Artwork Exhibited at NJPAC

One of my goals, each year, is to display as much artwork as possible outside of our school. This month 10 pieces of artwork will be on display in the lobby of the Victoria Theater at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Newark, NJ. This is a juried exhibit sponsored by the Art Educators of New Jersey, 30 pieces will be exhibited in all. The Artist's Reception will be Sunday, November 19, 2006 from 11:30 - 12:30 pm. All students who have artwork exhibited in this show have been informed by mail.

More Artsonia News...

The first batch of artwork has been uploaded and published to Artsonia. Thank you to all the parents & guardians who sent back the Artsonia Permission forms.

Please Note...when your child has a piece published on Artsonia you will receive a notice. It is important that you check this notice and see if you are REGISTERED. To register you MUST have your child's SECURITY KEY...the only way you can get it is from me, on the notice I send home. Once you register you will automatically get e-mail updates when new artwork is published! Thank you for taking the time to do this!!! I hope you enjoy all the projects that are publihed on Artsonia. Check out the Mount Prospect School Gallery at: www.artsonia.com/prospect1.

Leadership Award from Artsonia

Mrs. Bivona has been recognized by ARTSONIA - the world's largest children's art museum - for outstanding leadership in the area of art education at Mount Prospect School. The school's online art gallery - www.artsonia.com/prospect1 - ranks #3 in the state and #17 in the country.

The Leadership Award presented to Mrs. Bivona honors teachers who go beyond the classroom walls to encourage family and community involvement in art education. The award also recognizes significant achievement in the area of technology integration within the school art program. State and nationwide rankings are based on specific criteria, which demonstrate both aspects of the Leadership Award.

While teachers in more than 100 countries showcase their students artwork on Artsonia, Mrs. Bivona has created a school community deserving of recognition. During the 2005-2006 school year, the Mount Prospect School gallery showcased 1215 pieces of artwork. This popular collection of art has been visited more than 120,000 times and has received over 450 comments from friends and family.

Headquartered in Chicago, Ill., Artsonia is an online children's art museum providing free, educational resources for kids, families and schools. Founded in 2000, Artsonia continues to integrate technology in the classroom, developing multicultural understanding through art and increase family involvement in children's education. To find out more, visit www.artsonia.com.

TILES Welcome Visitors to Our School

The next time you visit Mount Prospect School -- STOP and take a look at the beautiful tiles that surround the door to the Office and WELCOME visitors to our school.

At Mount Prospect we are very fortunate to have students from many countries attend our school. To welcome students, parents and other visitors we had students design tiles with the words – “Welcome to our School” in 30 different languages. Many of the tiles were designed by students who are fluent in the language.

This project was a collaboration between Senora Reilly (Spanish Teacher), Mrs. Bivona (Art Teacher), the Mount Prospect PTO and ARTSONIA. Senora Reilly and Mrs. Bivona worked with the students (June 2006) to complete this project. Each student designed their tile on paper. Then digital photos were taken of each and the pictures were uploaded to ARTSONIA. Artsonia very generously made the tiles for us! If you would like to take a better look at each tile and you cannot make it to school, take a look at the gallery on ARTSONIA. Of course, like many projects here at Mount Prospect we could not have completed it with out the support of the PTO. Thanks for helping to make this possible!

Mrs. Bivona's Atlanta Adventure at the HIGH Museum of Art

Louvre Atlanta is an unprecedented partnership between the High Museum of Art (Atlanta) and the Musée du Louvre in Paris that will bring hundreds of artworks from the Louvre's collections to Atlanta from fall 2006 through 2009. The collaboration will include an exchange of cultural expertise and educational programs.

Some time in mid-May ('06) I recieved an e-mail from the Director of School Programs at the High asking me if I would be interested in teaching at the High's Summer Teacher Institute. My art teacher friend Debi West, from Atlanta, gave him my name! I said "yes", and before I knew it I was writing a lesson plan around an artwork, of my choice, from the "Kings Collection". My lesson focused on the tapestries. I would present this lesson, at the High, to the teacher in the Visual Arts Strand of the Institute.

Nine teachers were invited to be faculty for the institute, part of our responsibility as instructors was to attend the morning lectures presented by the curators & teachers from the Louvre. Each presenter discussed a different aspect of the Louvre and "The Kings Collection". To begin we learned how the Louvre began as a fortress and grew into a museum, then we learned what it would have been like to live during Louis XIV's rule, finally we learned about the all the different collections that will be on display, from the Louvre, at the High. As instructors, we were encouraged to relate that information from the morning lectures to the lesson we presented in the afternoon.

This was an incredible opportunity! I will share all that I learned with our students here at Mount Prospect -- The Louvre at Mount Prospect School. I will continue to post more on my Atlanta Adventure!

State Fair Success - Crayola The Art of Childhood

Friday, August 4, 2006 was opening day at the New Jersey State Fair in Augusta, NJ. I was there to volunteer at CRAYOLA'S Art of Childhood Exhibit.

Images of State Fairs bring to mind funnel cakes, ice cream and prize winning sheep. Well this year at the Fair, add Children's Artwork to the list of must see attractions!

Twenty pieces of art were included in the Fair from Mount Prospect School, with two coming in Second Place in their categories. It was exciting to see Crayola's colorful ribbons on the two selections. The winners will receive their awards on Tuesday, August 8, 2006 at the Artist's reception (3:00 pm). All student's who have artwork in this exhibit will receive a certificate and something special from Crayola -- ALL are invited to come!

The Fair is the perfect backdrop for the exhibit, allowing people to come see the artwork and complete a project provided by Crayola. If you have any time between now and August 13, 2006 I would encourage you to visit the fair!

Congratulations to all the students who had artwork accepted into this juried exhibit and an extra Congratulations to our 2 second place winners!

CRAYOLA’S
The ART of CHILDHOOD Exhibit

New Jersey State Fair
August 4 – 13, 2006
Sussex County Farm & Horse Show
Augusta, New Jersey
(973) 948 – 5500

You will find the “ART of CHILDHOOD” Exhibit in the
RoNetco ShopRite Family Entertainment Area Events
Open daily from 10:00 am to 10:00 pm

“ART of CHILDHOOD” Artists Reception
Tuesday – August 8, 2006
3:00 – 4:00 pm in the
Performing Arts Tent

Mrs. Bivona will be attending the Artists Reception -- hope to see YOU there!!!

To find out MORE information about the NJ State Fair or to purchase TICKETS on-line
check out…

NJ State Fair Website: http://www.newjerseystatefair.org/index.cfm

End of the Year Self Portraits

In Art we begin each school year by drawing a self portrait. K through 3rd grade draw on white drawing paper and the 4th & 5th grades complete their drawing in their sketchbook. Next week we will begin to close the year by doing their "End of the Year Self Portrait". I keep the drawing the students do at the beginning of the year and return them now, so they can see how much they have grown physically and in their ability to create their self portrait. I do this each year, if you kept each of these drawings you would have a wonderful memory of their drawings from Kindergarten through 5th grade. I hope you will ask to take a look at them. They always provide the children with laughter and fun at the end of the year. They certainly look forward to it. Enjoy!

ARTSONIA
is excited to announce a new activity for kids this summer!

On June 1st, Artsonia unveiled a new Summer Kids Club Gallery. Each month will have a new theme and kids can submit as many pieces as they want into the Kids Club Gallery.
10 random artists who submit artwork will receive prizes each month!

Summer Kid's Club Themes
June - The Great Outdoor
July - The Perfect Picnic
August - The Best Summer Memory

Go to: http://www.artsonia.com/contests/summerkids/

CRAYOLA - The Art of Childhood

This summer CRAYOLA is sponsoring a new art exhibit - The Art of Childhood,it will be held at the New Jersey State Fair - August 4 - 13, 2006 in Sussex County. They are looking for 300 pieces for this juried exhibit. There will be an artist's reception on Wednesday - August 8, 2006.

Mount Prospect will be participating -- notices have gone to students whose artwork has been selected to be sent to this exhibit. Check back here, over the summer, for MORE information on this exhibit.

If you are an art teacher in NJ and you would like to participate go to:
http://www.crayola.com/promos/exhibition/index.cfm

ARTSONIA - Parents YOU can publish your child's artwork!

Be on the LOOK OUT for HOT GREEN Artsonia Notices. Artsonia is giving YOU the power to upload your child’s artwork. One of the biggest requests I hear each year is “When will my child have another piece of artwork published?” or “Would you please publish more of my child’s artwork?” It is as EASY as 1,2, 3…Go to www.artsoina.com/parents and find out how! I encourage you to give this a try as artwork begins to come home at the end of the year.

Charter Day - May 20, 2006

Saturday May 20, 2006 is the 12th Annual Charter Day - a celebration of the day that Basking Ridge received its charter! The day runs from 11:00 am - 5:00 pm - a variety of community groups and businesses have booths and there are activities throughout the day.

One tradition is an Art Exhibit, from the Art classes in the Bernards Township School District, at the church. Mount Prospect School will have over 50 pieces of artwork on display. Enjoy!!! Any child who has artwork on display will receive a notice before Friday, May 19, 2006.

GEICO National Safety Belt Poster Contest

Another WINNER! Here you see artwork created by a second grade student at Mount Prospect School. This piece was first selected as a regional winner and then went on to be the Geico National Winner for the 6 - 8 year old age group. WOW - a huge congratulations goes out to this 2nd grade student.

On Wednesday, April 12, 2006 the Geico Gecko visited all the students at Mount Prospect to give out the award. It was an exciting day for all!!!

For more about this contest go to:
http://www.geico.com/about/poster/Current.htm#grand

NJ Conserve Wildlife Contest

For the first time Mount Prospect School participated in the NJ Conserve Wildlife Foundation Species on the Edge Art and Essay Contest. This 5th grade student's artwork was selected at the Somerset County winner - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You can find out more about this contest at:
conservewildlifenj.org/teachers/species/species.html

NJ State Youth Art Month Exhibit, Trenton

WOW -- What an amazing night! Over one hundred families gathered at the State House in Trenton last night for the Artist's Reception for the NJ State Youth Art Month Exhibit. The Committee Room was filled with excited young artists, their families and proud art teachers!!! The exhibit was beautifully hung - there were pieces from student's in Kindergarten through 12th grade. So many talented children. Everyone had a chance to enjoy the exhibit and have some YUMMY sandwiches and cake before the ceremony began. Then the students were called up by county to receive their certificate. Only 6 pieces were selected in each county! Of course there were PHOTOS, lots of photos!

The piece you see to the right was the piece selected from Mount Prospect School - CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Bernardsville Library

For the 2nd year in a row the Bernards Township School District is participating in a District Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Bernardsville Library. Artwork from the elementary schools, William Annin Middle School and Ridge High School is all on exhibit. This is a wonderful opportunity to see the progress students make, in art class, from elementary school through the high school. Work will be on exhibit from March 6, 2006 - Through April 4, 2006.

Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Somerset Art Assocaiton

Sunday - March 5th, 2006 was the opening and Artist Reception for the Somerset County Youth Art Month Exhibit. The exhibit is held at Somerset Art Association - Bedminister, NJ. This exhibit includes schools from all over Somerset County. Each school is allowed to send 10 pieces to this exhibit. From this exhibit 6 pieces are selected to go to the State Youth Art Month in Trenton. Mount Prospect had one piece selected to go to the State Exhibit, a student in 5th grade. The reception on Sunday was a flurry of activity. So many students and parents all looking for where THEIR artwork was hung! Pictures...many pictures were taken, students and their artwork and students with their art teachers - how fun! This exhibit will be on display until March 14, 2006 if you get a chance go over and enjoy all the excellent work.

Welcome!

This is the BLOG of the Art Department at Mount Prospect School. The goal of this blog is to share what is happening in Art classes at school with the Mount Prospect School Community.