March is Youth Art Month, and the Arts Council of Greater Lansing is excited to feature the work of four Lansing-area young artists on digital billboards around the Greater Lansing Region in celebration of youth art.
Quality arts education
Originally launched in 1961, Youth Art Month is a national program, which was instituted by the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc. and the National Art Education Association to celebrate youth visual arts for grades K-12. Most importantly, the program emphasizes the importance of the role of the arts in a child’s education and why all children deserve to have a quality arts education as part of their curriculum.
Youth art in the sky
To help bring attention to the importance of arts education and Youth Art Month, the Arts Council partnered with Adams Outdoor Advertising and Michigan State University Federal Credit Union, both longtime supporters of the arts in our region, to feature the works of four area youth artists on billboards. So the entire month of March Lansing-area residents can seek out youth art in the sky!
A map to the arts
The digital boards feature the works of Wren Miller, a tenth-grade student from Williamston High School (Michigan Avenue downtown Lansing), Amer Eshkuntana, a first-grade student from North Elementary (I-496 at Pennsylvania Ave.) Carter Johnson, a fourth-grade student from Cole Academy ( I-496 E. bound ramp at Cedar St., Lansing) and Emma Rutkowski, a twelfth-grade student from East Lansing High School (I-96 between Okemos and US 127. Emma’s work was the first-place winner of the MSUFCU Student Art Exhibit. All other works were submitted by area teachers and final pieces were chosen based on composition and overall visual elements, including roadside appeal.
Young Creatives
This project is a new and important component of the Arts Council Young Creatives Program, which provides a variety of services and scholarships to promote youth arts and youth arts activities. We are grateful to Adams Outdoor Advertising and MSUFCU for their support in making this project happen. The addition of the billboards to the Lansing skyline is very exciting for the region and for the students who are so proud of their work. They serve as an important reminder of the value of arts education.
