Atlantic & Cape May Counties

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

Pre-YAM Dinner

On February 7th, twenty Youth Art Month chairs and co-chairs from all over New Jersey attended the Pre-YAM Dinner. The purpose of this dinner is to meet with each other and discuss successful strategies for making YAM in NJ a success. Plans are discussed and final details are put together for county shows and the state show in Trenton.

This year, the Pre-YAM dinner had a DESTINATION:LUAU theme to go along with our YAM Theme: DESTINATION: ART!

Enjoy the pics of this successful and motivating night!

Youth Art Month 2008

That time of year is here again... YOUTH ART MONTH 2008!

Please see where and when YAM is being celebrated in your county:

ATLANTIC/ CAPE MAY
Exhibit: March 4th to March 31st
Noyes Museum
Lily Lake Road
Oceanville, NJ 08231
Reception: March 15th, 2:00 to 4:00PM

BERGEN
IKEA Paramus
Route 17 South, Paramus, NJ
Reception: March 20th, 6:00 to 8:00PM

BURLINGTON
Exhibit: March 10th-15th
Burlington County College, Pemberton Campus’ Student Center Lounge
Reception: March 15th, 11:30am to 12:30pm; Awards presented at 12:30pm

CAMDEN
Exhibit: March 1- March 29
Cherry Hill Public Library Gallery http://www.chplnj.org/
1100 Kings Highway North
Cherry Hill, NJ 08034
Reception: March 9, 2:00-3:30pm

CUMBERLAND/SALEM
Exhibit: Feb. 15- March 28
Millville Public Library- Gant Room
210 Buck Street
Millville, NJ
Reception: February 15, 6:00-8:00pm

ESSEX
Essex County Hall of RecordsMartin Luther King Blvd.Newark, NJ
Reception: May 6th, 12 noon

GLOUCESTER
Exhibit Dates: March 3rd to March 13th
Friends School Mullica Hill
15 High Street, Mullica Hill, NJ
Reception: March 13th, 3:00 to 6:00pm

HUDSON
Exhibit Dates: March 2nd to March 13th
Hudson Mall
701 Route 440, Jersey City, NJ
Reception: March 13th, 4:00 to 6:00pm

HUNTERDON
Exhibit Dates: March 9th to March 15th
Hunterdon Medical Center
Route 31 South, Flemington, NJ
Reception: March 15th, 3:00 to 5:00pm

MERCER
Exhibit: March 2- April 6
Mercer County Library, Hickory Corner Branch
Reception: April 6th at 1:30pm

MIDDLESEX
Exhibit: March 9- March 14
Barron Arts Center, Woodbridge
Reception: March 10, 2008, 6:30-8:30pm

MONMOUTH
Middletown Arts Center
36 Church Street
Middletown, NJ
Reception: March 13th, 6:00-8:00pm

MORRIS
Exhibit: March 1st – March 29th
Saint Clare’s Hospital-Dover Campus
Reception: March 29th, 1:00-3:00pm

OCEAN
Exhibit: Feb 29th to March 29th
Jackson Branch of Ocean County Library System
Reception: March 29th from 1-3pm

PASSAIC
Exhibit: March 3rd to March 29th
Louis Bay Library, Hawthorne
Reception: March 26th from 6-8:30pm

SOMERSET
Somerset Art Association, Bedminster, NJ
Part I: K-5 gradesMarch 9th to March 18th
Reception Sunday, March 9th from 2-3:30pm
Part II: 6-12 grades
March 22nd to April 6th
Reception April 6th from 2-3:30

SUSSEX
Exhibit: March 1st - April 2nd
Sussex County Courthouse, Newton, NJ
Reception: Wednesday, April 2nd from 5:30 - 7 pm

UNION
Exhibit: February 27th - March 31st
Ikea, Elizabeth, NJ
Reception: February 27th at 6:30pm, Restaurant

WARREN
Exhibit: May 2nd – June 30th
Oxford Municipal Building
Reception: TBA

State-wide YAM Celebration

Many teachers, students and their family and friends made the trip to Trenton on a snowy day to view the New Jersey State Youth Art Month exhibit on March 7th. Six pieces of artwork from each county in NJ were selected to be on exhibit by a county YAM committee.
The High School reception was held in the afternoon for all participating 9th to 12th grade students and their teachers and families. At this reception, Lisa Dinhofer, a local artist, shared her experience as an artist and showed slides of her artwork to the students. The students were definitely inspired after seeing Lisa's work. Dale Schmid, the State Coordinator of Visual & Performing Arts, also joined in on the YAM festivities by reading the names of the participating students. Debbie Greh, AENJ Communications Chair, awarded each student with a special YAM Certificate and a black YAM T-Shirt, as Laura Petrovich-Cheney, AENJ Vice-President, photographed the event. Yummy sandwiches and refreshments were enjoyed before the students went back to school.

In the evening, we highlighted our elementary and middle school students in grades K-8. The committee room was packed with families and students in spite of the wintery weather. Carrie Davey, AENJ Advocacy Chair, read the names of the participating students as Susan Bivona, AENJ President, and Linda Devlin, AENJ President-Elect, handed out certificates. Next, the student moved on to our photography station, where Debbie Greh photographed each county group. Finally, the students moved on to our t-shirt station, where Nancy Knutsen, AENJ Historian, and Barbara Calvo, AENJ Membership Chair, helped hand out special teal colored YAM T-Shirts to each student artist. We had the honor of having Dale Schmid attend our evening festivities as well! After the awards, all attendees grabbed some more refreshments and took some more pictures of the artwork before heading home. It was a wonderful and joyous event for all!

Next year's NJ State YAM celebration will take place on Friday, March 14th. To view this year's State YAM artwork, go to www.artsonia.com/schools/aenj1

Hudson County YAM

This year's Hudson County Youth Art Month exhibition took place in the landmark Loew's Jersey Theater in Jersey City. Co-sponsoring the event was the Friends of the Loew's, Inc. who generously donated the use of the space and their services. The exhibition of work by nearly fifty students was viewed by the student artists, proud families and friends, and teachers in the upper promenade of the grand lobby in an opulent setting of red carpet, gilt ceilings, and mirrored walls. Ten art teachers from public and private schools in Hoboken, Jersey City, West New York, and North Bergen participated in the county-wide observance.

Guests admired the art works during the artists' reception on March 14 while student musician, Paul Castillo and friends provided acoustic guitar accompaniment. Parents and teachers were grateful for the opportunity to see the art work of their students exhibited at the venue and also expressed appreciation for the Artsonia on-line gallery. Children were captivated and inspired by the opportunity to create their own collages and drawings on souvenir YAM bookmarks. All the participants in the exhibit were honored with certificates awarded in a brief ceremony that ended with a performance of original music by a student band, The Untied Laces.

Atlantic & Cape May Counties YAM

Atlantic/Cape May Counties held their Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Noyes Museum from March 1st through April 10th. There was a total of 125 pieces of artwork on display. A total of ten schools participated in the exhibit. There was an artist’s reception on Saturday March 24th from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. and approximately 175 people were in attendance. Every student received a Youth Art Month Artist’s Award featuring one of the winners of the YAM Poster contest. The Atlantic/Cape May Counties are already scheduled to have their YAM 2008 exhibit at the Noyes Museum once again. It always proves to be a successful site for our exhibit.