One of our customers has told us about this wonderful project and we can’t wait to display our pinwheels this Friday!  This project combines your art education program with a broader message of peace and hope.  You could even sell the pinwheels as an art fundraiser or to raise funds for another cause. 

What a better way to get your little artists involved in an effort for peace.  It’s very easy to download the template, create your artwork and make your pinwheel!  Be sure to check out Pinwheels for Peace!

Hyperlink: http://www.pinwheelsforpeace.com/pinwheelsforpeace/home.html

           Fall is such an exciting time as you head back to school and meet new students.  If you’re an Art Teacher, you may also be planning on attending your state’s art education conference.  Most states across the country hold an annual conference each fall so art teachers can gather to share ideas, learn new lessons and learn about companies that can help them.  Art to Remember takes pride in supporting and attending many state education conferences each year.  It is an exciting opportunity to see our customers and educate teachers about the benefits of art fundraising programs.  We are looking forward to the upcoming shows this fall; maybe we’ll see you there!  To find out when your state’s conference is this year visit their website or you can find information on National Art Education Association’s website.

Link to: http://www.arteducators.org/news/state-regional-conferences

Why an Art Fundraiser?

As you begin to think about your fundraisers for the upcoming school year you could stick with the same old programs you have done in the past or you could consider a new idea that will make your students and families jump at the chance to buy! The list of reasons to do an art fundraiser could go on forever but here are a few of our favorites:

1. Students build self confidence when they see their artwork reproduced on products.
2. A welcome change from candy, wrapping paper and catalog sales.
3. Art is promoted throughout your school and with your families.
4. Products are one-of-a-kind keepsakes that your families will want to purchase.
5. Money raised can help support your art program.

Hopefully by now you’re sold on why an art fundraiser is best for you, but which company?  We love the comparison the folks at The Art of Education put together on their blog last month.  Check it out here.  Our focus is to provide an easy program for your school and provide your families with quality, one of a kind keepsakes that they will treasure. 

Link to: http://www.theartofed.com/2012/06/01/art-to-remember-vs-artsonia/

From cookies to candy, wrapping paper to catalogs, the number of fundraising options for your school are endless.  Art fundraisers bring a unique program to your school that also promote art advocacy your  parents.   But whether you are considering an art fundraiser or not, it’s important to evaluate the companies you are considering from all aspects; product quality, company reliability, customer support, and program ease.  The Association of Fundraising Distributers and Suppliers has created a Fundraising Report Card.  This is a great tool to compare companies side by side to make sure they can provide your with the all the keys to have a successful program.  Click to check out the Fundraising Report Card!

The lack of an art program at a school doesn’t mean the end of art for students!  If school administrators and staff develop curriculum that infuses art into various subjects, students still have the opportunity to think creatively and express themselves. 

Champion Creatively Alive Children, formed by Crayola, The National Association of Elementary School Principals (NAESP), The National Art Education Association (NAEA), and other groups.  The focus of this group is to provide school principals and teachers with ways to infuse art into various areas of elementary education. 

In 2011 the group awarded grants valued at $3,000 to 20 NAESP members to enable them to implement art education projects that fit into other subjects such as language arts, and math.   An article about the projects a few of the grant winners implemented was published on the NAESP website.  Schools featured in the articles used art projects to improve writing skills, enhance science and history lessons, and explore nature! 

I have been reading a bit about Howard Gardner and his theories of multiple intelligences. According to Gardner “an intelligence is the ability to solve problems, or to create products, that are valued within one or more cultural settings.” Gardner claims that we all have multiple intelligences which can be nurtured and strengthened or ignored and left to atrophy.  He believes we each have 9 intelligences:

1. Verbal-Linguistic – well developed verbal skills and sensitivity to the sounds, meanings and rhythms of words.
2. Mathematical-Logical – ability to think conceptually and abstractly and capacity to discern logical or numeric patters.
3. Musical – ability to produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timber.
4. Visual-Spatial – capacity tot think in images and pictures and visualize accurately and abstractly.
5. Bodily-Kinesthetic –ability to control one’s body movements and handle objects skillfully.
6. Interpersonal – capacity to detect and respond appropriately to the moods, motivations and desires of others.
7. Intrapersonal – capacity for self-awareness.
8. Naturalist – able to recognize and categorize plants, animals and other objects in nature.
9. Existential – sensitivity and capacity to tackle deep questions about human existence.

You can take a MI self-inventory  to see how you learn best.

If we accept that we all learn differently, the need for art education in our schools becomes self-evident.  We think the benefits of art education are obvious and that is why Art to Remember will continue to provide healthy, wholesome art-based school fundraisers that build children’s creativity and self-esteem while raising money for cash-strapped schools. 

You ‘Gotta Have Art!

This video really gets you thinking about the evolution of education in our country.  There are many interesting points raised including how art education programs “have been the victims” of increased emphasis on standardized tests. 

In this video, Sir Ken Robinson defines creativity as “the process of having original ideas that have value.” Any art advocate would agree that art education programs give a child the opportunity to think creatively and to express themselves.  These skills are imperative for our children to develop into successful adults.  We must save art education!

We all know our schools are under constant pressure to cut budgets, do more with less and focus on core curriculum.  I could provide dozens of links of such stories, but you can find a good one here.  There is a line in this article that “most people seem to agree that in tight fiscal times, the arts are the first to go.”

How sad.

The arts enrich our children’s educational experience – but they do much more than simply make the day more enjoyable.  In the following article , the author argues that allotting 10% of an average school day to the Arts would help students with:

1. Development of Right/Left Brain Connections.
2. Creative Problem Solving.
3. Development of other Intelligences / Ways of Learning.
4. Improved Academic Performance.
5. Improved Career Success.
6. Experiential Learning.

Art to Remember exists to promote art education and do our part to keep art programs in our schools. Our art-based school fundraisers raise money for school art programs – often doubling annual art budgets.  We love what we do – if we can help you and your school art program, please let us know!