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National Scholastic Art
Awards 2007
Elmhurst Art Museum Hosts Invitational Exhibition
ELMHURST, Illinois –
Award-winning artwork submitted from 29 local area schools will be
exhibited at the Elmhurst Art Museum from February 4 through
February 16, 2007. The National Scholastic Art Competition, launched
in 1923 by Scholastic, Inc., is the oldest student art competition
in the United States with students from all over the country
competing for awards at the regional and national level. The
Elmhurst Art Museum is pleased to coordinate and host the regional
exhibition again this year, which is generously sponsored by the The
DuPage Community Foundation, Elmhurst Art Museum, and West Suburban
Chicago Region Consortium of Schools.
Research shows that students who
receive an arts education perform better in school and are motivated
to stay in school. The importance of arts education has received
attention both statewide and nationally stressing the need to
provide all children with access to instruction in the arts, which
will encourage them to excel academically and emphasize their
creative development. The Scholastic Art Awards is a competition for
young artists that provide a means for students to develop and
display their creative skills.
Many past awardees have cited that
the receipt of their Scholastic Award was a major turning point in
their lives. Some of the most renowned recipients of the awards
include: Richard Avedon, Truman Capote, Frances Farmer, Joyce
Maynard, Joyce Carol Oates, Robert Redford and Andy Warhol.
Melissa Ganje Dahlquist, Elmhurst Art
Museum Curator says, “We are thrilled to provide an exhibition space
for students within the 7-12 grade level to demonstrate their range
of artistic abilities. The Museum’s mission coincides with this
opportunity to encourage the role of young artists within the
community to further and enrich their own creative goals and
dreams.”
The opening for the exhibition will
be held at the Elmhurst Art Museum on Sunday, February 4, 2007 from
1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. with FREE admission. Thanks to the generous
funding from The DuPage Community Foundation, Elmhurst Art Museum
will give $350.00 monetary awards to each of the five regional
American Vision Award winners at the opening and hold a special
all-day workshop with fiber artist Donna Katz for Gold Key
recipients on Sunday, February 11, 2007 in the Museum’s Education
Center. The workshop will be a fun and creative way for Gold Key
winners to work collaboratively to express their talents and meet
other local students who share a passion for art. Ms. Katz, a member
of the Illinois Arts Council’s Artists Roster, is skilled in
combining painting techniques with fiber arts and will lead the
students in creating a paneled mural that will be on display
beginning Saturday, March 10, 2007 at the Museum. In celebration of
the Gold Key recipient’s mural creation, Ms. Katz will also give a
demonstration to the general public at the Elmhurst Art Museum on
Saturday, March 10, 2007 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. which is FREE
with the price of museum admission.
The Elmhurst Art Museum will also
offer special programs in conjunction with the Scholastic Art Awards
exhibition with a lecture on Wednesday, February 7 from 7:00 p.m. to
8:00 p.m. in the Hostetler Gallery with nationally recognized art
specialist Marcia MacRae of the DuPage Children’s Museum. Ms. MacRae
will explore what the arts offer young adults and how art influences
shape their lives and imaginations. Also being offered is a Shimpo
Demonstration with ceramicist Po-Wen Liu in which he will show hand
building techniques in combination with wheel throwing on Friday,
February 9 from 10:00 a.m. to noon in the Education Center. Both
programs are FREE with the price of museum admission. To register,
please call 630-834-0202, x 16.
“Too often, funding for the arts is
overlooked in many public and private schools. One of our primary
goals here is to provide support for art education. Thanks to The
DuPage Community Foundation funding this year, we are able to do
even more. The exhibition gives these talented young artists the
recognition they deserve for the time and energy they put into their
artwork,” says Elmhurst Art Museum Education Coordinator Amy Janken.
Each year, the awards reach more than
12 million students in the public, private and parochial schools in
the U.S and Canada, generating more than 250,000 entries in a
variety of categories. National winners receive certificates of
achievement and scholarships with the top 5 gifted a cash award of
$10,000. The awards given at the regional level are: American
Vision, Portfolio, Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention
Awards. All American Visions Awards, Gold Key Awards, and winning
portfolios are sent to New York following the regional exhibition to
compete for awards at the national level.
Founded in 1980, the Elmhurst Art
Museum completed its award-winning modern museum structure in 1997,
which contains three museum galleries, an education center and a
variety of outdoor sculpture. The structure also incorporates the
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe-designed McCormick House, one of three such
homes designed by the internationally known architect. Located only
15 miles west of Chicago and adjacent to the Metra West train line,
the Museum offers public tours and programs, guest lectures and art
classes on a regular basis. Its mission is to enrich the lives of
its visitors by broadening their knowledge, increasing their
sensitivity to the fine arts and sparking the development of their
own creative talents.
The Elmhurst Art Museum’s
award-winning modern museum structure incorporates the Ludwig Mies
van der Rohe-designed McCormick House, one of three such residences
designed by the internationally known architect, and contains museum
galleries, an education center and a variety of outdoor sculpture.
Located only 15 miles west of Chicago and adjacent to the Metra West
train line, the Museum offers public tours and programs, guest
lectures and art classes on a regular basis. Its mission is to
enrich the lives of its visitors by broadening their knowledge,
increasing their sensitivity to the fine arts and sparking the
development of their own creative talents.
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