Valerie Richards Visual Arts Education Symposium papers

Valerie Richards (née Lockwood) was the Librarian at the University of Auckland Fine Arts Library from 1965 until her retirement in 1990.

In 1985 a Visual Arts Education Symposium was held by the Elam School of Fine Arts in collaboration with the University of Auckland Centre for Continuing Education. The first of its kind in New Zealand, the symposium was held over three days from Friday 30 August to Sunday 1 September, starting at the Waititi Marae then continuing at the University Conference Centre. Senior lecturers John B. Turner, Christine Hellyar, and Phil Dadson organised and led the symposium, with administrative help from Valerie Richards. The participants included over 150 New Zealand and international art, craft, and design educators, administrators, and practicing artists.

The symposium was initiated in response to a growing number of concerns relating to arts education, and organised around the theme 'Towards the Nineties – source and resource'. Key issues discussed included the boundaries between arts and crafts, the reflection of community needs in art education, and the integration of new technology. The symposium generated a number of resolutions, many relating to Māori art, women in art education, and design and craft education. An action group which later convened to address these resolutions eventually became the Aotearoa Visual Arts Network.