Resonance: Collaboration in Practice and Theory

2026 Mid-America College Art Association Hybrid Conference

Hosted by Eastern Illinois University

March 26th + 27th Online | March 28th on Campus

Resonance is a natural phenomenon that occurs when an external vibration aligns with a system’s natural frequency, creating amplification. This is why a singer can shatter a glass with the right note, and how fireflies synchronize their flashing into a unified pulse.In artistic and educational contexts, we might describe resonance in other terms: reciprocity, collaboration, exchange, dialogue, synchronicity, alchemy, friendship. Put simply, it’s the mindset of being better together.

Artists and educators are continually in conversation with materials, histories, collaborators, and communities. These ongoing exchanges of listening create resonance that amplifies beyond the individual, weaving a dynamic web of art and pedagogy that reflects on our present moment, and can shape our shared future.

Hosted by the Art + Design Department at Eastern Illinois University, the 2026 MACAA conference will serve as a site for such resonance to emerge. Through panels, presentations, workshops, and exhibitions, the conference will spark new conversations and amplify existing ones, nurturing collaborative energy across disciplines, institutions, and communities. Join us for this hybrid conference to explore how collaboration resonates through the work we make, the ways we teach, and the futures we imagine.

About the Hybrid Conference

Virtual sessions will be held on March 26 and 27, and an in-person day will round out the conference on March 28 at Eastern Illinois University. Participants may choose to attend virtually, in person, or both. Session proposals should specify whether they are intended for virtual or in-person delivery and will be scheduled and marketed accordingly. All sessions, regardless of format, will be recorded and made available online to conference participants.

Back

2022 MACAA Virtual Conference

Start
Thu, March 31, 2022
12:00 AM
End
Sat, April 02, 2022
11:59 PM

Registration

Full-Time Faculty – $100.00
Independent Artists/Scholars/Retired/STEM (All Other) – $70.00
Students – $50.00

Welcome to the 2022 Mid-America College Art Association Virtual Conference!

March 31- April 2, 2022

“Defining the Undefined: Art, Education, Technology, and the Mapping of Ourselves”

As artists, we draw maps, imperfect translations of the world. We interact with that function as a tool for others to better understand where they situate themselves within this world. As educators, we design road maps for students to find their bearings, to set a course. Then, to pick up where our maps have left off to continue discovering new terrains. Technology is the means by which we generate these maps. How will advancements in technology continue to initiate new understandings of these maps? How does mapping define us, both physically and metaphysically? Given the challenges educators, students, and institutions are currently facing, we are particularly interested in sessions that address timely topics relevant to the changing landscape of art, technology, and education, as well as those which consider mapping in relation to cognitive, emotional, and health-based applications. It is undeniable there are still many maps to be drawn that will both solidify and complicate how we understand ourselves in relation to each other and the space we inhabit now and in the future.