Thank you to everyone who submitted work to the YAM Poster/Flag Design Contest.
Congratulations to our Grand Prize Winner
Shu-Ning H., 5th grade artist from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Elementary School in Cambridge, MA. Shu-Ning’s art teacher is Sara Engel.
The winning flag will be hung as part of the NAEA Convention Youth Art Month exhibit in Louisville, KY later this month.
Check out the website to see all the winners and honorable mentions.
Happy Youth Art Month! Looking for some ways to incorporate this year’s YAM exhibit into your classroom? So often we use artwork created by professional artists to teach anything from elements of art to inspiration for skill building projects or exemplars, but why not use student work for the same purpose? Read on for some practical ways to share the YAM virtual exhibit with your students:
Use any of these free and Ready-to-use focus sheets from Cindy Ingram at the Art Class Curator to help students connect deeply with a piece of self-selected artwork from the galleries.
This year’s this theme for YAM and the Poster/Flag Contest this year is “Connected Through Art”.
We know many of you participate in celebrating the arts at a local or regional level for Youth Art Month in March. Please consider also participating and sharing your students’ work on a state-wide level. Being virtual, this show can be shared with students’ families and friends across the country or even the world! We are hoping to make this year’s exhibit bigger and better than ever, and we need you! The deadline to register for this exhibit is January 17, 2025.
Please read through the submission guidelines for everything you need to know about registering and submitting your student work to the virtual exhibit.
This year’s this theme for YAM and the Poster/Flag Contest this year is “Connected Through Art”.
This year’s this theme for YAM and the Flag Contest this year is “DREAM IN ART”
Each year your association hosts a statewide flag contest open to all student artists in Massachusetts. Every visual arts educator in the state is invited to submit no more than ten flags for the contest. “Flags” are essentially posters created on paper and don’t require any special equipment or supplies. The statewide winning composition IS printed on a fabric flag by the MAEA Youth Art Month committee.
There are four categories (k-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) with generous prizes for winning artists AND their teachers in each category. Plus the Grand Prize winning flag is sent to represent Massachusetts at the National NAEA convention! What an honor for a young artist to have their work displayed in a national capacity to represent their state!
I know the idea of adding “one more thing” to an art teacher’s already packed schedule and curriculum can feel impossible, but I have some tips and tricks to make participating quite doable and well worthwhile.
First, I decided to make participation in the contest a requirement for one grade level only. Students in all grades were encouraged to participate as time allowed, or they could create a flag at home if they didn’t have enough class time.
I found the flag contest the perfect jumping off point to teach about the work of graphic designers. In our highly visual environment, it is essential young people learn to recognize the influence of graphic media on the feelings they elicit and the choices we make.
We worked as a class to examine a variety of print and digital media paying attention to the font, images, colors and even symbols. It was exciting to see the light bulbs come on as young artists began to recognize some of the subtle messaging presented. This was followed by having small groups work together to identify an example of graphic design and share ideas about the target audience, the intended message, and how that was communicated with images and text.
The following class period I introduced the flag contest and the criteria for entry. With a quick Google search, we looked at several previous winning flags. Students were asked to look at the flag and see if they could deduce what the theme or message was the year the flag was created.
Finally it was time to start brainstorming ways one might represent the theme from last year’s contest- Art Connects Us. I was impressed with the ideas students shared including, puzzle pieces, bridges, plant roots, gears, hands, etc. We also included a google search for reference visuals of symbols and images showing connection. Students then went on to generate several ideas and select one to develop further into a draft on the flag size “rough draft” paper. When artists were satisfied with their idea and had checked spelling, they moved on to Final Flag paper. I used 90# drawing paper.
I chose to leave the media options open to anything that particular grade level had experience working with. This was a great option for my students as they didn’t require much support around the technical skills of using media and student motivation was increased with the media choices available.
Being able to submit the flags digitally was another bonus. No trip to the post office for me! And I was able to use the physical flags around the school to promote our program and the importance of Visual Arts education.
I hope this article is helpful and that you too will participate in the 2024 Youth Art Month Flag Contest- Dream in Art. For planning purposes, digital entries will be accepted now through January 12, 2024 via this link.
Amy Hussey, K-5 Visual Arts Teacher, Reading, MA
MAEA Youth Art Month Co-chair
Celebrate Youth Art Month – Have your students enter the Youth Art Month Flag Contest. This contest is open to students in grades K-12. Each teacher may submit up to 10 entries. The submission deadline is January 13, 2023.
This year’s theme is YOUR ART YOUR VOICE.
One Grand Prize winner will receive a $200 art supply gift card for winning student. PLUS $100 art supply gift card for your classroom. And to top it off, the grand prize work will be displayed at NAEA’s national convention in San Antonia, Texas!!!
In addition, $100 art supply gift cards will be awarded to one student winner in grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8, and 9-12. Plus an additional $100 art supply gift card for the winning students’ classrooms.
Do you know about the Massachusetts Art Education Association’s annual Flag Contest? Youth Art Month Committee Chair Amy Hussey has some ideas for you to make participation this year easier!
Each year MAEA hosts a statewide flag contest open to all student artists in Massachusetts. Every visual arts educator in the state is invited to submit up to ten flags for the contest. “Flags” are essentially posters created on paper and don’t require any special equipment or supplies. The winning design is printed on a fabric flag by the MAEA Youth Art Month committee and displayed.
There are four categories (k-2, 3-5, 6-8, 9-12) with generous prizes for winning artists AND their teachers in each category. And the Grand Prize winning flag is sent to represent Massachusetts at the National NAEA convention! What an honor for a young artist to have their work displayed in a national capacity to represent their state!
I know the idea of adding “one more thing” to an art teacher’s already packed schedule and curriculum can feel impossible, but I have some tips and tricks to make participating quite doable and well worthwhile.
First, I make participation in the contest a requirement for one grade level only. Students in all grades are encouraged to participate as time allows, or they can create a flag at home if they don’t have enough studio time.
I find the flag contest the perfect jumping off point to teach about the work of graphic designers. In our highly visual environment, it is essential young people learn to recognize the influence of graphic media on the feelings they elicit and the choices we make. We then work as a class to examine a variety of print and digital media paying attention to the font, images, colors and even symbols. It is exciting to see the light bulbs come on as young artists begin to recognize some of the subtle messaging presented. This is followed by small groups who work together to identify examples of graphic design and share ideas about the target audience, the intended message, and how that was communicated with images and text.
The following class period I introduce the flag contest and the criteria for entry. With a quick Google search, we looked at several previous winning flags. Students are asked to look at the flag and see if they can deduce what the theme or message was the year the flag was created.
Finally it is time to start brainstorming ways one might represent the theme of the year’s contest. Last year the theme was Art Connects Us – I was impressed with the ideas students shared including, puzzle pieces, bridges, plant roots, gears, hands, etc. We also included a google search for symbols and images showing connection. Students then went on to generate several ideas and select one to develop further into a draft on the same size “rough draft” paper. When artists were satisfied with their idea and had checked spelling, they moved on to Final Flag paper.
I chose to leave the media options open to anything that particular grade level has experience working with. This is a great option for my students as they don’t require much support around the technical skills of using media and student motivation is increased with the media choices available.
Being able to submit the flags digitally is another bonus. No trip to the post office! And I was able to use the physical flags around the school to promote our program and the importance of visual arts education.
I hope you will find these tips helpful and that you too will participate in the 2023 Youth Art Month Flag Contest. Registration details coming soon!
MAEA is happy to share that the virtual statewide Youth Art Month exhibit is now live! Congratulations to all of the artists with work in this exhibit.
We know all of the art educators who worked hard to make this exhibit come together would love to hear from you!