The theme of this year's conference is Navigation, extremely appropriate for a conference on teaching art in schools, as art represents learning through exploration and discovery. Yogi has a good point!!

The British Columbia Art Teachers Association's (BCATA) annual conference will take place February 19th to 21st, 2004 at McMath Secondary School in Richmond. Teacher presenters will provide theme oriented lectures and workshops during these three exciting days. Keynote speakers for this year's conference are Nettie Wilde, Gordon Smith, Lynda Faulks and Liz Nagler.

Registration is open to all members. If you are interested in membership details please visit their website, noted at the end of this article.

This exciting conference is a fabulous opportunity to learn new ideas, techniques and to revitalize and energize your approach to teaching. The conference includes workshops, a banquet, an art materials marketplace, and keynote speakers. Between 500 and 700 teachers of art to grades 1 through 12 are expected to attend this year.

At Opus, we have been a long-term supporter of the BCATA's initiatives, members and their conference. We cannot emphasize enough how important we feel this association is to the practice, production and value of art education. We encourage any teacher who is not already familiar with the BCATA, to become a member and to support the organization.

To find out more about the BCATA and the conference visit www.bctf.ca/psas/BCATA. The Registrar is Alan Bone, who can be reached at 604-668-6430, fax: 604-668-6132; or email skwok-swan@richmond.sd38.bc.ca