Arts October 2014 Pre-Convention Newsletter

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
1
http://www.nagc.org/
National Association of Gifted Children
ARTS
Volume 1, Issue 2
N
E
W
S
L
A BIANNUAL NEWSLETTER
SE ASONS GRE ET INGS
2
ARTS NETWORK MISSION
3
NETWORK UPDATES
4
NOTES FROM THE CHAIR
By Hope E. Wilson, Ph.D.
5
ARTS NETW ORK CONF ERENCE
PROGRAM
6
PAS DE DEUX: GIFTED AND GAY
DANCERS
By B ecky W hittenburg
9
14
THE HUNTED (AND THE
HUNTE R): THE RIS E OF ROB,
A DE PRES SE D, ARTIS TICALL YGIFTED GAY YOUTH
By T erence P aul F riedrichs, Ph.D.,
Ed.D.
SUPPORTING GIFTED LGBTQ
COLLEGE STUDENTS IN
ACADEMICAL LY COMPET ITI VE
ENV IRONM ENT S
By Patrick Lukingbeal, M.Ed. & F.
Richard Olenchak, Ph.D.
17
RESOURCES FOR GLBTQ YOUTH
By T eresa Ryan Manzella
18
CALL F OR ARTI CL ES
19
INT ERV IEW WI TH ARTS HIGH
SCHOOL ALUMNUS, GIOVANNI
MESA
By Merzili V illanueva
21
LGBTQ ARTISTS AS POSITIVE
ROLE MODELS FOR
ARTISTICALLY TALENTED
LGBTQ YOUTH
By Merzili V illanueva
24
CONFE RENCES + OFF ICER
CONTACTS
T
T
E
R
All the majesty of a city landscape
All the soaring days in our lives
All the concrete dreams in my mind's eye
All the joy I see
Thru these architect's eyes
SPECIAL LGBTQ ISS UE
1
E
Pre-Convention 2014
~ David Bowie
!
Welcome to the
NAGC ARTS NETWORK NEWSLETTER
Pre-Convention 2014 Edition / Special LGBTQ Issue
E FAD! E ~~~
SEASONS!EMERG !&!
•
bearing unique gifts by way of weather, landscape, harvest, & tradition
IT’S!SO!FALL!.!.!.!
bringing anticipated change!&!constancy.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
For
those
of
us
attending
the NAGC Convention, we will convene in Baltimore, MD for a
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanksgiving of the work we do, the gifted and talented students we serve, and the
educational stakeholders we collaborate with. It is a time for teaching and learning, which
includes reflecting on current pedagogical practices, and assessing where we are as a
field of study. Accordingly, we will continue our good work, make revisions for
improvement, and design new inroads for gifted education.
•
This past March, I met Terry Friedrichs, organizer of the NAGC GLBTQ Special Interest
Group (SIG), at The Wallace Research & Policy Symposium on Talent Development in
Arlington, VA. We got to talking about our NAGC newsletter roles and decided it would be
worthwhile to create an integrative ARTS & LGBTQ issue. And so, here we are with our
collaborative content. Our purpose in this special issue is to celebrate, raise awareness,
and increase advocacy efforts for the artistically gifted and LGBTQ populations, as they
exist exclusively, and in combination. While some pieces focus on gifted and talented
LGBTQ only, others integrate the artistic aspect. Artistically gifted, talented, and creative
LGBTQ community, we acknowledge and honor you and the beautiful work you create!
Seasoned throughout, you will find quotes from gifted and creative LGBT artists, and
colors handpicked from some autumn (fall)/winter 2014 fashion collections designed by
gifted LGBT designers (Zac Posen, p. 1).
Thank you to Terry and his team, and to our newsletter contributors for their time, energy,
and patience as we co-edit the newsletter, which is still under construction. Forthcoming
pieces will be rolling in. Until then, be well; and, if you are attending the Convention, try to
check out the arts and cultural diversions in Baltimore—Birthplace of the Star-Spangled
Banner ~~~> http://baltimore.org/arts-theater-culture!
Thank you,
Merzili Villanueva
NAGC ARTS Network Newsletter Editor
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
2
NAGC ARTS NETWORK MISSION
(Proposed revisions pending.)
The Arts Network believes artistic expression is a basic and necessary function of healthy and productive
individuals, and that the health and productivity of a society is reflective of the degree of artistic expression among
its citizens.
The Arts Network is committed to initiating, developing, and implementing strategies and resources that nurture
interests and abilities of artistically gifted and talented individuals in the Arts, which includes, but is not limited to,
the visual, performing, and literary arts. Specifically, the Arts Network will
•
•
•
•
•
•
promote the recognition and acceptance of the arts as an essential area of giftedness;
encourage research in the area of artistic giftedness and talent;
illuminate the benefits of integrating meaningful arts experiences into the academic curriculum and provide
support for practice;
increase awareness of artistic expression, aesthetic perception, aesthetic valuing, and aesthetic appreciation;
and the psychosocial dimensions associated with educating and caring for artistically gifted and talented
individuals; and
provide practical strategies and resources to foster artistic expression, aesthetic perception, aesthetic valuing,
and aesthetic appreciation; and nurture the psychosocial development of artistically gifted and talented
individuals.
(2014)
Jean Paul Gaultier couture fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
“There is no such thing as an empty space or an empty time. There is
always something to see, something to hear. In fact, try as we may to
make a silence, we cannot.” ~ John Cage
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
N E T W O R K
N
A
G
C
3
U P D A T E S
As decided at our last business meeting, the NAGC ARTS Network mission statement will
now address the literary arts in addition to the visual and performing arts. Literature is an
essential component of the pre-K – grade 12 curriculum. For many teachers, literature is the
core of their curriculum, and for many students, it is the core of their being! We invite newsletter
contributions that support stakeholders in engaging our gifted, talented, and creative youth in
read-alouds, independent reading, guided reading, literature circles, reader’s theater, writer’s
workshop, and other literacy activities integrating quality literature. Furthermore, in our revised
mission statement, we note that the Arts represented in our Network “includes, but is not limited
to the visual, performing, and literary arts.” We honor and recognize other artforms, such as
culinary arts, and fashion, graphic, and architectural design; and welcome contributions that
address these arts in the context of gifted education and talent development.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Also, the NAGC website has been revamped! Check it out! A special thank you to Karen
Yoho and Carolyn Kaye at the NAGC headquarters for assisting us from afar. We appreciate
and recognize your hard work!
A
R
T
S
The Innovation Collaboration
The Arts Network of NAGC is pleased to join national partners to form The
Innovation Collaborative, a new, national organization which will network the Arts,
Sciences and Humanities in education to promote innovation thinking.
As an outcome of the National Science Foundation-funded Science, Engineering,
Arts, Design (SEAD) network, the collaborative is led by a coalition of
representatives from a number of national nonprofit organizations and
universities, which represent the diverse fields of art and design, science,
humanities, and engineering to explore the use of technology, and creativity,
cognition, and learning in both Pre-K-12 and informal settings.
The work of The Innovation Collaborative will be around four central goals: Research, Effective Practices, Policy and
Convening. These four goals will be undertaken by the organization’s Leadership Council, in collaboration with its team
of Research Thought Leaders (including Dr. James Catterall, Dr. Sandra Bond Chapman, Dr. Hubert Dyasi, Dr. Robert
Root-Bernstein and Dr. R. Keith Sawyer), and collaborations with educators, policy advisors and government leaders in
Washington, D.C.
Other Leadership Council members of the Innovation Collaborative include Americans for the Arts (AFTA), Association
of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC), National Art Education Association (NAEA), National Science Teachers
Association (NSTA), National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC), ICEE Success Foundation (ICEE) and National
Museum of Women in the Arts (NMWA).
The future work of the Innovation Collaborative will include launching, in fall, 2014, a pilot project to identify effective
practices and lessons for innovation thinking, and a full call for effective practices in 2015.
To learn more about the Innovation Collaborative, sign up here or visit www.InnovationCollaborative.org for more
information.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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!
Notes!from!the!Chair!
!
By!Hope!E.!(Bess)!Wilson!
University!of!North!Florida!
Hello ARTS Network members! I am Hope (Bess) Wilson, the incoming chair of the Arts Network for NAGC. Over the
last 2 years as chair-elect, I have had the distinct honor of working with John Gaa. Under his leadership this network has
grown by leaps and bounds, providing greater member benefits and organizing more opportunities for networking! We are
truly grateful for the work and dedication to service that Dr. Gaa has offered our group!
For the next two years as chair, I hope to continue this momentum by increasing communication with all of you and
providing more opportunity to get involved in the arts! I look forward to seeing all of you at the conference in Baltimore,
specifically at our Creativity Night on Friday night (co-sponsored by the Creativity Network) and our Networking Meeting at
11:45 on Saturday!
I would also like to give a warm welcome to Clara Baldus, our new chair-elect. She has already hit the ground running by
helping to organize the Creativity Night for our network! I know she is going to be a valuable part of our leadership team!
I am also very grateful to Merzili Villanueva, who has tirelessly worked as our newsletter editor this year! Her talent for
design and interest in the arts has helped our newsletter flourish!
As our network expands and grows, I am also looking for other people who would like to be more involved with our network!
Are there innovative art programs happening in your neck of the woods? You could write a short blurb for our newsletter!
Have you tried a new technique in the classroom? You could submit a proposal to present at the conference! Do you enjoy
events and planning? You can join our program committee! Do you have a couple of hours you can spare? You can
volunteer to review proposals for next year’s convention!
I also want to encourage you to take a look at the Innovation Collaboration website for additional resources and
opportunities for involvement with STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Science) initiatives. The website
address is: http://www.innovationcollaborative.org/ You can also learn more about the Innovation Collaboration at the
conference, when Lucinda Presley, the chair of the collaborative, will be presenting Sunday morning!
I look forward to meeting many of you soon in Baltimore! Please stop me and say “Hi!” or drop me an email
hope.e.wilson@unf.edu
Dries Van Noten fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
“I paint my own reality. The only think I know is that I paint because I
need to, and I paint whatever passes through my head without any other
consideration.” ~ Frida Kahlo
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PRE-CONVENTION 2014
NAGC%ARTS%Network%%
5
!
Conference%Program%2014 ! B al ti m ore,+ MD+
Friday, November 14, 2014
9:30-10:30 AM
Rethinking the Identification of Visual Arts Giftedness
Holiday Ballroom
3
Juliana Tay
9:30-10:30 AM
Scholastic Art & Writing Awards Teachers: What Are
Their Secrets for Fostering Artistic Development?
CC 326
Clar Baldus
10:45-11:45 AM
Creativity, the Arts, and Innovators
CC 338
Brandy Terrill
10:45-11:45 AM
Engaging High-Potential Learners Through Enveloping
Visual Art and Poetry Using Envelope Graphic
Organizers
CC 331
Judith S. Youngers
3:45-4:45 PM
Artistic Ways of Knowing: Identifying the Artist Within
Every Student
Key Ballroom 9
Joanne Haroutounian
3:45-4:45 PM
Educators’ Conceptions of Artistic Giftedness and
Talent: Essential Factors in the Composition of
Classrooms and Schools Focused on the Arts
CC 327
Stephen T. Schroth
Jason A.. Helfer
3:45-4:45 PM
Examining Ego Identity Development in Artistically
Gifted Adolescents
CC 339
Maryam Hussain
7:00-9:00 PM
Creativity and the Arts Event
Holiday Ballroom
4-5
All conference attendees are invited to experience
presentations and demonstrations with Creativity
and the Arts! Come and enjoy an exciting evening!
Saturday, November 15, 2014
8:00-9:00 AM
Arts Integration Using Technology as a Tool
Key Ballroom 12
Ann Benson Crutchfield
Laura Lowder
8:00-9:00 AM
Rhythm and Lines: A Reading, Writing, Speaking Jazz
Affair
Exhibit Hall,
Roundtable
Theresa Newsom
11:45 AM –
12:15 PM
Network Meet-Up
TBA
All Arts Members (and future members) are invited
to help us plan for the future of the Network!
Sunday, November 16, 2014: Super Sessions
8:00-9:00 AM
Building Critical Thinking Skills Through the
Arts
Key Ballroom 9
Stephen T. Schroth
Jason A. Helfer
9:15-10:15 AM
Promoting Creative Thinking at the Arts /
Science Intersection
Key Ballroom 9
Lucinda Presley
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
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Pas$de$Deux:$Gifted$and$Gay$Dancers$
$
By$Becky$Whittenburg$
There has long been an assumption in society that male dancers, especially ballet dancers, are predominantly gay. In a
survey conducted by Dance Magazine (as cited in Hamilton, 1999), more than 50 percent of male respondents self-identified
as gay. Northwestern University psychologist Michael Baily’s studies (1998-2004) confirmed those findings. "There's no
obvious reason why sexual orientation should be associated with how masculine or feminine one is, but it is in our species.
And it probably has to do with the causes of sexual orientation and early effects of hormones on the brain," said Bailey, who
studied human sexuality for several years. Sexual orientation is something people are born with, and this orientation makes
some gay men more feminine. Bailey surveyed professional dancers and found that half the men were gay. Why? The NAGC
GLBT Task Force, which studied critical issues surrounding gifted GLBT youth from 1999 to 2007, has acknowledged that
this complex question warrants further investigation. In this article, I explore what it means for an art form to be associated
with a particular sexual orientation, and how changes in perception may affect the art form and artists belonging to the genre.
Historically renowned dancers such as Diaghilev, Nijinsky, and Nureyev were, for their time, openly gay. Carson Cressley
from a popular television show Queer Eye (for the Straight Guy) (2003-2007), once said, "Whether you work . . . as an artist
or a singer or a dancer, those are all really creative places where gay people are embraced." Dancer Meredith Rainey has
said, "People talk about it (being a gay male). It's no big deal, and as a matter of fact, it's almost celebrated if you're gay. So
what if there are a lot of gay men in dance? I think it's a good thing." In Understanding Creativity, Piirto (2004) asserts, “The
point is not that there is a risk of homosexuality in being creative; the point is that following rigid sex-role stereotyping limits
creativity.” Creativity is critically important in gifted education, so attitudes and fears that would impede the development of
creativity in youth are antithetical to the aims of education.
Heterosexual dancers, in a field where the assumption is they are gay, are in the unusual position of defending, rationalizing,
or at least explaining their straight sexual orientation. Zach Hench, a heterosexual Pennsylvania Ballet dancer, said the
following in an interview on ABC News:
People assume that if you're a male ballet dancer you're gay. And I think it's quite silly because let's think about it:
you are working around beautiful women all day that are half naked. It's a great job for straight guys. (Stossel &
Binkley, 2006)
This defense mechanism was highlighted in The Turning Point, a film that garnered 11 Academy Award nominations. The
character, Wayne, played by Tom Skerritt, is a former ballet dancer who admits years later that “he courted and impregnated
(his then-wife) in order to prove to her and to himself that he was not gay” (Levy, 1977). Piirto says, “The presence of gays in
many creative fields may represent the attitudes of creative people, who seem more tolerant of differences and more
accepting of people whose beliefs and lifestyles differ.” Another important question posed by the NAGC GLBT Task Force is
this: In these fields perceived to have high numbers of gifted, gay artists, is this higher representation because the
environments are more welcoming of diverse sexual orientations or because there is something hard-wired in LGBT
individuals that makes them more likely to have strengths in these artistic areas?
Another critically acclaimed dance film, Billy Elliot (2000), follows an eleven-year-old boy from a rough UK coal mining
community who wins a spot (albeit against his reluctantly-supportive father’s wishes) at The Royal Ballet School. The film,
which sets out to challenge the stereotype of male dancers as “poofs” (but falls somewhat short), ends not with Billy as a
mainstream premier danseur but as a gender-bending lead in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, which turns the traditional
choreography on its head by casting men as the swans (among other alterations). A flood of less critically acclaimed, but still
popular, teen dance films spotlights male dancers. They usher in the millennium with Center Stage (2000), Save the Last
Dance (2001), Stomp the Yard (2007), and Dance Flick (2009), among others. In Nureyev: A Biography (1975), Percival
reports that Rudolph Nureyev’s father did not want his son to become a dancer. The negativity of some parents, which has
been documented in both fictional and biographical accounts, may be somewhat universal and intergenerational. Additionally,
the complexity of families’ concerns increase when demographics such as ethnicity, religious faith, and geographic region,
are considered. Such socio-cultural-based belief systems may account for a slower acceptance of male dancers and children
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pursuing dance study and career choices in some cultures than in others.
There have, however, been great strides made in dismantling stereotypes and calming anxieties among homophobic youth
and their parents, especially in the areas of contemporary dance. Twelve-year-old Alfonso Ribeiro’s starring role in a 1984
Pepsi ad with Michael Jackson helped popularize breakdancing among boys, just as Jackson himself had popularized his
signature moon walk among young men a few years prior. Girls only entered the world of breakdancing after boys had
conquered the scene. Icons such as John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977), Gregory Hines and Michael Baryshnikov
in White Nights (1985), and various others helped open doors for male dancers in a wide range of styles. They made their
particular characters’ orientations straight or ambiguous, thereby challenging the “dancer-as-gay-male” stereotype for
dancers, just as Fred Astaire, Bill Robinson, and Gene Kelly had done in an earlier generation. More recently, YouTube,
music videos, and advertising have pushed male dancers even further into the popular-culture limelight. Some Levi’s ads
(What could be more masculine than Levi‘s jeans?) and the award-winning commercial series, The Gap (circa 2007), featured
these wide-ranging elements: swing; hip-hop; choreographed martial arts; country line dancing; and modern ballet. Recently,
contemporary iconic male dancers Will Kemp and Wade Robson were highlighted dancing in ads that featured and targeted
males. Current television shows, such as So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars, have further
mainstreamed the image of male dancers without making their orientation an issue.
Cultural change is a slow process and engages cross-generational currents. Riding the wave of change, there has been much
made of boys-only dance classes (especially in ballet), which are taught by male role models who lead their young charges
into the traditionally masculine aspects of dance, including pirouettes, jetés, variations, and lifts in pas de deux. Large schools
including the prestigious School of American Ballet in New York City and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School in Seattle, as
well as smaller dance schools in communities like Boulder, Colorado and Santa Monica, California do not just recognize the
great need for gifted male dancers to maintain the vibrancy of dance as an art form. They also initiate ways of making dance
classes more inviting for emerging male talent.
While dance companies and schools willingly acknowledge that many male dancers are gay, they also challenge the
misunderstanding that allowing one’s son to take dance classes will make him gay. They also tout the benefits (e.g.,
psychological, social-emotional, and physical) of dance for these children. Other outreach efforts target young children of
color living in poverty. These efforts, which include Dance Chance in Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and Sydney, Australia, expose
disadvantaged children to dance, allowing dormant talent to meet instruction and potentially flourish into artistic expertise.
Piirto (2004) states, “the creative home and school environment softens these stereotypes and expectations and children can
come to understand that girls can be firefighters and boys can be ballet dancers.” Choreographer Kyle Abraham, a 2013
MacArthur Fellow, is known for transcending gender roles in his choreography (Chicago Dancing Festival blog, August 19,
2014). He states, “I generally don’t think about gender so much. I would hope that a woman could do anything a man can do,
and a man could do anything a woman can do. And that anyone that wants to define themselves as anything other than those
terms can do whatever they want to, too.”
It is not in dispute that a high percentage of male dancers are gay, and that dance offers a welcoming learning environment
and career option for many gifted young artists who identify as gay. Increasingly, those who identify as straight, gay, or
something altogether different, find that gender biases and roles are eroded, both within and outside the dance world.
Through that erosion, many in the dance world have come to question archaic sexual orientation labels and look more broadly
at matters of sexual orientation.
References$
Abraham, K. (August 19, 2014). Chicago Dancing Festival [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://www.chicagodancingfestival.com/blog/2014/8/kyle-abraham-interview-with-guest-blogger-zachary-whittenburg
Armas, A. (Dancer). (January 3, 2007). Gap swing [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCCC2Sj3XzA&list=PL42A08E4E176E6D94&index=3
Badham, J. (Director). (1977). Saturday Night Fever [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount.
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Bailey, J. M., & Oberschneider, M. (1997). Sexual orientation and professional dance. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 26, 433444.
Basil, T. (Choreographer). (February 21, 2007). Gap khakis hip-hop [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7v2-Qzqdkws&index=10&list=PL42A08E4E176E6D94
Carter, T. (Director). (2001). Save the last dance [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount.
Collins, D. (Creator). (2003-2007). Queer eye (aka Queer eye for the straight guy) [Television series]. New York, NY: Bravo;
New York, NY: NBC.
Daldry, S. (Director). (2000). Billy Elliot [Motion picture]. UK: BBC Films.
Danes, C., & Wilson, P. (Dancers). (March 10, 2007). The boyfriend trouser [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmKacuH_xOU
Dericks, M. (Choreographer). (July 4, 2006). Khaki a-go-go [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z4kfS4rQi3M&index=1&list=PL42A08E4E176E6D94
Dialhforhipster (Commercial). (April 3, 2007). Gap country khaki [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Zr5lZWx9X0
Hackford, T. (Director). (1985). White nights [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia.
Hamilton, L. (2002, October). Coming out in dance: Paths to understanding. AGGLY Newsletter, 5(1), 4-6. Retrieved from
http://bvsd.org/tag/Newsletters/AGGLY%20Vol%205%20Issue%201.pdf
Hytner, N. (Director). (2000). Center stage [Motion picture]. United States: Columbia.
Levy, E. (June 16, 2011). Cinema 24/7 [Blog]. Retrieved from http://emanuellevy.com/review/best-actress-oscar-the-turningpoint-1977/
Percival, J. (1975). Nureyev :A biography. New York: Putnam.
Piirto, J. (2004). Understanding creativity. Scottsdale, AZ: Great Potential Press.
Ross, H. (Director). (1977). The turning point [Motion picture]. United States: 20th Century Fox.
Sailer, S. (August 26, 2002). Q & A with J. Michael Baily [Blog]. Retrieved from
http://www.isteve.com/2002_QA_J._Michael_Bailey.htm
Stossel, J., & Binkley, G. (September 16, 2006). Gay stereotypes: Are they true? [ABC News]. Retrieved from
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2449185
Thompson, J. (Dancer). (March 23, 2006). Mellow yellow [Gap commercial]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upclJMOnlSs&index=7&list=PL42A08E4E176E6D94
Wayans, D. D. (Director). (2009). Dance flick [Motion picture]. United States: Paramount.
White, S. (Director). (2007). Stomp the yard [Motion picture]. United States: Rainforest Films.
Becky Whittenburg is the Gifted Education Resource Specialist for the Boulder Valley School District. She has worked in the
field of gifted education for 23 years and has been actively involved in issues of gifted/GLBTQ youth at the local, state, and
national levels since the 1990s. She spent more than 20 years working in the dance field as an accompanist and is the parent
of two children who became professional dancers.
Christian Dior fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
“Falling is one of the ways of moving.”
~ Merce Cunningham
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The$Hunted$(and$the$Hunter):$The$Rise$of$Rob,$a$Depressed,$$
ArtisticallyCGifted$Gay$Youth$
$
By$Terence$Paul$Friedrichs,$Ph.D.,$Ed.D.$
$
Many Americans might hold stereotypical notions about gay males. However, my dissertation on four gifted gay and bisexual
male adolescents at a state school for the arts (Friedrichs, 2005, 2007) revealed some differences, as well as similarities, in
these students’ trait patterns, social and organizational barriers associated with those traits, solutions to those barriers, and
outlooks for the pupils’ further prospects.$
Each of these youth utilized the arts somewhat differently to deal with their challenges and their strengths. “Marco the
Navigator,” a gifted dyslexic adolescent, used visual arts to steer gracefully around obstacles confronting his achievement and
experience. “Jason, Shaper of Stones” created much social consternation, though influenced significant social progress, with
performance art at his schools. “Carl the Field Wanderer” underachieved his ample potential, but began to achieve at higher
levels once he could explore varied and stimulating learning, leadership, and artistic opportunities, including the chance to
indulge his love of drawing. Finally, “Rob the Hunter,” a searching (and hunted) high-potential, depressed student, was
persecuted but was ultimately inspired to confront his oppressive social circumstances through creative writing. The present
article presents Rob’s particular intellectual, motivational, creative, and leadership traits. It also describes those gifted-,
depression-, and gay-related social barriers that exacerbated his challenges; and provides viable or potentially viable
solutions to his problems.
At about 5'4”, with short curly hair and a tight black t-shirt, Rob had a seemingly inexhaustible well of energy. His hallmarks
were his verbal gifts, emotional creative releases, and strong leadership ability among GLBTQ peers. His active searching,
however, often collided with strong human and institutional barriers, including anti-GLBTQ biases, harassment and violence,
threats of segregated placements in Emotionally and Behaviorally Disordered (EBD) classrooms, and limited opportunities for
creative writing and sexual minority leadership. He might have benefited from more-extensive classroom interactions with
general education and gifted peers, from teachers’ anti-bullying advocacy, and from broader and deeper arts- and GLBTQrelated curricula. However, since embarking on his journey toward self-realization in high school, and since moving in his
college years in a more GLBTQ- and arts-sensitive community in Chicago, his prospects have improved significantly.
Characteristics
Intellectually, Rob was an intense seeker of knowledge, as well as a creative writer with an ear for vocabulary, an eye for
detail, and a hunger for reading and journaling. Haunted by years of daily anti-gay name-calling and physical abuse, his
grades and his emotional well-being had been wounded by the young “hunters” (homophobes) at his school. Nevertheless, by
his junior year his dark moments had driven him toward bright, creative pathways. At the same time, he had developed
special interests in reading about and discussing challenges that other school-aged GLBTQ victims and survivors had
encountered. He aimed to help them in the role of a youth leader.
Despite depression, Rob maintained the intellectual energy to be self-directed, vibrant, and even bouncy. Strong motivation
was most apparent when he was surrounded by friends, and when he was immersed in his anti-discrimination causes and in
written reflections. Like James Baldwin (Weatherby,1980), his reflections also revealed increased sensitivity to others' pain.
Rob often dipped deeply into his depleted store of emotional energy to reflect carefully before writing about his own and
others’ tragedies. Like some other sensitive gay or bisexual boys, he knew that he (and they) had plenty to be depressed
about.
During Rob’s early teen years, his self-esteem collapsed when he was beaten by his classmates at school. Despite the school
beatings, which were frequently accompanied by anti-gay epithets and occasionally done in public, his teachers did not call
off the hunters. After one attack, during a well-attended high school football game, neither Rob’s principal nor the responding
police officer even tried to interview the perpetrators or witnesses. Needless to say, Rob's depression increased, and he
launched into self-mutilation, making frequent, small cuts on his own wrists—ones which school personnel did not recognize
as a sign of emotional distress.
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10
Rob employed his creativity to escape those who hunted his body and sapped his spirit—and perhaps also did so to simply
grasp these hunters’ ways. Beginning in seventh grade, he painstakingly kept a journal, expressing insights on how it felt to be
attacked. His journal, like those of other gifted students with emotional disorders, seemed to constitute his effort at selfpreservation. It was an outlet for his private thoughts, which were publicly inexpressible because they would have led to further
attacks.
Rob’s journaling came to have a pre-professional purpose, too. He became so skilled at the writer's craft of “going to painful
places” (a strength in many gifted GLBT youth) that he began to believe he might actually be good at writing. Despite his low
self-esteem in other areas of life, he applied as a prospective writing major to Sky Blue’s highly selective State Arts High, and
was admitted!
Once enrolled at State Arts—known widely both as a supportive site for creativity and an inspirational scene for self-assured
GLBT youth—Rob became even more energized. Showing the resilience of many gifted youth with emotional challenges, he
fearlessly sought out a leadership position in his new school's GSA (Gay-Straight Alliance). Slogging through marshes of local
and national anti-GLBT biases, he helped to organize political activities that touted more GLBT-supportive laws. While adults
kept quiet, Rob spoke up, fearlessly advocating in his home state for domestic-partner hospital visits and against the Defense
of Marriage Act. However, without adult mentors guiding and nurturing his ambitious and important efforts, Rob, like many
other bright, underserved GLBTQ teens, was not always sure if he was organizing his fellow seekers along the right path.
Barriers
As a young teen, Rob's high potential for leadership, creativity, and language arts was not at all clear. His verbal precocity,
large vocabulary, keen social analysis, and constant carrying of books and journals did not endear him to his young male
peers, some of whom had hunted him in grades 7 through 9. His sometimes-flowery language, similar to that of the young
Oscar Wilde, made Rob fair game for homophobes. Peers’ taunting had exhausted this highly-aware young man at an early
age. However, with his intermittent, adrenaline-fueled responses, he soon exhibited his passions for reading and creative
writing.
Unfortunately, Rob's excellent abilities in language arts escaped gifted education authorities' notice. Somewhat similarly,
general education teachers were disturbed by Rob’s “there-then-gone” grade-point average and did not speak up about his
strengths.
In fact, these teachers suggested that Rob should be educated within the confines of an EBD school program, a placement
poorly suited to his abilities since EBD classes tend to emphasize social-skills teaching rather than on grade-level academic
instruction. (Advanced journaling or advanced literature can be especially rare in such settings.) Even more disconcertingly,
EBD classes can sometimes have a hostile atmosphere, in which gay youth are susceptible to persecution and are perceived
by EBD students as having lower social status than they do.. Fortunately, Rob stayed in mainstream classes, thereby avoiding
the EBD room, though his intermittent bounciness still brought him ridicule as “gay” by peers.
Despite clear evidence that Rob’s self-esteem was declining and his depression was mounting, no adult fought back against
the school-based name-calling. Not one teacher asked Rob what his wounds were about. His experience showed that, even in
a state with gay-rights and hate-crimes laws, a gay youth could still endure multiple, blatant beatings laced with homophobic
language. Rob learned that such beatings could be ignored by authority figures, such as the school principal and the police.
On other occasions, these figures could simply serve as “game wardens” who could choose to either restrict or approve the
hunting of gay youth.
Rob’s safe, productive shelter from threats—that of creative writing—disappointingly occupied just a small place in his junior
high curriculum. Thus, despite his shining strengths in writing, Rob could not use those assets to lift himself to a different, more
self-determined, and more positive state of mind. (He might have attained a more emotionally productive state through either
multiple general-education writing courses or gifted-education language-arts classes.) Yet, later at State Arts, writing became a
way by which Rob could establish a courageous, honest, artistic, and even gay identity. His developing identity brought
purpose and consistency to his life, just as gay writers Baldwin and Wilde had educational experiences that motivated them to
strive for both purpose and consistency in their world views and in their writings. (Admittedly, these writers’ efforts led to very
different personal outcomes for them than Rob’s efforts did for him. Baldwin’s and Wilde’s struggles shaped them
differently because of their rather fenced-in GLBTQ environments of 1950’s America and Victorian Britain.)
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During his high school years, Rob took on an increasingly purposeful, self-assured role that demonstrated a moral dedication
and strength that few other “hunted” students could easily take on—that of his school’s primary HIV/AIDS advocate. But as
Rob moved to State Arts High School, ready for more comprehensive advocacy opportunities, he received merely the same
level of leadership opportunity as before. As he fought for GLBTQ partners’ legally sanctioned hospital visits and battled
against the Defense of Marriage Act, Rob was left to himself to learn the new skill that he truly wished to acquire: organizing
teens and adults outside his school. Without adult mentoring and correction, it was hard for him to find his way along the
uncharted path of GLBTQ-teen activism. He, in fact, had gotten a bit lost. As a result, Rob took a hiatus from activism to
devote his time to becoming an artist, a more widely-practiced area of endeavor that would offer him more job safety and
security.
Solutions
Rob might have benefited intellectually from more-frequent, higher-quality interactions with general education and gifted
peers, socially and emotionally from assertive anti-bullying advocacy, and creatively from deeper and more complex arts
curricula. He also could have benefited from more-specialized GLBTQ and HIV/AIDS curricula that provided opportunities for
more-challenging leadership roles. Intellectually, Rob was fortunate to remain within the protective confines of the general
classroom rather than transfer to the threatening space of special education. Being in the regular classroom gave him more
time to engage in stimulating curriculum, and to receive more positive teacher comments regarding his oral language skills,
insightful analyses, and bibliophilic inclinations. He was lucky to have escaped EBD classes, which for him were potential
danger zones swarming with homophobic slings and arrows. However, Rob might have become even more empowered if he,
like other gifted youth with significant peer conflicts, had been assigned to classes with high-potential students. In those
classes, there tended to be less anti-gay language, as well as more challenge and more intellectual and creative stimulation.
Whether in general or gifted classes, Rob could have benefitted from less homework as he tried to conserve depleted energy.
He could have used time reserved for homework to energize himself for things he enjoyed, such as journaling and reading.
He might have also been granted course credit for knowledge attained outside of class. Intellectually isolated from (but
nonetheless sensitive to) adults, he also could have benefitted from hearing at least one teacher come to the defense of
GLBTQ people.
As GLBTQ students do nationally (GLSEN, 2008), the highly-sensitive yet heavily-scrutinized Rob also desperately needed
teachers to clamp down on the verbal ridicule that filled his schools’ halls. As Rob found out, anti-GLBTQ name calling, when
unchecked, often escalates to more violent treatment, even in supposedly GLBTQ-protective schools, cities, and states. He
obviously needed to feel that he had the same administrative and police protection that all youth, majority and minority, are
supposed to experience (GLSEN, 2008). Lacking that protection, like Oscar Wilde at Oxford, Rob declined to report his
persecutors for fear that the system would defend the guilty rather than protect the victim. As with other gifted EBD and highpotential GLBTQ youth, Rob sank deeper and deeper into depression, both over his fate and over his school system's
hypocrisies.
As a creative person concerned with far more than just physical safety or occasional despondency, Rob could have benefited
from broader and deeper arts curricula in junior high, particularly in his specialty of creative writing. Such curricula could have
bolstered him as he shared his depression (and his eventually liberated feelings) and as he strove to have peers and
educators more thoroughly support his artistic and gay identities. In gifted education writing classes, he also could have
learned advanced autobiographical writing skills. These competencies would have allowed him to traverse far beyond the
usual “sharing” and self-awareness competencies of autobiographies into the far more enlightening realms of self-definition
and self-creation.
Finally, at the arts high school, Rob could have benefited from more-advanced leadership opportunities in GLBTQ and
HIV/AIDS advocacy. These opportunities seemed to be where his newly self-assured heart resided. State Arts staff could
have at least guided Rob toward relevant leadership opportunities in other high schools and community agencies. (Youth at
some national gay teen drop-in centers had already exercised such leadership.) With opportunities of this kind, Rob could
have moved—in a developmentally healthy fashion—beyond merely acknowledging his gay identity toward the more
advanced goals of embracing his own cultural group, and increasing his advocacy efforts for them.
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Current Status and Future Prospects
After graduation from State Arts, Rob headed for an art-and-design college in Chicago. From an intellectual standpoint, the
school was a good match. It valued not only art and design, but also the spoken word, outside reading, insightful journaling,
and use of all these skills for social justice, such as GLBTQ advocacy. He was applauded for his verbal skills and gay-related
leadership competencies, and was not criticized and made to hide. He could obtain coursework for mainstream classes or athome projects. Similarly, he could choose to be a part of the mainstream school community or to fade into the background of
Chicago’s large GLBTQ community.
Rob’s motivation was fed by Chicago, with its high energy and its many social justice causes in which to become involved.
With his self-direction, he could easily become a part of any number of racially diverse, GLBTQ, or HIV/AIDS projects. He no
longer faced as many minute-by-minute, soul-sapping discriminatory barriers as he had once encountered in his early high
school years. He had been able to move from an arts school with a high percentage of gay students to an apartment in
Chicago’s Wrigleyville (known to some in the GLBTQ community as “Boys Town”). At his college, GLBTQ artists and works
created by sexual minorities were promoted. Further, in his neighborhood, the police were consistently on the lookout for antigay violence.
Creatively, Rob could share his private thoughts more openly, frequently, and decisively in his new college. No longer were his
language arts and social studies courses just about other people’s stories: they were now about his very own journaling, short
stories, and reflective pieces on contemporary social issues. He could even work on autobiographical pieces in which he could
craft solutions to society’s homophobia by devising solutions for his own life.
In Chicago, Rob found no lack of scandals to which he could contribute his leadership skills. Yet, for so many years, he had
reacted to so many pressing needs that he now felt he needed to, and could, rest for a while. At State Arts, he lacked the
advanced mentoring he needed to progress in GLBTQ and AIDS advocacy. However, in Chicago, there was no scarcity of
mentoring available. Rather, there was an abundance of people to seek out his particular skills so that those competencies
would be tapped. He was happy to know that, if and when he became active in Chicago, he would have an almost endless
number of GLBTQ and HIV/AIDS causes in which to become involved.
Conclusion
Of all the subjects in my dissertation, Rob was the individual whose experiences with harassment and whose battles for
dignity most closely resembled the historical struggles of gay youth in our country. Evolving community mores about GLBTQ
people, coupled with Rob’s self-determination to survive and thrive, supported him as he successfully battled both
homophobic forces and self-doubt. His motivation increased, which led to growth in academics, creativity, and leadership.
Despite external and internal struggles, Rob persevered, attaining both impressive achievement and a pervasive sense of
grace that should hold him in good stead for the remainder of his courageous life.
References$
Friedrichs, T. P. (2005). Emotionally-related, contextually-based social-material needs and approaches for gifted gay and
bisexual male students. Ann Arbor, MI: UMI.
Friedrichs, T. P. (2007). Social and emotional needs and approaches for gifted gay and bisexual male students. Significance,
7(1), 4-7.
GLSEN (2014). Statistics on percentages of verbal and physical harassment of GLBT students and the effectiveness of
educator responses. Retrieved from www.glsen.org
Kaplan, S. (2007). Flip book: a quick and easy method for developing differentiated learning experiences. Retrieved from
www.jtayloreducation.com
Weatherby, W. J. (1980). James Baldwin: Artist on fire. New York: Donald Fine.
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Terry Friedrichs grew up gay in Minnesota in the 1960s and 1970s. For 35 years, he has
been a K-12 teacher of, and a university educator who has taught about, youth with
creative, artistic, and many other gifts and disabilities. He served hundreds of gifted sexualminority students as an educator, researcher, and college and high-school youth group
leader, and as founding (and current) coordinator of NAGC’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual,
Transgender, and Questioning Special Interest Group. He earned a Ph.D. from the
University of Virginia in Gifted Education and Learning Disabilities, and an Ed.D. from the
University of St. Thomas in Critical Pedagogy, and has published 15 scholarly chapters and
articles on gifted GLBTQ youth. For information about gifted GLBTQ students or about
membership in the NAGC GLBTQ SIG (free to NAGC members), please contact Terry at
tpfriedrichs@stthomas.edu
Alexander Wang fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
“I say you have to be a visionary, make yourself a visionary. A Poet
makes himself a visionary through a long, boundless, and systemized
disorganization of all the senses. All forms of love, of suffering, of
madness; he searches himself, he exhausts within himself all poisons,
and preserves their quintessences.” ~ Arthur Rimbaud
NAGC
+
NAGC ARTS Network Memb ership
Are you a member of NAGC and the NAGC ARTS Network? To learn more about the organization and our
Network, and to view past ARTS Network newsletters, visit us on the Web.
NAGC$Homepage$! http://www.nagc.org/
NAGC$ARTS$Network$! $http://www.nagc.org/get-involved/nagc-networks-and-special-interestgroups/networks-arts
NAGC$Twitter ! @NAGCGIFTED
Supporting the needs of high potential learners.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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Supporting$Gifted$LGBTQ$College$Students$in$Academically$Competitive$
Environments$$
$
By$Patrick$Lukingbeal$&$F.$Richard$Olenchak,$Ph.D.$
University$of$Houston,$Department$of$Educational$Psychology$
Supporting gifted college students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or questioning (LGBTQ) is critical for their
long-term success and retention (Sanlo, 2004). While much research has been conducted to understand gifted students
overall (Neumeister, 2004; Rinn, 2007), a limited number of studies have illuminated effective support strategies for the
LGBTQ college population in an academically elite setting (Treat & Whittenberg, 2006). Recommendations will be outlined
for campus community members, including approaches for the expansion of inclusive policies and services, and for the
increased visibility of LGBTQ faculty and staff.
Early adulthood can be a period of significant change for any individual, and that axiom is exceptionally true for someone
who is LGBTQ. It is during this period that an individual may begin to, or may continue to, explore his/her sexual orientation
or gender identity (McAleavey, Castonguay, & Locke, 2011). “Coming out” can occur simultaneously as a person figures out
how to live with a roommate, chooses an academic major, and determines the overall direction he/she wishes to pursue in
adulthood. This period, while exciting, can also spark a significant number of stressors. From stigmatization, victimization,
and cyberbullying, to social isolation, LGBTQ people face more societal stressors than do heterosexual people (King et al.,
2003; King et al., 2008; McLaughlin, Hatzenbuehler, Xuan, & Conron, 2012; Oswalt & Wyatt, 2011). Some research has
shown that, while LGBTQ people with high ability may face isolation, depression, and even suicidal ideation, they seem to
flourish through high achievement and through extreme involvement in extracurricular activities (Peterson & Rischar, 2000).
In a college setting, this need for intellectual stimulation may be demonstrated through academic conquests or through
leadership pursuits.
For LGBTQ students who are gifted and are concurrently enrolled at an academically elite university, a supportive
environment is essential. Faculty, staff, and administrators can enact and advocate for a wide range of support mechanisms,
all designed to create a more inclusive environment that will translate into increased student well-being. First and foremost is
the need to establish a program for purposeful education, both for and with LGBTQ populations. Whether accomplished
through some sort of “Safe Zone” training program or “visibility project” with campus professionals, normalizing LGBTQ
people into the campus community will enhance the likelihood that these students will feel part of the larger university.
Programs such as these identify LGBTQ people and their allies across a university campus in an effort to provide LGBTQ
students a safe haven and people with whom to connect. Both authors have made it a point to be visible and active in their
university and local communities around LGBTQ issues. This has been done by being visible at LGBTQ community events
on-campus or by having their names publically listed in the campus newspaper and website as LGBTQ allies. This direct
involvement has translated into increased student contact and relationship-building.
From a campus perspective, university-wide pro-LGBTQ policies should be considered—from non-discrimination policies, to
same-sex partner benefits, to policies supporting gender-neutral facilities and healthcare for transgender students. The more
visible the advocacy work, the more welcome LGBTQ students are likely to feel. Inside the classroom, educators can weave
LGBTQ themes into coursework and lecture topics. In addition, faculty can use inclusive language and pronouns for students
who identify as transgender.
For campus administrators and student affairs personnel, creating welcoming support services should be a priority. Knowing
that academically elite institutions often contain high-stress environments, campus counseling centers should be prepared to
meet schools’ scholastic demands and to address all different types of identities. Students may wish to discuss these
identities with counselors when they are under academic pressure or other stress. Stress should be channeled into healthy
activities and away from high-risk behaviors, such as binge drinking or risky sexual activity. Research has often shown that
LGBTQ individuals can be more at-risk for such dangerous behaviors (King et al., 2003). As a result, campus professionals
should be prepared to help students navigate whatever challenges they are struggling with at the time.
Academic and career advising are areas that can also be helpful. For some people, their sexual orientations or gender
identities may not play a role in their pre- or post-graduate plans, but for others they may. On one end, their academic
interests may drive them into LGBTQ-related work, in which they can be completely open about their identities. On the other
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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end, some students may find themselves in career fields where they are scared to be open about their identities, due to lack of
workplace protections or because of fear of retaliation.
Finally, research such as that of Peterson and Rischar (2000) has shown that gifted LGBTQ students will frequently seek out
high levels of involvement on their campus. Through a sense of connectedness, they may choose to engage in many
university activities, including student government, new-student orientation, or peer mentoring. Both as a social outlet and as
professional development, these engagements can bring forth a sense of pride. Enhanced pride through university
involvement was the case for the first author. He found that connecting with both LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ peers was an
important transitional step to experiencing a fuller identity within a university setting. His involvement exposed him to many
new surroundings and opportunities. Administrators should welcome the talents and skills of LGBTQ people in all of these
extracurricular activities, since those assets bring with them a long list of immediate and long-term benefits to the entire
university community.
Individual or group mentoring can also play a significant role in supporting the development of LGBTQ-identified students.
Connecting students to faculty and staff who share sexual orientations or gender identities provides the student with important
personal and professional guidance. Mentoring has been shown to increase self-confidence, self-esteem, and personal
growth; and has led to a better understanding of career advancement (Allen, Eby, Poteet, Lentz, & Lima, 2004). Many sexualminority students need growth in these areas (Ehrich, Hansford, & Tennent, 2004; Higgins, 2001; King et al., 2009). In highstress academic environments, an LGBTQ mentor may help gifted students to focus on their research aspirations, career
planning, and mid-career growth.
These recommendations should simply serve as a starting point. It should be the ongoing responsibility of all campus
community members to uplift and support LGBTQ students, whether they have high abilities or not. Through intentional
advocacy and education, real change can be made for this population. By enacting and building upon these existing
recommendations, campus leaders can rest assured that they are creating welcoming, inclusive, and successful environments
for sexual-minority students.
References$
$
Allen, T. D., Eby, L. T., Poteet, M. L., Lentz, E., & Lima, L. (2004). Career benefits associated with mentoring for protégés: A
meta-analysis. Journal of Applied Psychology, 89, 127-136.
Ehrich, L. C., Hansford, B., & Tennent, L. (2004). Formal mentoring programs in education and other professions: A review of
the literature. Educational Administration Quarterly, 40, 518–540.
Higgins, M. C. (2001). Reconceptualizing mentoring at work: A developmental network perspective. Academy of Management
Review, 26, 254–288.
King, M., McKeown, E., Warner, J., Ramsay, A., Johnson, K., Cort, C., . . . Davidson, O. (2003). Mental health and quality of
life of gay men and lesbians in England and Wales: Controlled, cross-sectional study. The British Journal of
Psychiatry, 183, 552-558.
King, M., Semlyen, J., Tai, S. S., Killaspy, H., Osborn, D., Popelyuk, D., & Nazareth, I. (2008). A systematic review of mental
disorder, suicide, and deliberate self-harm in lesbian, gay and bisexual people. BMC Psychiatry, 8, 1-17.
McAleavey, A. A, Castonguay, L. G., & Locke, B. D. (2011). Sexual orientation minorities in college counseling: Prevalence,
distress, and symptom profiles. Journal of College Counseling, 14, 127-142.
McLaughlin, K., Hatzenbuehler, M., Xuan, Z., & Conron, K. (2012). Disproportionate exposure to early-life adversity and
sexual orientation disparities in psychiatric morbidity. Child Abuse & Neglect, 36, 645-655.
Neumeister, K. L. S. (2004). Factors influencing the development of perfectionism in gifted college students. Gifted Child
Quarterly, 48, 259-274.
Oswalt, S. B., & Wyatt, T. J. (2011). Sexual orientation and differences in mental health, stress, and academic performance in
a national sample of U.S. college students. Journal of Homosexuality, 58, 1255-1280.
Peterson, J. S., & Rischar, H. (2000). Gifted and gay: A study of the adolescent experience.
Gifted Child Quarterly, 44, 231-246.
Rinn, A. N. (2007). Effects of programmatic selectivity on the academic achievement, academic self-concepts, and aspirations
of gifted college students. Gifted Child Quarterly, 51, 232-245.
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Sanlo, R. (2004). Lesbian, gay, and bisexual college students: Risk, resiliency, and retention. The Journal of College Student
Retention, 6, 97-110.
Treat, A. R., & Whittenberg, B. (2006). Gifted gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender annotated bibliography: A resource
educators of gifted secondary GLBT students. The Journal of Secondary Gifted Education, 17, 230-243.
Patrick Lukingbeal serves as the Director of the Wellness Center at the University of
Houston. He is also a third year Ph.D. student in the Educational Psychology and Individual
Differences Program at the University of Houston, specializing in higher education. His areas of
focus include college student well-being and wellness, and he enjoys educating around topics
such as sexual violence prevention and mental health. Previous to his role, he has served in
student affairs capacities at Rice University, Georgetown University, and Texas A&M University.
F. Richard Olenchak serves as Associate Provost for Faculty Development and
Faculty Affairs at the University of Houston (UH). A former NAGC President, he
previously served as a department chair at two different universities, as a professor
and researcher, as director of a research center, as a research associate at a state
department of education, as a principal and as a director of gifted programs in two
school districts, and as a teacher. Despite the complexities of his current university
administrative role, he continues to teach, work with over a dozen doctoral students,
and study a variety of topics associated with giftedness and talent development. Most
recently, he has launched the new UH Center for Faculty Engagement and
Development and the new Cougar Chairs Leadership Academy, both of which target
talent development among UH Faculty.
Michael Kors fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection
“Making dances is an act of progress; it is an act of growth, an act of music,
an act of teaching, and act of celebration, an act of joy.” ~ Alvin Ailey
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Resources$for$GLBTQ$Youth!!
Compiled$By$Teresa$Ryan$Manzella$
!
ON THE WEB:
MN Perpich School for the Arts (http://www.mcae.k12.mn.us/index.php)
This public high school provides special opportunities for students dedicated to artistic (music, dance, visual arts, theater)
endeavors. It is open only to Minnesota residents, but this site will provide many viewers with ideas for approaching their
states’ education-focused legislators about starting an arts school.
The Trevor Project (http://www.thetrevorproject.org/)
The Trevor Project is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth. Often, artistically talented people are more sensitive to the world
around them, and need to connect with people who have things in common. The site features a moderated chat room, where
GLBTQ youth can connect in a space free from cyberbullies.
Quatrefoil Library: Coming Out Resources (https://www.qlibrary.org/reading-list/coming-out-resources/)
The library offers reading lists and has a search function that enables readers both to review books of potential interest and
to request them at local libraries. There is also a link to a database of scholarly articles that might be helpful. However,
membership is required to access this list.
G-Squared Youth Advocate (http://gsquaredyouthadvocate.com/index.html)
This site (established 2014) offers information and resources for gifted GLBTQ youth and the adults who care about them.
Though not specifically geared toward artistically talented youth, this site might serve as a point of departure in researching
related issues.
IN PRINT:
Brown, R. M. (1997). Rita Will: Memoir of a literary rabble-rouser. New York: Bantam Books.
In her memoir, Brown explicates her life’s journey as a gifted, queer female author, emphasizing the importance of being true
to one’s self, and the necessity of developing resiliency to counter discriminatory attitudes. This book is developmentally
appropriate for young adult readers, and free from explicit material.
Huegel, K. (2011). GLBTQ: The survival guide for queer & questioning teens (2nd ed.). Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit
Publishing.
Covering issues from abusive relationships to youth resources, Huegel answers many of the common (and some not-socommon) questions that arise for GLBTQ teens, providing them with tools to advocate for themselves and to keep
themselves healthy.
Teresa Ryan Manzella is Gifted Youth Coordinator and Past President for
Minnesota Mensa, one of three founding members of the NAGC GLBTQ
Special Interest Group, and a member of the American Mensa National
Gifted Youth Committee. She is also a past member of the Maplewood, MN
Human Rights Commission. She holds a Master of Liberal Studies degree,
the focus of which addresses the challenges facing youth who are gifted and
GLBTQ. For more information and resources specific to gifted-GLBTQ kids,
please visit her website: www.gsquaredyouthadvocate.com.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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NAGC$ARTS$NEWSLETTER$$
CALL FOR ARTICLES$
The NAGC Arts Network seeks newsletter submissions that rest within OUR MISSION, which includes:
•
•
•
•
•
promoting the recognition and acceptance of the Arts as an essential area of giftedness;
encouraging research in the area of artistic giftedness and talent;
providing practical strategies and resources to foster artistic expression;
illuminating the benefits of integrating meaningful arts experiences into the academic curriculum and providing
support for practice; and,
increasing awareness of artistic expression; aesthetic perception, aesthetic valuing, and aesthetic appreciation; and
the psychosocial dimensions associated with educating and caring for artistically gifted and talented individuals.
Additionally, you may be able to offer some insight to a few of our musings, which other Arts Network members might
share:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
What is the rate of coincidence between “artistic” giftedness and “academic” or “intellectual” giftedness? That is,
does one tend to travel with the other? What measures can be used to assess this?
We discuss the specific social and emotional traits of the artistically gifted. What does recent research look like on
this?
Do different domains of talent in the arts (e.g., music, dance, theatre, visual arts) have different developmental
trajectories, or come to fruition at predictably different times in life?
What are some examples of arts and academic curriculum models at exemplary arts schools in the U.S.?
What are the experiences of parents learning of their child’s artistic gifts and talents, and nurturing them to fruition?
What are the experiences of teachers and administrators in identifying students’ artistic gifts and talents, and
rallying the necessary support systems and services to nurture them to fruition?
What are the experiences of students (past and present) attending schools and summer programs with an arts
focus?
Submitting a piece to the NAGC Arts Network Newsletter is a practical means of sharing your experiences and musings
with a targeted audience. We welcome all content (e.g., research summaries, program descriptions, personal narratives,
photos and videos of student art works). Please contact the newsletter editor at merzili.villanueva@uconn.edu with any
questions.
Chanel fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
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VOICES OF ARTSTISTICALLY GIFTED GAY MEN:
An Interview With Diane V on F ursten burg
Accessories Director, Giovanni Mesa
$
$
Merzili$Villanueva$in$Correspondence$with$Giovanni$Mesa
$
I met Giovanni Mesa in 7th grade when we were both students in the magnet arts program
at our middle school in Miami, FL. He was in Visual Arts, and I in Dance. We went on to
attend the same high school for the visual and performing arts; and, as might be the case for
many high school classmates, we became estranged for several years until reconnecting on
Facebook. Knowing that Gio (as he is called by some) was gay and still very involved in the
Arts scene, I contacted him about partaking in a potential interview for our joint ARTS &
LGBTQ newsletter. He enthusiastically accepted the interview. In our e-mail correspondence,
Gio, who is currently Accessories Director at Diane Von Furstenburg (DVF) in New York City,
reflected on his development as an artistically gifted gay artist. As an advocate for culturally
diverse gifted populations, it is important to mention that Gio’s parents are from Cuba.
MV: How did you become involved with the Arts?
GM: Oh such a very long time ago, since I can remember really! When I was a toddler all I wanted for Christmas was a
Sesame Street drawing table and markers…never crayons! They are too waxy and never got the true colors I wanted on the
paper! My parents caught the talent from a very young age and encouraged me to audition for magnet programs. So really I
was trained from 6th grade on every day at school from painting and photography to ceramics and sculpture.
MV: How did the Arts influence your identity development?
GM: Art has somewhat always been a security blanket for me. It’s what really frees my mind! And it’s all kinds of Arts, not just
what I create: a wonderful dance piece, a killer music composition… right now I have Rhapsody In Blue on a loop on my
iPhone. There is no right or wrong with the Arts and that concept is really what has shaped me as a person the most. Always
go with courage, heart, and meaning.
MV: You attended a specialized high school for the arts. Tell us a little about your experience.
GM: It was a wonderful experience to be surrounded around such talented students! I always joke that it really was living out
the movie Fame! It makes me so sad when I hear about gun violence and bulling in schools today. New World really nurtured
their student body to be ambitious and independent; it barely had a dress code! You could be who ever you wanted to be. I
had a great high school experience. I wouldn’t change it for the world!
MV: Looking back on your experience at an arts high school, is there something you felt was missing in terms of being
supported as a teenager coming out as gay?
GM: Missing, I’m not sure. I think it was a time when positive awareness [of being homosexual] was starting to develop. Like
when Ellen DeGeneres came out in 1997 on national television, and or when Will and Grace started to broadcast. It’s 2014
now and teenagers today are very lucky to be witnessing gay marriage being approved around the country, and have
organizations that support LGBTQ. They have strong role models like Ellen and Lavern Cox whose role in Orange Is the New
Black provides her a platform to speak on the rights of trans people. We have politicians and athletes who are out. Can you
imagine how hard it must have been in the past?! A male would get arrested in New York City in the 70s if he had a dress and
a little make up on, or that first punch at Stone Wall. Things are getting better every day.
MV: How did your family support your coming out? How do they support you now?
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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20
GM: My family is everything to me. One day it was said: “I’m gay.” They didn’t even flinch. We are extremely close and make
sure to keep in touch at least once a day. Although I think I might have to start charging my mother a personal stylist fee. The
phone calls for fashion advice when she goes out to an event are endless. “Do you think this metallic tone goes with the
black? What bag should I wear with this dress?” And now that we have face-time! The consultations are even longer!
MV: Were there challenges you experienced with regard to expression of homosexuality when you graduated from NWSA? If
so, what were they?
GM: Thinking back, I guess after high school I briefly went to an art college in Baltimore, MD. The students came from all
around the world to learn their special craft. I don’t think some of them really had been exposed to homosexuality because of
their cultural beliefs and or felt uncomfortable being around a gay person. Granted I’m speaking of only a selected few and
my experience was rather pleasant…. If I got a dirty look from someone, though, I would give them a big smile back.
MV: How did your artwork—what you created—change over time (from first art school experience to college)?
GM: Well, you always start with paintings of fruit and animals, or exploring different cultures and their art and mimicking that.
As time goes, though, you develop your own sensitivity and technique and interests. I went to College wanting to major in
sculpture. However, there were other sides of me that loved pop culture, design, and VOGUE (magazine) to name a few. I
tried very hard to mix all these worlds together within my work but it just didn’t feel right to me. So I picked up my bags,
grabbed a Greyhound Bus, and got myself to New York City on a hunt to get into fashion.
MV: How did you become involved in fashion design?
GM: When I got to the city I had no fashion portfolio whatsoever. But I knew I had strong drawing skills and numerous
pictures of sculptures I had done in school. I needed money, so I thought to myself, “How can I get involved in the fashion
industry somehow while trying to polish up a nice portfolio to look around for work?” I marched to Saks Fifth Avenue because
I always loved the window there and simply asked for a job assisting the window display manager. When he heard that my
background was sculpture, I got the job! That gave me money, and time at night to compose a nice batch of work for
interviews. My second job was assisting the Design VP of Polo Ralph Lauren. It was endless nights of cutting swatches, but I
loved it! That opened doors to years of jobs and projects where I worked my way up from Designer to Senior Designer
concentrating in accessories, and am now very happy and blessed working as an Accessories Director.
MV: You are engaged to be married. Congratulations! Tell us about the lucky guy.
GM: He is a wonderful guy with immense talent. He, too, is creative and has just launched a great jewelry line. We met
through a mutual friend and hit it off right away. We live together in an apartment full of my sketches, and his next season’s
jewelry line on the wall. It’s quite a full house with both of us, two little fat French bulldogs, and a very bitchy cat! Never a dull
moment.
MV: What are your concerns for the LGBTQ community (could be in NYC, nationally, internationally, etc.)? What are your
hopes?
GM: Although we as a community internationally have come a long way, there is still more to go. Ignorance concerns me;
bullying concerns me; violence concerns me. My hope is that all LGBTQ individuals understand how very special they are;
everyone of you reading this is one of a kind. And when some one negative comes along to try to down size you, stand
strong, give a smile, and try to educate them…every little step counts.
Jason Wu fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
Jason Wu for Hugo Boss fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
21
LGBTQ$Artists$as$Positive$Role$Models$for$Artistically$Talented$$
LGBTQ$Youth$
By Merzili Villanueva
NAGC ARTS Newsletter Editor
Among the ways educational stakeholders can advocate for artistically talented LGBTQ youth is to ensure that they have
positive role models. Introducing students to LGBTQ artists, either in person or by other means—such as articles,
(auto)biographies, television, or films—can support their healthy identity development as an LGBTQ individual, and as an
artist. Sharing examples of LGBTQ artists’ creative works might provide a source of inspiration, and develop their positive
self-concept about being an artist who is out and proud. Certainly, fictional characters can also teach and inspire.
Listed below are a few websites with information about LGBTQ artists (living and deceased), many who are celebrities in the
public eye. Their presence in the media, and openness to discussing LGBTQ issues, such as gender identity and sexuality,
raises awareness of the special, underrepresented population. Teachers, counselors, and other educational stakeholders:
How might you integrate the topic into curricula and conversations so as to promote engagement and create a psychologically
safe environment for artistically talented LGBTQ youth?
Indiewire.com’s Reader’s Poll: The Most Important LGBT Actors and Actresses (2014)
http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/readers-poll-the-25-most-important-lgbt-actors-and-actresses-20140616
25 Actors, Writers, and Icons Who Identify as Bisexual (2013)
http://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/celebrities-you-might-not-know-are-bisexual
30 Bisexual Celebrities (2013)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/19/30-bisexual-celebrities_n_4023562.html
30 LGBT Artists Huffpost Arts & Culture Thinks You Should Know (2012)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/06/28/29-lgbt-artists_n_1627938.html
Actress, Jodie Foster
LGBTQ Actors: From the LGBTQ Nation Archives (2014)
http://www.lgbtqnation.com/tag/actors/
A Queer History of Fashion: From the Closet to the Catwalk; Special Exhibit at The Museum at the Fashion Institute of
Technology
http://www.fitnyc.edu/21048.asp
LGBT Dancers: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_dancers
LGBT Writers: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_writers
LGBT Visual Artists: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_artists
LGBT Musicians by Nationality: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians_by_nationality
LGBT Fashion Designers: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_fashion_designers
Artist, Keith Haring (Untitled 1985)
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
22
Because,$for$some,$life$is$one$big$musical$(or$series$of$musicals).$JAZZ$HANDS.$
Gay Musicals: A Special Reference Section of Queer Music Heritage
http://queermusicheritage.com/gaymus.html
From Love Songs to Hate Songs: LGBT Characters Sing Out Loud on Broadway (2014)
http://www.playbill.com/features/article/from-love-songs-to-hate-songs-lgbt-characters-sing-out-loud-on-broadwa-322124
LGBT-Related Musical Films: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT-related_musical_films
LGBT-Related Musicals: Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT-related_musicals
Cast of the
Broadway
musical,
Kinky
Boots.
2013$MacArthur$Fellowship$Recipients$
Congratulations to Tarell Alvin McCraney, Kyle Abraham, and Jeremy Denk on their 2013 MacArthur Fellowship grants.
McCraney, a playwright; Kyle Abraham, a dancer-choreographer; and Jeremy Denk, a pianist and writer, are artistically gifted
gay men blazing a trail for the next generation of innovators in the arts. Both McCraney and Abraham are alumni from Arts
high schools in the U.S. (New World School of the Arts in Miami, FL, and Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School in
Pittsburgh, PA, respectively). Here is a sampling of online resources about the three “genius grant” recipients, and their
extraordinary work.
Tarell McCraney: MacArthur Fellows Program (2013)
http://www.macfound.org/fellows/897/
Tarell Alvin McCraney: Windham Campbell Prizes (2013). Follow link to article about Doris Duke Artist Award.
http://windhamcampbell.org/2013/winner/tarell-alvin-mccraney-0
Playwright,
Rising Playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney Takes His
Own Wary Path to L.A. (2014)
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/la-et-cm-ca-tarell-alvinmccraney-20140828-column.html#page=1
Tarell
Alvin
McCraney
Theater Prodigy Tarell Alving McCraney Brings ‘Choir Boy’ to Geffen (2014)
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/theater-prodigy-tarell-alvin-mccraney-735997
Kyle Abraham: MacArthur Fellows Program (2013)
http://www.macfound.org/fellows/882/
Synergy and Dissonance, Amid the Weight of History (2014)
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/arts/dance/kyle-abraham-debuts-the-watershedat-new-york-live-arts.html
Abraham.In.Motion
http://abrahaminmotion.org/
Rag & Bone Interprets Its Fall/Winter 2014 Collection Through Dance (2014)
http://tmagazine.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/11/rag-bone-dance-video-fall-winter-2014collection-kyle-abraham/
DancerChoreographer,
Kyle Abraham
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
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Jeremy Denk: MacArthur Fellows Program (2013)
http://www.macfound.org/fellows/888/
23
Pianist and writer,
Jeremy Denk
Jeremy Denk, Pianist
http://jeremydenk.net/
Jeremy Denk: From the NPR Archives
http://www.npr.org/artists/148914270/jeremy-denk
Every Good Boy Does Fine: A Life in Piano Lessons (2013)
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/04/08/every-good-boy-does-fine
Here’s an article on the three MacArthur Men in OUT (2013):
http://www.out.com/entertainment/popnography/2013/09/25/gay-men-included-macarthur-genius-grants-tarell-mccraney-jeremy-denk-kyleabraham
Some$LGBTQ$Artists$in$Popular$Culture$(2014)!
Advocacy Site- National Art Education Association’s Lesbian, Gay,
Bisexual, Transgendered Issues Caucus (LGBTIC)
http://www.arteducators.org/community/committees-issues-groups/lgbtic
Singer,
songwriter,
actress,
Lady Gaga
Actor, author, director, and
activist, George Takei
Actress,
producer,
Laverne Cox
Actress, writer, author,
and musician, Carrie
Brownstein
Writer, comedian, and actress,
Wanda Sykes
Marc by Marc Jacobs fall/winter women’s 2014-15 collection.
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
SOME ARTS
CONFERENCES
DURING THE
2014-2015
SCHOOL YEAR
24
NAGC$Convention !
http://www.eventscribe.com/2014/nagc/!
!
!
Browse$presentations$in$the$ARTS$Strand$!$
!
http://www.eventscribe.com/2014/nagc/aaSearchByCourse.asp?
h=Browse%20By%20Strand!
National$Art$Education$Association$Conferences$
NAEA$State$&$Regional$Conferences$
http://www.arteducators.org/news/state-regionalconferences
National$Parent$Music$Symposium$$
$
January$23C25,$2015$
Anaheim,$CA$
$
https://www.amparents.org/event/nation
al-music-parent-symposium-15/
“I'm coming out
I want the world to know
Got to let it show
I'm coming out
I want the world to know
I got to let it show”
~ Diana Ross
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 2
PRE-CONVENTION 2014
25
NAGC ARTS Network Officers
John Gaa, Ph.D. earned a bachelor’s degree in Social Science from Michigan State University and then
masters and doctoral degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He began his career as faculty at the
University of North Carolina. He joined the University of Houston’s Department of Educational Psychology
in 1975, where he is currently a Professor in the Department of Human Development and Family Studies.
John Gaa, Chair
Professor; University of Houston
johng@central.uh.edu
Hope (Bess) E. Wilson, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of North Florida,
and graduated with a Ph.D. in Gifted Education from the University of Connecticut. Her research
regarding gifted education has been published in Journal for the Education of the Gifted, Gifted Child
Today, and the Journal of Advanced Academics; and her cartoons are a regular feature in Teaching for
High Potential. She is the co-author of the book Letting Go of Perfect: Overcoming Perfectionism in Kids
(Prufrock Press, 2009).
Hope Wilson, Chair-Elect
Assistant Professor; University of North Florida
Hope.e.wilson@unf.edu
Merzili Villanueva, M.Ed. completed a Research Assistantship at the Neag Center for Gifted Education
and Talent Development at the University of Connecticut (UConn), where she is presently a Doctoral
Candidate in the Department of Educational Psychology's Gifted and Talented Education Program. Prior
to her arrival at UConn, Merzili served as a Chicago Public Schools grade 2 teacher of gifted, talented,
and creative students who are culturally, linguistically, ethnically, diverse; and low-income. Her related
research interests include social-emotional, special schools, creativity, the arts, gender issues, social
justice, program development, personal growth, and schools as centers for self-actualization.
Merzili Villanueva, Newsletter Editor
Doctoral Candidate; University of Connecticut
merzili.villanueva@uconn.edu
“All art
intuitively
apprehends
coming changes
in the collective
unconsciousness.”
~ Carl Gustav Jung
gaslyte STEaM (2014); Ellington, CT