Meg Barney is a retired art educator and serves as the Chair for the PAEA Fellows.

Are you re-source full? Do you have ways to re-source what you need?

At this time of year, nature is making the transition from summer to winter with the season of autumn. The weather has finally turned colder yet again with rain and wind. The critters are very active now and are very resourceful. The grey squirrels, black squirrels, chipmunks, and rabbits are each foraging for food in their own ways – squirrels in the dogwood and Hawthorn trees, chipmunks getting fallen beech nuts from the ground, and rabbits enjoying the late-season clover. Pigeons and doves fill in the spaces by walking along the driveway edges looking for fallen maple seeds. Yes, the wildlife is thriving and active in the autumn weather.

The trees and plants are active also. Seemingly from nowhere, colors begin to be revealed as the chlorophyll is being retrieved and sustenance stored underground for the winter. Brilliant colors all combine to create a beautiful landscape before our eyes.

None of these transitions require money or status. None of the changes require laws or words. They all require action on the part of the plant, tree, or critter. Each life form quietly yet steadily works on the task at hand. Each finds ways to re-gather the resources they need before winter arrives. Each works to put full ‘store houses’ in place before the snow and ice come again. Sometimes they work together, sometimes they work alone. All are focused, all take action.

So what can we learn from these observations? What are the trees, plants, and critters revealing to us?

In nature, each tree, plant, and critter stays focused on the task at hand.   They find benefit in channeling their energies into the specific task that must be accomplished, for they have deadlines just as people do. Frost will come and kill the plants. Snow will come with its cold insulation. Sunlight will shorten and nighttime will lengthen. All the changes are temporary, and the trees, plants, and critters know this. Yet they also know that preparation, being resourceful, and planning ahead will help make the wintertime seem shorter and be easier to endure.

Art educators are often just as resourceful in taking care of the students in their classes and in promoting their programs in their educational settings. Art educators who observe closely can see what is available.

They then take action while staying focused on both the needs of their students and the end results. To re-source what is needed for a full and strong art education program, sometimes the art educator finds and gathers the resources that are present in both expected and unexpected places. For example, the PAEA conference provides an abundance of resources for a wide variety of interest groups. Some resources are gained while attending the conference in person while others are found on the conference website and larger PAEA weblog site. This year’s conference just ended, and a wealth of tips and information can be found on our website. NAEA offers a wider range of resources for art educators of all levels. Reading through the pages to be found at arteducators.org reveals helpful and practical information including the Art Educator Toolkit.

Being resourceful requires action and hard work, yet it also provides benefits and rewards that are priceless. And before long, the evidence of things unseen comes into view. And just like the trees, plants, and critters of nature, the art educator can seem to create something from nothing.

Sometimes the gathering of resources happens without fanfare, without bright lights or loud shouts. At other times, it happens with dancing and singing and movement. Almost effortlessly, the sources can come together, and the fullness and abundance of what is available are almost overwhelming. We find happiness in the creating, satisfaction in the re-sourcing as our ‘store houses’ become full again, and our lives fill with what has been found, our hearts swell with what has been revealed, and we find joy in sharing that abundance with others.

May you be re-source-full this autumn and beyond.

In Fellowship, Meg Barney.