2013 Regional Scholastic Award Winners from the Colorado Art Region receiving their certificates

The Scholastic Awards national office is located in New York City, but our Regional Affiliates can be found around the country. Here’s the scoop on our Colorado Regional Art Affiliate and the people behind them!

The Colorado Art Region has been an integral part of the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards since 1948, and continues to help talented, yet underserved, students throughout the state. The region is supported by the Colorado Art Education Association (CAEA) and has been administered by Pam Starck at the Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design (RMCAD) for the past 10 years.

Pam took the Colorado regional affiliate to another level by raising over $300,000 in 2011 for the state-wide Scholastic Art Awards, and increasing awareness of the importance of creativity in our schools through the Awards program. Her advocacy has contributed to the increased participation of 4,494 entries last year!

CAEA supports over 800,000 students statewide through their vast network of educators. Their outreach is great and increases the exposure of students to every opportunity to curate success through their portfolio development. This has been evident in the number of students from the Colorado Scholastic Art Awards Affiliate gaining recognition on the National level year after year. It has even gained the attention of the Denver Art Museum, which opens a special exhibition each spring of 80-85 chosen works that highlight true strengths in creativity and individuality of students. This year’s exhibit of 2013 regional-winning works is open now until Thursday, April 4th in the North Building’s lower level, and is included in museum general admission. Learn more about it here!

RMCAD supports an Outreach Ambassador team that actively helps and promotes the Art Educators who encourage their students to participate in the Colorado Scholastic Art Awards. The Outreach Ambassadors conducted regional and district-wide workshops and demos earlier this program year, including how to photograph student work on a budget and how to submit work digitally on the Alliance’s Art and Writing website.  Some of these tutorials are even available online to make these resources accessible to our remote school districts!

We’re excited to see the Colorado Art Region’s continued growth with the support of the RMCAD Outreach efforts and CAEA’s networks of phenomenal Art Educators who really make this all possible through their efforts in fostering the creativity, passion, and individuality of their students.

Check out some of this region’s Best Practices:

• Statewide request that Teachers/Art Departments jury student work before submitting it to get students excited and prepped in case they are chosen for the next year. Creates a sense of accomplishment and confidence in their ability to complete great work and compete with peers!
• Hosted Scholastic Art and Writing Workshops at the Colorado Art Educator Association Fall Conference to promote and educate teachers on the process and offer resources.
• Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Workshops held locally @RMCAD and regionally within Classrooms and Art Departments.  These workshops highlight the process and walk the attendees through it step by step.  Some Districts even offer Professional Development Credit to their teachers who sign up and attend a workshop!
• Web Based Tutorials on the Registration Process
• RMCAD Outreach Ambassador Team volunteers to pick up and drop off winning work for exhibition

We can’t wait to hear more about their successes in the coming years!