San Mateo County Creates Arts Education Conference

Join San Mateo County Creates for our annual Arts Education Conference, which will focus on "Creating Community Through the Arts: Empathy, Connection, and Belonging."

This dynamic, full-day event empowers educators, administrators, and teaching artists with the tools, inspiration, and connections needed to strengthen arts education in our schools. This year’s conference will feature engaging workshops, hands-on sessions, student performances, and keynote speakers who are transforming arts learning across our county. Whether you're passionate about visual arts, music, dance, theatre, or media arts, you'll leave with fresh ideas, valuable resources, and a renewed commitment to equitable, high-quality arts education for all students. Don’t miss this exciting opportunity to collaborate, create, and celebrate the power of the arts in education!

Date: October 1, 2025

Time: 8:00am to 4:00pm

Fee: $100 per person

For more information, please contact Allison Gamlen, SMCOE Arts Coordinator at [email protected].

Interested in leading a workshop? Please submit an RFP here.

Keynote Speaker: Alejandro Vilchez

Alejandro is the principal consultant at AV Consulting. He provides Training, Facilitation, Coaching & Consultation to schools, local government and social service agencies. His focus for over two decades has always been violence prevention, community engagement, and school safety in a manner that is representative of “cultura y comunidad.” He is a licensed restorative practice trainer and author of "Off 2 Play" a workshop dedicated to team games and activities. Alejandro is native to the San Francisco Bay Area, and earned degrees from Bethany Bible College (Cross-Cultural Communications) and Notre Dame de Namur University (Human Services). He loves baseball, classic Chevys and reading all things C.S. Lewis.

Host or Publisher San Mateo County Office of Education, Curriculum & Instruction Services