The Independent School Art Instructors Association/ISAIA has been convening for nearly a century, annually during the holiday season. The inaugural meetings took place at the Salmagundi Club in New York City. Remaining in Manhattan, the Association shifted to the Williams Club, the Princeton Club and the Cornell Club. Membership centered around independent schools from mid-Atlantic regions; Boston-area and northern New England schools have always been in attendance as well. From this core area, membership expanded; as far south as Virginia and as far north as Maine. The growing popularity of ISAIA and its expanding membership allowed ISAIA to consider member-school campuses as conference sites. In recent years the conference has enjoyed alternating bi-annually between New York City and Boston while retaining the tradition of always meeting on the first weekend of December.

Meeting at member schools in the NYC and Boston areas has allowed members to learn of best practices where they are taking place. The following are examples of site-specific success stories and exciting partnerships in recent years. The Millbrook School in New York initiated an era of touring departments and learning from faculty in between ISAIA panel sessions. Milton Academy hosted ISAIA and presented a robust program of events on campus; near campus, receptions and discussions were sponsored by the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. The Trinity School in NYC allowed member schools, many with large campuses outside cities, to experience the winning program in midtown Manhattan. Phillips Andover Academy hosted the ISAIA conference with a variety of museum and studio practice discussion; Andover’s ISAIA conference was sponsored in part by the School of the Museum of Fine Arts - Boston/Tufts University. This year the 2019 ISAIA Conference will be held at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and will be sponsored by the Savannah College of Art and Design; next year the 2020 ISAIA Conference will be held at the Middlesex School in Boston and will be sponsored by the College of Art and Design at Lesley University.

The ISAIA Conference has traditionally centered around the sharing of peer practices in the Visual Arts, with member schools presenting teaching innovations and studio strategies. Every conference has additionally included a reception and dinner followed by a keynote presentation from industry leaders - past keynote speakers have included photographer William Wegman, artist Dread Scott, Illustrator Alan Reingold, Mass Art President Dr. David P. Nelson, SMFA/Tufts Dean Nancy Bauer, and photographer Michael James O'Brien. Members are also encouraged to take advantage of group visits to area museums and galleries - for example the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Brooklyn Museum and/or Chelsea galleries in NYC, or the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, the DeCordova Museum and/or Newbury Street or SOWA-district galleries in Boston.

Past and current member schools include:

• Avon Old Farms School, CT

• Buckingham, Browne & Nichols School, MA

• Canterbury School, CT

• Deerfield Academy, MA

• Dwight-Englewood School, NJ

• Ethel Walker, CT

• Friends Academy, NY

• Friends School of Baltimore, MD

• Fryeburg Academy, ME

• Greens Farms Academy, CT

• Governor's Academy, MA

• Groton, MA

• Hotchkiss School, CT

• Lawrenceville School, NJ

• Middlesex School, MA

• Millbrook School, NY

• Milton Academy, MA

• Nightengale-Bamford, NY

• Noble & Greenough School, MA

• North Cross School, VA

• North Yarmouth Academy, ME

• Peddie, NJ

• Pingree School, MA

• Phillips Andover Academy, MA

• Phillips Exeter Academy, NH

• Pomfret School, CT

• Princeton Day School, NJ

• Ramaz School, NY

• Rivers School, MA

• Rocky Hill School, RI

• Rutgers Preparatory School, NJ

• Salisbury School, CT

• St. Paul's School, NH

• Tilton School, NH

• Trinity School, NY

• Trinity-Pawling School, CT

• Winsor School, MA