March is Youth Art Month! This is the perfect time to encourage your children to think and create artistically and explore their diverse interests in the arts. Art is a beautiful path towards self-discovery and stress relief, so encouraging your children to engage with art early in life will benefit them as they continue to grow and mature.
What Is Youth Art Month?
Youth Art Month is an annual celebration overseen by the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. and the National Art Education Association. Previously known as Children’s Art Month, it has been celebrated each year since 1961.
The ACMI outlines eight goals for Youth Art Month. A couple of those goals are to encourage commitment to the arts by students and community organizations, and to recognize that art is necessary for development and quality of life.
Schools, public organizations, and art museums participate in Youth Art Month by offering festivals, programs, educational events, and contests for children and their parents. You can participate by attending these events, but also by encouraging your children to engage in art-related activities at home.
What Is the 2020 Theme?
If you’ve participated in this celebration in the past, you might remember that each year has a theme. This year’s theme is “Take a Journey Through Art.” You can interpret this in several different ways. Looking at certain pieces of art can take you on a journey to places you have never visited yourself. You can also use art as a way to show others your personal journey.
Share this theme with your children, and ask what it means to them. You can also have them create a painting or other work of art that shows and shares their journey.
What Are Some Fun Ways to Celebrate?
There are so many ways to celebrate Youth Art Week in Holland with your kids!
Take a Class at the Holland Area Arts Council
This organization offers several art workshops for kids, including classes on creating graphic novels, making sculptures, and working with clay. Each class caters to a different age bracket. You can see a complete list of classes on their website.
Visit the Kruizenga Art Museum
Located on the campus of Hope College, this art museum is open to the public and offers free admission. Until May 16th, they are featuring an exhibit called Resilience, Resistance, and Revival in the 20th Century Yoruba. Visiting with your children is a great way to start some discussions about art.
Create Family Portraits
If you don’t have time to venture outside the home during Youth Art Week, spend an evening creating family portraits at home! Have each of your children draw, paint, or sculpt your family, using their own creativity. Discuss the differences between your creations and how they demonstrate how everyone sees the world in different ways.
Art not only makes the world more beautiful but also influences the way we all perceive each other and the spaces around us. Youth Art Week is the perfect opportunity to help your children embrace this beauty, so take time to celebrate, whether that means visiting a museum or creating at home.