All Kids Can...CREATE! National Contest & Exhibition!

CONGRATULATIONS MATTHEW!!!

Biking Down the Street - Matthew (4th grade)

A BIG, HUGE Congratulations go out to Matthew in 4th grade, his artwork, shown above, was selected to represent NJ in the All Kids Can...CREATE Exhibition! Below you can read parts from the letter that we received from VSA Art, Washington, DC!

Great Work Matthew, I am so proud of you! ~ Mrs. Bivona

To see ALL of the artwork in the All Kids Can Create Contest - CLICK HERE!

**********

Dear Matthew,
Congratulations! Your artwork, Biking Down the Street, has been selected to represent the state of New Jersey in this year's All Kids Can...CREATE! exhibition. The annual call to create allowed children around the country to create and submit artwork to the All Kids Can...CREATE! online gallery, coming soon to Artsonia.com.

51 artists were selected as representatives of their states from over 4,500 submissions to have their artwork displayed in the All Kids Can...CREATE! exhibition. This year, children were encouraged to create artwork based on the theme, Celebrating Who I Am. The exhibition will debut at Washington, D.C.'s Union Station from June 1 - 21, 2009, in conjunction with our Start with the Arts Family Festival on June 5-6, and will then commence a two-year tour to children's museums across the country.

Congratulations again!
Sincerely,
Jennifer Wexler

CELEBRATE ART!
is the theme for Youth Art Month, celebrated each year during the month of March.

To read a fantastic article on Youth Art Month from the Courier New ~ Sat. Feb. 28, 2009
click here!

Endorsed by the National Art Education Association, Youth Art Month (YAM) is a national annual observance, to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. To recognize Youth Art Month, the Somerset Art Association (SAA) partners with the Art Educators of New Jersey to host a two-part exhibit of Somerset County student work on both floors of the Johnson Gallery.

The Somerset County Youth Art Month Exhibit is held at the Somerset Art Associaton in Bedminster, NJ. Part I of this exhibit will run from March 7 - 15, 2009 and it highlights the talents of children in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Part II, March 20 - March 29, 2009, highlights work created in 6th through 12th grade. Mount Prospect will have 12 pieces on display for this exhibit, both Mrs. Bivona & Mrs. Moench's students will have work included in this exhibit.

Above you see a photo the beautiful full-color, glossy postcard from the Somerset Art Association. The artwork you see on the cover was created by a 3rd grade student, Grace at Mount Prospect School. This piece beautifully illustrate this year's theme - CELEBRATE ART! This postcard will be sent out to all the members of the Somerset Art Association in addition to all of the teachers & students with work in this exhibit. The original pieces will be on display at the Somerset Art Association as part of this exhibit!

The exhibit has been at SAA for the past 7 years and a BIG thank you goes out to Robyn Tromeur, Director of SAA and all the volunteers from SAA who helped hang this exhibit.

All the work can be viewed at our Artsonia On-line Gallery @ www.artsonia.com/somerset1

Success with Seussical!

Seven students from Mount Prospect School entered a poster contest for the musical Seussical at Ridge High School. I am excited & proud to say that the poster above won 3rd place! Congratulations go to 5th grader, Sabrina ~ she won 2 tickets to see the musical! Ms. Siccone, producer of Seussical said, "Sabrina's artwork is beautiful, included the themes we suggested and in a most delightful way! She is a gifted young artist." It is important to note that these 5th graders were competing with high school students.

BRAVO to all the students who entered this contest!

Seussical the Musical at Ridge!

The Ridge Drama Department will be presenting "Seussical the Musical" at the end of March. Above are 7 pieces of artwork created by 5th grade students at Mount Prospect School for the Spring Musical poster contest (the 8th is filler). All submissions will be displayed in the Ridge Media Center for the performance.

Mount Prospect Tile Wall Mosaic

Mount Prospect School Celebrates 10 Years with "Faces of the Future Tile Wall Mosaic"

Order Forms DUE: Friday, February 13, 2009

All of the students, grades K - 5, have created a self-portrait, in their art class and they look great! The student drawing will be sent to Artsonia to be transferred on to 4 X 4 inch ceramic tiles ~ printed in FULL COLOR! The tiles will then be put together into a mural and mounted on the wall of Mount Prospect School. Your child is invited to become a permanent part of Mount Prospect History.

Order forms for the tiles are going home this week, please be on the look-out for the order form!!! Attached to the order form is a black & white photocopy of your child's self-portrait. The actual tiles will be printed in FULL COLOR! You first tile is $20.00, if you would like additional tiles they are $12.00 each.

Above are examples of what the tiles will look like in FULL COLOR!

Newark Museum - Centennial Numbers Project

The Centennial Celebration begins! In 1909, The Newark Museum was founded and 100 years later they are inviting the community to be part of the biggest celebration ever! Always New, the Museum's new tag line, evokes a promise of new exhibitions, new programs and new special offers!

As part of the Newark Museum's Centennial Celebration, each New Jersey school is invited to submit one "Number Poster" to be displayed at the Museum. Congratulations to Victoria C. in Mrs. Kizoulis' Kindergarten Class she created the poster for day 89, see the picture above!

The posters will be part of the 100-days countdown (beginning January 16), culminating at our grand birthday celebration on April 26, 2009. You can see all the posters at: http://www.newarkmuseum.org/Posters.html

Mount Prospect Student's Exhibit work at NJPAC

This month 5 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. All the artwork is framed under glass and lit in true gallery style. The Artist's Reception will be Sunday, February 8, 2009 from 11:00 - 12:00 pm. There will be lots of opportunities to take photos along with refreshments and certificates for all the young artists. If you are going to NJPAC, please make sure to stop by and enjoy the exhibit!

"Nature through a Child's Eye" - Art Exhibit at the Somerset Environmental Center

"Nature Through A Child's Eyes"

For the 13th year the Somerset Environmental Center has sponsored this exhibit. All K- 6th grade schools, in Somerset County can participate. This is the 8th year Mount Prospect will have work on display! Over 50 students from Mount Prospect have their work exhibited. All the work is inspired by nature. The children are asked to write, "What nature means to them..." All of the answers are included in the exhibit program. On Sunday - January 5, 2009 there was an Artist's Reception. It is always so exciting to see the students with their family and friends, they are all so proud!!! Congratualtions to all the young artists!

This exhibit will be on display at the Somerset Environmental Center, Basking Ridge, NJ until February 8, 2009 - if you get a chance stop by and see it!

Mrs. Bivona meets author & artist - Faith Ringgold!

Wow, this year has just flown by, so fast that I have not made very many posts to my BLOG this year. So, I wanted to start with one that I actually wrote in October 2008 and never posted.

On October 7th & 8th Mrs. Bivona attended the Art Educators of NJ Fall Conference. This year's Keynote speaker was artist & author Faith Ringgold. Faith Ringgold, began her artistic career more than 35 years ago as a painter. Today, she is best known for her painted story quilts -- art that combines painting, quilted fabric and storytelling. You might be familiar with her book, Tar Beach it was a Caldecott Honor Book. It was quite an honor to meet her, I even had a chance to have lunch with her. She was telling us the exciting plans for her new children's museum in NYC. The Faith Ringgold Children’s Museum of Art and Storytelling will be located on Sugar Hill in the center of Harlem, the neighborhood where Ms. Ringgold was born.

Welcome Back - Why Arts Matter...

Welcome Back to School

As I was reading the Star Ledger last weekend, I came across this article. It seems the perfect kick-off to a new school year (to read the full article, just CLICK on the title below).

Back to School Night is Tuesday, September 16, 2008. I will be available in the Art Room from 6:00pm - 8:30pm. Please stop by to see our beautiful work space and learn about what your child will be creating in Art Class this year!

Hope to see you there!
Most sincerely, Susan Bivona

Why arts matter...

by Star-Ledger Staff

Saturday September 06, 2008, 10:00 PM

CLARA NATOLIStar-Ledger critics don't ever want to see an empty theater. Below, they state their case for why arts matter.

Now more than ever, make room in your life for the arts. At a time when it may be tempting to scrimp on outings or cut back on concerts, we need to remember art's enduring value.

The arts can comfort and nurture, inspire and instruct. They make us better and more caring -- and flat-out smarter, too. They help us learn more about our world. And as anyone who has ever taken a child to their first Broadway show can attest, they provide a fun and bonding way to pass that knowledge to our children.

The arts connect us with each other, and connect us with our souls.
-- Kathleen O'Brien

VISUAL ARTS
The visual arts provide decoration, shape the spaces in which we live, teach history to our children, and even enhance the value of local real estate.

But their unique value is their elevation of an individual viewpoint above all else.

In an era full of art manufactured by corporations or committees, the paintings, prints or sculptures produced by a single person remain the last refuge of completely personal expression.

The vast majority of work in museums and galleries was made by one artist working from his or her lone vantage point -- with only the vaguest hope of finding compensation for their effort.
-- Dan Bischoff

Olympic Artist Trading Cards

Olympic Artist Trading Cards
Right - Emily361
Left - Patrick185

At the beginning of this school year I saw a Call for Participation that invited teachers and students to take part in the Olympic ATC Exchange - an international exchange of artist trading cards created to celebrate the "Olympic spirit." Artist Trading Cards, also referred to as ATCs, are miniature works of art, usually done on card stock, that are traded between artists. They can be about anything and made with any media, materials, or techniques. They can be produced as one-of-a-kind originals, in limited editions, or in a series based on a particular theme or subject. It’s all up to the individual artist.

Since I had never participated in anything like this before we tried it with just one 5th grade, Ms. Linstra's Class. So, between December and January we work on our Olympic Inspired ATCs in Art Class. The theme of the exchange was “The Olympic Spirit,” which describes 5 traits — Friendship, Honor, Peace, Glory, and Fair Play. Each ATC made for the exchange expressed or represented one of these five traits. In addition, the five traits were matched up with one of the colors of the Olympic Rings.

All of the ATCs created for this trade are published on the Mount Prospect Artsonia Gallery. Each student selected 1 or 2 cards that they wanted to swap and they were sent to Professor Craig Roland at the University of Florida. He collected and redistributed the cards to the participating schools. Just last week I received a box of Olympic ATCs to be distributed to our student's in Ms. Linstra's class -- needless to say they were thrilled!

To commemorate the exchange and to showcase the variety of ideas and media that have been used for the project, 52 cards from schools participating in the Olympic ATC Exchange were chosen to form a "Gallery Deck." Congratulations to Emily361 & Patrick185 who both had a card selected for the Gallery Deck!

To read more about this project and see the "Gallery Deck - CLICK HERE! Olympic Artist Trading Card Press Release

Thank you and congratulations to all the students who participated in this exciting exchange! We will do this again!

Let them be Heard...watch and listen!

District Youth Art Month Exhibit at the Bernards Township Library

Here is a LEAP DAY post, we can only have one every 4 years -- To Celebrate Youth Art Month, Mount Prospect School has artwork on exhibit at the Bernards Township Library along with other schools in the district. Our work is on display in the Children's Library on the lower floor of the library. There is some inside the library and more in the hallway. It is wonderful to see examples of artwork from across the district in this exhibit. I hope you get a chance to visit the library and enjoy this show, the work will be on display until April 4, 2008. All students with work at this exhibit have been notified. Enjoy!

March is Youth Art Month!

Endorsed by the National Art Education Association, Youth Art Month (YAM) is a national annual observance - each March, to emphasize the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. To recognize Youth Art Month, the Somerset Art Association (SAA) partners with the Art Educators of New Jersey to host a two-part exhibit of Somerset County student work on both floors of the Johnson Gallery.

The Somerset County Youth Art Month Exhibit is held at the Somerset Art Associaton in Bedminister, NJ. Part I of this exhibit will run from March 9 - 18, 2008 and it highlights the talents of children in Kindergarten through 5th grade. Part II, March 22 - April 6, 2008, highlights work created in 6th through 12th grade. Mount Prospect will have 20 pieces on display for this exhibit.

Above you see a photo the beautiful full-color, glossy postcard from the Somerset Art Association. The artwork you see on the cover was created by four, 5th grade students at Mount Prospect School. These pieces beautifully illustrate this year's theme - Destination: ART! This postcard will be sent out to all the members of the Somerset Art Association in addition to all of the teachers & students with work in this exhibit. The original pieces will be on display at the Somerset Art Association as part of this exhibit!

The exhibit has been at SAA for the past 6 years and a BIG thank you goes out to Robyn Tromeur, Director of SAA and all the volunteers from SAA who helped hang this exhibit.

All the work can be viewed at our Artsonia On-line Gallery @ www.artsonia.com/somerset1

Artwork Featured in new Crayola Dream Makers Books

Over the past 2 years, a variety of children at Mount Prospect School & I have had the opportunity to work closely with Crayola. The children have tested lessons intended to be published in a series of books called Crayola Dream~Makers. What that means is that we have worked on projects before they were published, I was able to give Crayola feedback on how the lesson went with the students and the artwork that the children created was then used as samples in the books. The books have finally been published ~ I have a complete set in my classroom. If you are interested in seeing them please contact me and we can work out a time. The children can look at them during their art class.

For more informations on the Crayola Dream~Maker books please click the link above!

Mount Prospect Students Exhibit work at NJPAC

This month 4 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. All the artwork is framed under glass and lit in true gallery style. The Artist's Reception will be Sunday, February 9, 2008 from 11:00 - 12:00 pm. There will be lots of opportunities to take photos along with refreshments and certificates for all the young artists. If you are going to NJPAC, please make sure to stop by and enjoy the exhibit!

Photos from the Environmental Center Exhibit

Enjoy the photos of the artwork exhibited at the Somerset Environmental Center! There were so many students and families there today -- it was very exciting! This exhibit will be on display until February 10, 2008.

Nature through a Child's Eyes - Somerset Environmental Center

Wire Sculpture Fish - Emily96

"Nature Through a Child's Eyes"

For the 12th year in a row the Somerset Environmental Center has sponsored this exhibit. All K- 6th grade schools, in Somerset County can participate. This is the 7th year Mount Prospect will have work on display!

Over 35 students from Mount Prospect have their work exhibited. All the work is inspired by nature. The children are asked to write, "What nature means to them..."
All of the answers are included in the exhibit program.

This Sunday - January 6, 2008 will be the Artist's Reception, from 3:00 - 4:00pm. It is always so exciting to see the students with their family and friends, they are all so proud! There are refreshments and a variety of art activities for the children to experience. All students who have artwork in this exhibit have been notified by mail.

Student artwork exhibited at NJPAC

Dilara's "Scarecrow Landscape"

Soven's "Cityscape - Paris"

One of my goals, each year, is to display as much artwork as possible outside of our school. This month 2 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. All the artwork is framed under glass and lit in true gallery style. The Artist's Reception will be Sunday, December 9, 2007 from 11:00 - 12:00 pm. Congratulations to Dilara & Soven! If you are going to NJPAC this Holiday Season please make sure to stop by and enjoy the exhibit!

Mount Prospect Students have Artwork Published in a NEW Art Education Textbook

Artwork from students at Mount Prospect School is included in a NEW Art Education - text book, Explorations in Art, published by Davis Publication. The student artwork is featured in the Student Book and used as examples of what children might create for the lesson.

How did this all happen, you might ask...Well, Dr. Marilyn Stewart was a professor of mine when I attended Kutztown University and the co-author of this K-5 series. She and I have kept in touch over the years, when she was working on the book she contacted me. I told her to take a look at our Artsonia Gallery to see what she could find. Next thing you know I was getting e-mails from Davis asking for permission, from parents/guardians, to use the images!

How exciting -- CONGRATULATIONS to all the students involved!