to students and fractions will become obvious as the creasing paper patterns turn into artistic creations! A native of Japan, Kuniko also folds her cultural perspectives and math games into every workshop.

Second Session: Storigami - Storytelling with Origami | K - 6

Unfold the magic of storytelling through the art of origami! Transform simple sheets of paper into captivating characters and scenes that bring stories to life and is perfect for engaging students. This session explores this hands-on art form which blends creativity with learning and seamlessly integrating narratives across multiple subjects.

CT Rhames

Morning Session Only: Creative Connections: Enhancing Learning through Arts Integration | PK - 3

Arts integration enhances student engagement, creativity, and critical thinking. By incorporating the arts into academic subjects, educators can make learning more dynamic and accessible, helping students to better understand and retain information. Join with CT Rhames to work across the early childhood curriculum and leave with lessons and materials that you can put in place the next day!

Joyous Windrider Jimenez

Afternoon Session Only: Language is Not a Barrier: Remnants of You/Home | 3-8

How can we help students express themselves when English isn’t their first language? In this hands-on workshop, educators will explore how the easily accessible art of paper collage can be a powerful tool for communication, creativity, and connection. Participants will experience a guided collage exercise designed for multilingual classrooms and learn how translanguaging—encouraging students to use all their languages—can foster confidence, demonstrate understanding, and deepen engagement.

Takeaways include:

A ready-to-use collage lesson for ESL and multilingual learners
Strategies for integrating students’ home languages into creative projects
Insights into how visual storytelling can break down language barriers

No art experience needed—just a willingness to create, explore, and connect. Let’s reimagine how language lives in our classrooms.