Columbus State hosting 'Rethunk Junk' conference in downtown this week

Junk will be the main topic of conversation this week for more than 150 art educators and students from across the state as they gather in downtown Columbus.

Thursday through Sunday, Columbus State University will host the 2015 Georgia Art Education Association Professional Learning Fall Conference, titled "Rethunk Junk." Participants will discuss sustainability issues and how to include recycled, reused and readapted material in creative projects. Sessions will be conducted in the Columbus Convention & Trade Center and CSU's Corn Center for the Visual Arts.

Bret Lefler, CSU's art education program coordinator and the 2013 GAEA Higher Education Division Teacher of the Year, is among the conference organizers. He said in a news release, "GAEA continues to provide a tremendous level of support to the art teachers throughout the state. CSU's Department of Art is honored to have been selected by GAEA to host their annual fall conference. We look forward to showing off Columbus and working with GAEA on an outstanding conference."

Participants also will have the opportunity to visit the Columbus Museum and Pasaquan, the environmental art compound in Marion County. The Wisconsin-based Kohler Foundation is renovating the site and is scheduled to gift Pasaquan to the CSU Foundation in December for the university to conduct events, programming, educational activities and tours amid the brightly painted masonry fences, totems, walkways and temples.

Although the GAEA workshops, panel presentations, demonstrations, vendor displays and artist market are open to only the conference participants, the public may visit the juried exhibition in the Corn Center's Illges Gallery, 901 Front Ave. The reception will be 6-9 p.m. Thursday. The operating hours are Mondays-Wednesdays noon to 4 p.m., Thursdays noon to 6 p.m., Fridays noon to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Mark Rice, 706-576-6272. Follow him on Twitter@MarkRiceLE.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 1:09 PM with the headline "Columbus State hosting 'Rethunk Junk' conference in downtown this week ."