Showcasing the Art

One of the best things that I can provide for my students is to be able to get their artwork into contests and other types of exhibits.  I want the artwork to be seen by others.  We are constantly referring back to professional artists and making connections to how they make a career out of creating artwork that speaks to people.  The goal for my students is to have an end of the year exhibit in our school where at least one piece of artwork from each student is represented.  The students have learned about the ways that professional artists showcase their art.  This would be a great way to have my students’ work be seen by the school community.  It would also be a fundraiser as we sell the artwork and use the money for our art program.  It will also be a great conclusion to a year full of hard work, dedication, and energy put into our art lessons.

I have entered the students’ artwork into several art contests and exhibits this year.  We have entered classes in a nutrition contest, the National Airport Art exhibit, and I currently working on sending a student’s artwork to the World Children’s Festival.  We will have one student and their work represented at the festival. It’s an amazing opportunity for the selected student to meet other student artists from different states and countries.   The students are working very hard on their projects and want the privilege of being that one representative. These are all opportunities to have our students’ art projects out in the community.  It makes these art lessons have meaning, and provides a motivating experience for the children.   We have also learned that sometimes a professional artist’s work is not selected as a winner in a contest.  The students are very much aware of this, but it does not prevent them from trying.  The students are enjoying the opportunity to create, being selected is another bonus.

Next year we are going to create even bigger exhibits and displays of the students’ work inside of our school.  I plan to have the students creating several permanent murals for the incoming school garden and new playground.  This would be another opportunity to show students how artists can create beautiful murals for schools and other organizations as a part of the artist career path.