Here at Primavera, we want to share events that can enrich our student community and because March is Youth Art Month, we decided to highlight what the initiative is all about.

Youth Art Month typically takes place in March and it’s an annual event to celebrate visual arts for grades K-12. The effort started in 1961 and is now led by the Council for Art Education (CFAE). This program is meant to encourage support for quality school art programs, promote art material safety and also serves as a forum for recognizing skills developed through visual arts experiences that may not be possible in other curriculum subjects.

There are several activities that the Council for Art Education coordinates at the national level such as:

  • The Flag Program
    For this main event, each state coordinates a flag design contest and the winning design is made into a flag for display in the Youth Art Month Museum at the National Art Education Association Convention in March.
    *The 2014/2015 national theme is “Art Builds Bridges.”
  • Artwork Program
    States can select and exhibit student artwork throughout the year. Winning artwork pieces are displayed in the Youth Art Month Museum at the National Art Education Association Convention in March.
  • Program Report/Digital Scrapbook
    Digital scrapbook reports to document local observances, events, exhibits, proclamations, funding and community support are also created by Youth Art Chairpersons. These reports are submitted to CFAE and programs are recognized for outstanding achievement.

In our state, the Phoenix Art Museum is holding a special Youth Art Month exhibition open to the public Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m.– 5 p.m. starting March 23 and ending March 30. This will be in the Wolfswinkel Education Center.

We also want to highlight the efforts of our faculty and staff to incorporate art into the lives of our students. Our Art Club just visited the Phoenix Art Museum with an excited group of 8–12th grade Primavera students. They were able to check out some of the museum exhibits and learn about other Artists and their craft.

“Students went on a tour of Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester and the Power of Observation where they were able to learn about da Vinci and view some pages from his journal,” said Art Club Advisor, Hieyam Abdu.

After the tour, students explored other modern works of art including sculpture, multi-media paintings and interactive art. The group visited the Andy Warhol Portraits exhibit viewing the very art they have been learning about in their club meetings.

“Students were able to see other artists that Warhol worked with such as Keith Haring and Jean Michele Basquiat…after leaving the museum we migrated to Roosevelt Row where students were able to view street art that decorated the walls of local businesses and homes in the area. We were also able to watch a graffiti artist paint a new art work– live!” says Abdu.

“I really enjoyed this field trip because I got to express my joy for art. I think it was a great experience to see different types of art pieces and meet new people,” said David Silvestre, grade 8.

Another student, Kai Workman, grade 9, said that she absolutely loved the field trip because she was able to meet new people and “hang out.” She said it was “awesome.”

“The art club field trip was a lot of fun! I met a lot of really new people and made some good friends, and the teachers were amazing. I learned a lot from this trip, it was a blast!!” said Annamarie Roberts, grade 9.

Abdu is excited to continue to do more outings like this one with her students because she says it helps enrich their knowledge of art and creates an experience for students who maybe have never seen art in person.

Primavera staff is also planning on attending events like “First Friday” in Downtown Phoenix to allow Primavera students to get the experience of viewing different forms of art on the streets of our city.

To find out more about Youth Art Month in Arizona, head to the Arizona Art Education Association’s website.  And if you’re interested in joining the Art Club or any of our other clubs, head to our blog post and see how you can get involved!