Cumberland & Salem Counties YAM

This year I had the pleasure of attending the Cumberland and Salem County Youth Art Month exhibits chaired by Janice Chassier and held at the Millville Public Library during the Millville “First Night” festivities on Feb. 15th. This show was fabulous because it displayed student art to members of the community. All of the community, which included teachers, students, families, and townspeople, responded to, contemplated, and understood the world through the creative and artistic expression of children.
One of the goals of art education is to teach students to communicate ideas and feeling though the creation of works of art. Displaying students’ artwork provides an opportunity to respond to and think critically about works of art made by students of various ages, from different cultures and places within their state. Students engage in the assessing the work peers and relate to their own artwork with a new perspective. Students think about how their peers have created art that deals with different issues such as race, ethics, justice and ecology as well as understanding various cultures within their community. Students who create art have conceptualized and categorized their life experiences and those who take the time to consider art are exercising a basic human inclination to wonder about, talk about and organize their experiences with the world through the medium of art.

Laura Petrovich-Cheney
Vice President, AENJ
www.aenj.org
www.artsonia.com/schools/clifton1
luvtoteachart@gmail.com