The 2024 NVA conference was even more inspiring than I had anticipated. My highlights were Tony Albert’s keynote, the workshops, “repositioning our schools” by Pasi Sahlberg (on the state of education today and big picture learning) and Wonderschool at the Columbus Museum of Art. This project places preschoolers and preservice educators in the gallery and museum environment as “upstanders” of the community. I thought this was such a brilliant concept and creates a setting where adults can learn lessons from tiny little humans. Critical thinking encourages creativity here and these are skills of the future which lie in Art education, an area I am very passionate about. Creativity is a starting point for innovation, which is why Art is an increasingly important subject in our rapidly changing world. The workshops I selected were based around creative starting points and drawing connections in the gallery, which have inspired me to do things differently with my students, and, at times, allow process to be emphasized instead of finished products, in order to allow deeper learning without fear of failures and the ability to learn through experience and others, collaboratively. I will definitely take these lessons into my classroom immediately, and they are a stimulating way to start the year.