Reconceptualizing contemporary notions about creativity in visual arts education should be an important issue in art education today. Currently, creativity may not be a primary focus at National Art Education Association conferences or in its publications. There are recent indications that art education is a site where creativity can be developed and nurtured for all students with emphasis on both individual processes and cultural practices. It is advocated that through critical analysis of concepts related to art education and creativity that research and practice can be developed to cultivate creative education for all art students. Topics discussed in this article, related to reconsidering creativity, include the history of creativity in art education, definitions of creativity, assessment of creative processes, dispositional factors and creative individuals, cultural variability and creativity, and educational interventions that promote student creativity. NAEA Convention and PublicationsThe 2008 National Art Education Association (NAEA) annual convention is a good place to begin exploring how creativity is viewed in the field of art education today. The theme of this convention was "Innovations in Teaching, 1 See http://www. theimaginenation.net for more information about this poll. Correspondence regarding this article may be sent to the author at Zimmerm@ indiana.edu Reconceptualizing the Role of Creativity in Art Education Theory and Practice 2 Note that sessions that referred only to creating as making artwork were not counted as directly related to the topic of creativity. 3 NAEA Books 2007-2008 publication listing in Art Education (November, 2007), 6 (6) 1-15.Learning, and Leading." A dozen of the 117 exhibitors' booths, where art materials and resources were sold and distributed at this convention, advertised creativity as being an integral part of their programs, resources, or media. Emphasis in the main, but not exclusively, was on inherent creative possibilities of media and programs and developing student creativity. Examples ranged from topics such as "renewing the creative spirit" by having art teachers participate in media workshops; using high quality art supplies for achieving "a world of imagination," "celebrating creativity" by building student self-esteem through promoting student artwork for parents to purchase; "creativity express" where making animated movies and games help "develop creative kids;" and books promoting "visual literacy" by developing students' skills of "observation, reflection, and creation."In the 1023 sessions at the NAEA convention, there were 16 sessions in which the concept of creativity in art education was mentioned in either the title of a presentation or its description in the convention program book. 2 These sessions could be found across many divisions, workshops, and affiliates with a notable exception of creativity not being mentioned in any of the titles or program descriptions of the 58 research sessions. The 16 sessions focused on creativity from many di...

Questionnaires were administered to 295 students in summer programs for 9-15 year old academically gifted and artistically talented students, asking for their conceptions of giftedness and talent and their perceptions of the causes and consequences of being so identified. Findings suggested that their stereotypes regarding gifted and talented students were highly positive. These students reported that giftedness can be attained by hard work, that they are not very different from others, and that others treat them well. A minority reported negative reactions from peers.

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Project ARTS was designed as a research and development project to identify high-ability, artistically talented third graders from four different ethnic backgrounds in seven rural schools and to implement differentiated arts programs for them. Locally designed identification measures, developed by teachers and community members, were found to be appropriate by teachers and staff if several different measures were used. In research about identification of students for Project ARTS, scores on the Torrance Tests of Creativity, Clark's Drawing Abilities Test, and state achievement tests were found to be correlated. Except at one site, gender was not found to be a significant variable on these tests. It was recommended that local measures, the CDAT, and achievement tests be used to identify artistically talented students in rural communities with populations similar to those in Project ARTS.