Finley Celebrates Youth Art Month

The celebration of Youth Art Month at J. Taylor Finley Middle School was an opportunity to take delight in the talented and creative seventh and eighth graders filling the building situated on Greenlawn Road.

Finley art teachers Jessica Simms and Karen Morea have been guiding students through a variety of lessons and projects during the current school year.

Youth Art Month is an annual observance that emphasizes the value of art education for all children and to encourage support for quality school art programs. The 2023 theme is “Your Art, Your Voice.”

“Youth Art Month celebrates the creativity and artistic expression students demonstrate in school,” Ms. Simms said. “To promote the arts in our school this year we coordinated a variety of school-wide art activities and events.”

The celebration was fun for everyone. “The first activity we organized was Art Madness, an art themed take on March Madness, where students and staff were able to fill out brackets ranking their favorites from a selection of famous works of art and then partake in weekly voting to ultimately determine a final winning artwork,” Ms. Morea said. “This year’s winner was Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.”

The second event coordinated by the faculty duo was a school-wide Post-it mural. “During lunch periods on March 30, students were given the opportunity to add colored Post-its to a gridded mystery design,” Ms. Simms said. “Throughout the day as more Post-its were added, excitement grew as the hidden images became clear.”

Started in 1961 by the Art and Craft Materials Institute in cooperation with the National Art Education Association, the program is administered by the Council for Art Education and focuses on the following eight goals:

1. To direct attention to the value of art education which develops divergent and critical thinking skills; multicultural awareness; and technical, communication, and expressive skills.
2. To increase community, business, and governmental support for art education.
3. To recognize that art is a necessity for the full development of better quality of life for all people.
4. To expand art programs in schools and stimulate new ones.
5. To increase community understanding and interest in art and art education through involvement in art exhibits, workshops, and other creative ventures.
6. To provide additional opportunities for individuals of all ages to participate in creative art learning.
7. To encourage commitment to the arts by students, community organizations, and individuals everywhere.
8. To recognize art education as a viable component in the total education curricula that develops citizens of a global society.