What should an art teacher know to set up a community display?
I am a teacher that is switching fields from general elementary to art. What is the typical process through out the year to prepare for community displays like youth art month? Are there any tricks that save you headaches right before a show?
By: Gayle
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Filed under Teaching by on Dec 27th, 2009. 
Comments on What should an art teacher know to set up a community display?
Marketing Strategies
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Marketing Strategies
We just had our all-school art show at our local mall, and for me it was best to keep all the students’ artworks from all of this year in a class portfolio (I also have cubbyholes divided by grade).* My assistant and I sorted the work so that on a specific day, I could give one child back all five pieces of artwork from the year, then I ask them to pick and hold up the one they want to use. I believe this gives them more choice and involvement in the show, and it makes for a great variety of work while guaranteeing that the child is proud of their work on display. Then, when you have the “Third Grade” area, you have 5 different types of 3rd grade work on display rather than just a million versions of the same class project.
I also pre-made labels with our school’s logo, the name of the show, and a space for the grade in the corner. I just used Avery Labels I bought at Office Max and we printed them at school. It made all of the work in the show have so much more unity, and it guaranteed that both me and the parents could find the child’s artwork easily and clearly (once you know what artwork you’re doing, you just peel the label and stick it in the corner of the artwork). I wrote the number for the grade in my “teacher handwriting,” then had the kids write their name themselves in class a few weeks before the show. It made it cuter and a lot more personal (especially for the younger grades…for PK and Nursery we put their names in parentheses below). I color coded the names, too – for example, everyone in 2nd grade used a red marker, everyone in 5th used blue, etc. etc. etc. It made things easy to sort and find.
Finally, harness parent power! We had one day before to put everything up, so once I was sure I had all the artwork sorted by class and labeled, I had parents help me matte work on construction paper and double-check rosters to make sure we had everyone. I started asking for volunteers a few weeks before the show in our weekly parent newsletter, and had them come the day before and the day we hung the work.
*I keep all of the kids’ work on Artsonia (which I would HIGHLY recommend) so the parents still know what’s going on.
Good luck on your “new” career!
Marketing Strategies
This is truly going to differ from one school district to the next, and from one school to the next, not to mention each state. The first poster (longest answer) has given you a very well documented narration and should be rewarded for her tenacity to get you what you wanted.