Celebrating Youth Art Month in Utah
UAEA Blog Entry – February 2021
By: Elizabeth Sampson
March is Youth Art Month in Utah! UAEA is kicking off our Youth Art Month celebration this year as part of our Art in the Sun conference on February 27, 2021. This year our theme is “Art Connects Us.” Every year teachers ask me about Youth Art Month. What exactly is Youth Art Month?
Youth Art Month (YAM) is part of a nationwide celebration that promotes a quality art education for students. YAM Events can be held throughout the year, but in March, we as art educators, take a moment to acknowledge the quality art programs throughout our state and we celebrate our student achievement. Art teachers throughout Utah are encouraged to develop school wide celebrations and do whatever we can to promote art education throughout our communities during the month of March.
Utah has been part of the Youth Art Month program for many years as part of our Springville High School Show. Our governor has created a formal “Youth Art Month” declaration and the Springville show is part of our celebration. Students normally get to the attend an awards ceremony at the Capitol but this year it was held online.
UAEA also sponsors a YAM flag contest each fall and encourages students of all ages to create a flag representing Utah and our theme. This flag is usually flown at UAEA and NAEA conferences as part of our Youth Art Month Museum. We want to thank all the educators that helped students with entries this year!
The flag contest gets a lot of publicity but it is only a small part of our celebration. There are many ways educators and students can participate in Youth Art Month. We encourage all art educators to share some of your best student work virtually on our Utah YAM museum. We will also be sharing ideas that will help you create a Youth Art Month Celebration in your own school! We also hope you will join in our virtual discussion of how “Art connects us!” The UAEA website has lots of information about Youth Art Month.
On March 23rd, we are coming together as a state and celebrating a “Date to Create” in Utah. On that day, we hope all educators will join with us as we celebrate the connection that comes from creating art together. It makes a difference for educators and it makes a difference for our students.
It has been one year since Covid-19 has affected our schools and our art programs. I hope that as Youth Art Month begins, you are able to take a moment and reflect what we have learned and how far we have come. My heart is full as I think of my students and their journey through this past year. Art truly does connect us and it makes a difference in the lives of our students! I hope that celebrating Youth Art Month in March will give us a chance to look forward with hope for the coming year!
Elizabeth Sampson
Utah Youth Art Month Chairperson
2021 YAM Museum
https://padlet.com/elizsampson/b833owea7z1ba9ig
YAM Resource Page
https://padlet.com/elizsampson/5fkw34cv5brqdd49
