Reflections on NAEA Convention: Exhibitors Hall

At the risk of sounding like a free sample addict, I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the Exhibitors Hall at the NAEA convention in NYC. There were a lot of great companies with make & takes, great displays, discounts and knowledgeable representatives willing to talk about their products. And of course, samples!

Here are some of the highlights...

Mayco had some wonderful displays and a very generous tile make and take. I got to try rubber stamps, sprig molds, and their Stroke and Coat glazes. I did wind up having to maneuver carefully with greenware that day, but I had a lot of fun at that work table! Thank you Mayco!

Here was part of a display at the United Art & Education catalog booth. To me it looked like a row of art teacher awards waiting to be handed out! I must make a Scream statue for my studio.

The Crayola Company had a super-huge area in the hall, and lots of goodies. Here is a display of white Model Magic mixed into different colors by coloring it with markers and kneading the pigment into the clay.

There were all kinds of sculpture and 3D projects using Model Magic as well. My favorite was the tortoise shown below. The marbleized layers of the shell and the scaled skin were just awesome. It just goes to show that you can make some sophisticated work with materials made for children.

The bottom pic is of a window set in front of black board to show off all of the different window markers. They even had some that would look like they turned to frost after coloring with them. This window was blank and over the course of the convention was filled bit by bit by attendees. Great job fellow art teachers! And thank you Crayola!

I had the chance to try some Yarka watercolors at the Jack Richeson booth. I am a faithful Prang customer, but I have to say that the Yarka worked very well! I also liked that the pans were so big. Little hands holding brushes have a lot more wiggle room for loading their brushes with paint. Nice!

One other vendor I wanted to mention was Michael's. They gave me a lovely canvas tote with more products than anyone else at convention. I know they are a large chain and can afford that sort of thing, but it was still most appreciated. Also, their reps were the only ones who asked me what I liked about their stores and what I thought they could do better.  I do order supplies via mail order, but I also do visit chains like Michael's. It was nice to see them and know that they value art educators as their customers. Thank you to Michael's.

And now for a picture of loot... Woo hoo!

 More convention reflections to come.