How do you celebrate Youth Art Month?

As the Somerset County Youth Art Month Chair I am right in the middle of preparations for our annual YAM Celebration! Youth Art Month is an annual observance held each March to emphasize the value of art and art education for all children and to encourage public support for quality school art programs. As a county chairperson and an executive board member I thought I would share the details of how New Jersey celebrates YAM from both a county and statewide level.

So, you might be asking why am I right in the middle of YAM if it’s not until March? Well, each county is allowed to select six pieces to go on to the state exhibit and selections for the state exhibit were due to the State Chair last Thursday, February 5, 2009. This is so all the work can be checked in, organized, photographed and published on the AENJ Artsonia Gallery and prepared for the state exhibit. The State Exhibit is held at the State House in Trenton, NJ and it is up for 1 week with a reception on the last day, March 20, 2009.

The Art Educators of NJ (AENJ) sponsors statewide exhibits and celebrations that raise awareness of the need for quality art education statewide and shows our legislators, education officials, business and community leaders, teachers, and parents the importance of keeping visual art education funded and in the schools. YAM provides a forum for acknowledging skills that are only fostered through experience in the visual arts that are not possible in other subjects. We are very proud that through the hard work of our State Youth Art Month Chair, Carrie Davey, we have 100% participation from all 21 counties in NJ.

In addition to the exhibits AENJ holds a YAM Design Contest, students of AENJ members in grades K – 12 are invited to create designs around a theme. This year the theme is Celebrate Art. Each year winners are selected in the following categories: flag, poster, billboard, button, Elementary/Middle School Invitation and High School invitation.

Since state YAM celebrations are sponsored by AENJ, participating in a county exhibit is considered a member benefit. AENJ reimburses each county up to $250.00 for expenses related to their exhibit (supported with receipts, of course). In addition, each county chair is responsible to create a County YAM Book that the State Chair uses to compile the NJ State Youth Art Month Book. You can see more information on how NJ celebrates YAM at the AENJ website.

In the fall, each county chairperson sends out invitations to participate in the county YAM exhibit. My county, Somerset, is located just slightly north of central NJ about one hour west of NYC. We hold our exhibit at the Somerset Art Association (SAA) in Bedminster, NJ. We have been at this location for the past 8 years and we are very fortunate to have their support. The gallery space is beautiful and the SAA volunteers even hang the show for us. We have two exhibits one for student in grades K – 5 and the other for students in grades 6 – 12. Twenty-five schools participate in the county exhibit with over 200 pieces of artwork on display. Each exhibit has a closing reception where the students receive their certificate of participation. We decided on a closing reception for practical reasons, the teachers could take the work with them at the end of the show, eliminating the need for the teachers to return to SAA again to pick-up the work. The receptions are always well attended with lots of family, friends, food and photos!

So, how do you Celebrate YAM in your school, town, city, county or state? Add your ideas in the comment section below!