New Jersey Youth Art Month

1. New Jersey Youth Art Month The ABCs of a Successful Youth Art Month! Carrie Davey: AENJ Advocacy & YAM Chair www.aenj.org

2. Artsonia • Every piece of artwork from our State YAM exhibit is also exhibited on Artsonia.com! • Parental permission for this is included on our AENJ Back Label for all art exhibits. • We also purchase Artsonia gifts for our YAM Design Winners and Teachers. AENJ also exhibits Artsonia prints of every State YAM artwork at our annual conference in the fall. That way members who did have a chance to go to Trenton can see the YAM show at our conference! www.artsonia.com/schools/aenj1

3. Buttons & Billboards Each year we have a themed YAM Design Contest. This year’s theme is Destination: Art! One winner has artwork printed on 2 billboards, which are located in different parts of the state. Another winner has artwork printed on a button!

4. Calendar Artwork is selected for an AENJ calendar! The artists and finalists from the calendar are invited to see their artwork exhibited at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, where the calendar is unveiled!

5. Dinners & Breakfasts Pre YAM and Post YAM dinners are held for all YAM County Chairs and Co-Chairs. The dinners are a wonderful way to share ideas and suggestions for a successful and unified YAM! North NJ YAM Dinner South NJ YAM Dinner

6. Establish YAM Grant and YAM Awards Linda Lora Pugliese Youth Art Month Award Established to recognize a current county YAM leadership team who has done the most to increase support for quality art programs and exhibits through the medium of Youth Art Month. Candidate must have submitted county YAM book to state YAM chair on or before required due date. Established to recognize a county YAM chair, co-chair or an individual AENJ member who has demonstrated an outstanding support for Youth Art Month activities. Nominee must have documented YAM activities through photographs, brochures and/or newspaper articles. Lynn Dodson New Jersey Youth Art Month Award of Excellence Eligibility: must be an AENJ member in good standing a completed nomination form a letter stating reason for nomination letter of support all nomination materials must be postmarked by May 15th

7. …YAM Grant • Requirements: • The event must be held at the same site and time as your county YAM exhibit and must involve no less than three current AENJ members. • The grant recipient must be able to document, using measurable standards, increased support for quality art programs through the medium of Youth Art Month. • AENJ will reimburse the grant recipient after submission of receipts and after documentation of increased support has been submitted. • Over expenditures beyond the requested amount will not be honored. • A short presentation at the YAM Breakfast or an article for Artbeat explaining why you did the project, how you did the project and a reflection on the results of the project. • This grant is a maximum of $500.00. One quarter of the monies will be paid upon acceptance of the proposal. The remainder will be paid upon the submission of the documented growth and support and receipts to the State YAM Chair by before May 31st. • If the project is unable to be completed, then the county YAM chair must reimburse AENJ for any and all prior payments.

8. Flag Design Contest Another one of our Design winners is chosen for our NJ Flag Design. AENJ helps fund the trip to Washington, DC for the Flag Ceremony. This year our winner and her family attended the ceremony on March 18th.

9. Guest Speakers For the past 2 years, we have invited guest speakers to speak at our High School YAM Reception. In 2007, artist and professor, Lisa Dinhofer spoke to students about her commissioned artwork in NYC In 2008. artist and color scientist, Rob Girandola, spoke to students about life as an artist and his 9-11 memorial in NYC. Both years, we also had the honor of having Dale Schmid, Coordinator of the Arts and US House of Representatives Mike Ferguson, attend and address the crowd.

10. Hands-on Activities Coloring Table Decorate Endorsements! Face Painting! Make Bookmarks Create ATCs!

11. Invitations We also select two designs from our YAM Design Contest to create invitations to our State YAM Reception. One design is created by a student in grades K-8 for our Elementary & MS Invite and another design is created by a student in grades 9-12 for our HS Invite. These invites are sent to student artists and NJ VIPs.

12. Juice & Cookies! Sandwiches Fruit Veggies Cake

13. Keep Smiling!

14. Lots of Communication • Breakfast & Dinner Meeting to initiate county interaction • YAM Blog for us to share ideas and thoughts • Email and Open Communication

15. Make Connections • Legislators • Local Artists • Businesses • Board of Ed Members • Mayors & Town Council • Other Art Teachers

16. Newspapers & the Media • Obtain a media contact • Use email as much as possible • Use Internet as Media! • Create a YAM BLOG! • Advertise for Free on Local Community TV Channels • County Chairs Submit their County YAM Info

17. Observance Forms YOUTH ART MONTH OBSERVANCE2008 DOCUMENTATION Please fill out this form and send it, along with any documentation by April 17, 2008. Local ShowDistrict ShowCounty Site Name_____________________________________________ Home Address ___________________________________________________________ Home Phone __________________________________________ School(s) _____________________________________________ Address(es) ________________________________________________________________ County ___________ Principal(s) _____________________________________________________________ Superintendent ______________________________________________ Has your school/district/county sponsored YAM activities in the past ______? For how many years ? How much time _________ How much money _________ did you expend on YAM activities? Please list sources of financial support __________________________________________ Please list the names and schools of all art teachers who had students work in this YAM observance on an attached sheet. Please include the following documentation examples in your report: 1. Mayoral Proclamations 2. Endorsements by school and town officials and cultural leaders 3. Newspaper clippings (photos, articles, news briefs and features) 4. Press releases and Public Service Announcements 5. List radio, TV and cable stations who have scheduled special YAM programs and/or spots. Please indicate times and dates and include tapes if available. 6. List the exhibits you scheduled and when and where they were held. 7. List and include in your report any special materials you developed, such as buttons, bumper stickers, posters, etc. Please feel free to write on the back of this form and include as many additional pages as necessary to submit full documentation.

18. Proclamations & Endorsements • Send to all State Legislators, Governor, State Board of Ed Members, etc. • Ask County YAM Chairs to send to their county mayors • Display at Statehouse

19. Quality Helpers

20. Record Increased Support • Create mini state books for each county • County chairs are asked to fill it out • Due in May

21. Sponsors & Donations • Create a special gift for all YAM Sponsors • Publish names of all YAM Sponsors in special YAMBEAT newsletter • Create a mock letter for all county YAM Chairs to use for donation requests • Seek out donations 3-4 weeks in advance • Donations Made: Art supplies for student artists, Food for receptions, Displays for art exhibit, Office supplies for YAM Exhibit and Reception, Space Rentals for YAM Exhibit space

22. T-shirts • For the past 2 years, the student artists at the State YAM Reception have received a YAM t-shirt in addition to the YAM Award. • It states, “My artwork was exhibited at the NJ Youth Art Month Exhibit.

23. Unity throughout counties • Our most successful strategy! • The counties work together to make YAM a success in New Jersey!

24. Vistaprint • Wonderful resource! • NJ YAM has created postcard invites, magnets and brochures from Vistaprint at very little cost! • www.vistaprint.com OR www.vistaprint.com/aenj

25. Wake up early…

26. X-tra Special Student Awards • Each county creates their own student awards. • At the State YAM, the certificates were created free of charge by Sargent Art, who also gave each child Metallic Markers! • Some counties also give each child a special gift, which have been donated by Crayola, Sax Arts, Sargent Art and Dick Blick!

27. YAMBEAT! • Special Artbeat edition named YAMBEAT! • Given at AENJ Conference • Reports on YAM throughout the state • Full Color!

28. Zzzzz’s...get some sleep!

29. State YAM Reception

30. State YAM Celebration