CALL FOR ARTISTS: 2 EVENTS

EVENT 1

The 7th Annual Outdoor Art Exhibit Celebrating Diversity Call for Art and Quotations from around the Globe. Cash Prizes.

A Juried Show of 39 Billboard-Size Selections on display April and May 2010 in Sarasota and Sarasota County

Submission Deadline: Saturday January 9, 2010

The mission of Embracing Our Differences® is to use art as a catalyst for creating awareness and promoting, throughout our community, the value of diversity, the benefits of inclusion and the significance of the active rejection of hatred and prejudice.

The Embracing Our Differences® exhibit features 39 billboard size images (16 feet wide by 12 feet high) created by professional artists, art students, and school children from Florida and around the world. Their creations reflect their interpretation of our message: "enriching lives through diversity."

An interesting and inspiring feature of the exhibition is the inclusion of the quotations that accompany each image. These quotations were chosen from entries submitted by members of our community and speak of the value of respecting the differences of others.

Since 2004, the exhibit has been viewed by more than 700,000 visitors. During that same period, over 50,000 students and teachers attended the exhibit for firsthand observation and discussion concerning the importance of diversity in our lives.

2010 CALL TO ARTISTS & QUOTATION WRITERS
What does the theme “embracing our differences” mean to you? What message would you like to share with our community?

A Juried Show of 39 Billboard-Size Selections on display April, 2010
Island Park, Sarasota Florida and May, 2010 South Sarasota County
Submission Deadline: Saturday January 9, 2010

See official submission form for more details


Contact:

Embracing Our Differences
A Project of
Coexistence, Inc.
P.O. Box 2559
Sarasota, FL 34230-2559
Visit the Website

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EVENT 2

2010 National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY)

NFFTY has become the largest and most influential film festival and support organization for filmmakers age 22 and under. Founded by 2 teenagers in 2007, NFFTY occurs each spring in Seattle, Washington and includes 100+ film screenings, filmmaking panels, concerts by youth bands, and opportunities for young filmmakers to network with industry professionals and each other. NFFTY filmmakers have ranged in age from 7 to 22 and represent broad cross sections of ethnicity, geography and socio-economic backgrounds. Young filmmakers from throughout the U.S. have submitted films, as well as those from 12 countries around the world. The NFFTY is the largest and most prestigious youth film festival in the country, consisting of 4 days of youth-made films, industry panels and workshops, as well as concerts and parties taking place April 29 - May 2, 2010 in Seattle WA




Early Deadline is October 31, 2009
Regular Deadline is December 15, 2009
Final Deadline is January 15, 2010
To submit, please visit the website
Still have questions after reading the Rules?
Contact: filmmakers@nffty.org

TEACHERS LEARNING THE VALUE OF MEDIA LITERACY

Filmmaker George Lucus has been interviewed discussing how we should rethink the way we teach communications skills to young people and that should not only be about grammar and punctuation, but other associated skills like interpreting art, color, and perspective. Lucus, who is also the publisher of Edutopia Magazine says, “Art and music are usually thought of as therapeutic or fun, but not approached as a very valid form of communication.”

An eight minute video by the George Lucus Foundation includes a segment on the Greater Brunswick Charter School in New Brunswick, NJ where a teacher works with the class to analyze an advertisement. Voices of Hope Productions also interviewed numerous teachers, staff and kids at this school for the New Jersey Community Capital (NJCC) short film, Invest in Change because NJCC helped to finance the school. The Jacob Burns Center in Pleasantville, New York is also highlighted for their work with 8000 children who can access communications classes. 4th graders are shown learning how to produce animated shorts.

Students and teachers throughout the country are not only making media, but are dissecting newspapers and advertising and critically analyzing the messages held within. This video illustrates that writing along with critical thinking skills and media analysis instructs young people on how to become well-rounded individuals. Hopefully in the future we will see this more consistently as the traditional classroom experience. One where the student will not only learn grammar and writing, but will also be exposed to graphics, cinema, illustration, animation and music--taught in a basic class called communications. As Lucus explains, communications should be taught as a language all its own and not as an “arty thing, but a practical tool to be used to sell, to influence people, get your point across and to communicate with other people, especially at an age where kids are using more and more multi-media.”

Read the Edutopia article

Watch the Voices of Hope Productions’ video "Analyze this: Message in the Media"