Monroe Public Schools Celebrates Youth Arts Month

Editor's Note: The following is a press release from Monroe Public Schools.

The Monroe Public Schools will commemorate Youth Arts Month this March with a month-long exhibition of student work at Edith Wheeler Memorial Library.  A reception for participants, families and the public will be held March 6th from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Ehlers Meeting Room.

The Edith Wheeler exhibition is part of a nationwide annual program acknowledging the role of the arts in education K-12  through displays and performance of student artwork, photography, film, video, and more. This year a dozen Monroe student artists who participated in the Scholastic Art Awards of Connecticut will be specially recognized as part of the exhibition.

The library show offers the opportunity to appreciate the creative efforts of a wide cross section of student artists and to see the concepts taught from the elementary through the high school level.  Kris Bakke, Board President of the National Council on Art Education explains that, “Youth Arts Month provides a forum for acknowledging skills that are fostered through experience in the visual arts that are not possible in other subjects offered in the curriculum."

Youth Arts Month was inaugurated in 1961 by the Art and Creative Materials Institute in cooperation with the National Art Education Association to emphasize the value of participating in art for all children.  More information about Youth Arts Month is available at the NAEA website at http://www.arteducators.org/news/yam.