The Secret Commonwealth will perform at Murfreesboro Civic Plaza on Wednesday, June 8.

From June 7 through the 10th, Patterson Park Community Center and Bradley Academy will house some of the area’s more prominent arts teachers. The conference, Collective Impact: Arts Administrators, Educators and Artists Together as Community Change Agents, will mingle those who practice art with those art administrators and teachers charged with the task of teaching young minds the forms of expression.

The free Summer Arts Jam, a field trip component of the conference, will occur on Wednesday, June 8, at the Murfreesboro Civic Plaza. The event works as a joint event with the Tennessee Arts Commission and the city to feature a few means of great stimuli for those who make it out. It will feature visual artists from all over Middle Tennessee, with the city ignoring its otherwise hostile tendencies toward food trucks and actually allowing them near the Square.

Mountains Like Wax. Photo by Stephen Dahl.

Dee Kimbrell will be keeping the little ones in high spirits at the Linebaugh Library, roping in those listening to help her tell her stories. And music will wind down the evening’s events, courtesy of the Latin-flavored Marcela Pinilla Band, the Celtic sounds of the Secret Commonwealth and rock act Mountains Like Wax, providing several hours of onsite tunes. This event begins at 5 p.m. on June 8, with music cranking up at 7 p.m.

The Collective Impact conference, put together by the Tennessee Arts Commission, is a restructured version of the Create Education Institute, which is now folded into the conference. It serves to better educate students through the continued education of those who relay the affairs and processes of creation to make for better lesson plans, and give the instructors the chance to discuss theory and trade advice from the effective practices that they’ve employed.

The program underscores a major difference between the TAC and other groups: a “centralized infrastructure,” people who are passionate about helping others learn, metrics that help quantify their goals, the synergizing of tasks, and efforts that lead to the “un-conference” style of event. The resulting event should provide more of a laid-back, pleasurable atmosphere, allowing for a free-flow discussion that sparks a dialog about the various community issues that both affect and are affected by art.

On the conference, Co-Chair and Director of Arts Education for the Tennessee Arts Commission Ann Brown said “The conference will be not only be a time to share best practices and learn new skills, but also a time for us to come together to demonstrate our support for the arts in Tennessee. The conference will provide a platform for us as a group to hear what issues matter in our communities and how the arts are a part of making a difference. Collectively understanding and supporting efforts strengthens one’s individual role to move communities forward.”

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: Summer Arts Jam — FREE concert and art fair hosted by the Tennessee Arts Commission and the City of Murfreesboro.