Arts Are Core Conference 2026

The conference will be held at Utah State University (Logan Campus),
in the Edith Bowen Laboratory School, 960 Aggie Blvd Logan, UT 84321. 

A one-day arts integration conference for K-6 classroom teachers, arts educators,
pre-service teachers, school administrators, teaching artists, and partnering arts organizations.

Utah State University Arts Are Core presents a one-day conference featuring keynote speaker Dovie Thomason, along with hands-on arts integrated workshops in visual art, dance, music, drama, and storytelling. Participants will experience teacher-created workshops and engaging presentations as guest presenters facilitate hands-on arts experiences integrated with content curriculum designed to stimulate arts rich learning at the elementary level. Each participant will walk away with engaging arts ideas, lesson plans, and resources to start the new school year with creativity and energy!

8:00 AM - 4:00 PM - Full day conference with breakfast and lunch included
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Post-conference networking reception with refreshments

Dovie Thomason

Dovie Thomason is an award-winning storyteller, recording artist, and author. The rich oral traditions of her mixed heritage of Scot Traveller, Lakota and Apache, first heard from her grandmother, set Thomason on a lifelong path to listen and learn and share the stories in a style where laughter, learning, and respect come together. She creates a rapport and bond with listeners of all ages through her engaging storytelling and animal voices, while sharing her life’s experience of Indigenous oral tradition and values, transforming it for today’s audiences.  Dovie has used her storytelling to advise the UCLA Film School on narrative in modern film, NASA on indigenous views of technology, the Smithsonian Associates’ Scholars Program and the premier TEDx Leadership Conference. Her role as a traditional cultural artist and educator has been honored by the National Storytelling Network’s ORACLE: Circle of Excellence Award and the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers’ Traditional Storyteller Award. Dovie’s work actively supports language arts by inspiring a love of spoken word, encouraging reading, strengthening literacy and listening, and modeling powerful storytelling techniques that enhance writing skills. From Headstart classes to international honors, Dovie is respected for her impact as a cultural artist and educator.