Wyoming Arts Council

National Museum of Wildlife Art features a “Celebration of Young Artists”


national museum wildlife art kids

From the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson

Local kids’ art will be at the center of the Celebration of Young Artists at the National Museum of Wildlife Art on May 1, 4:30–6 p.m. The event is the opening both for the museum’s annual School Arts Spectacular exhibition and a Young Illustrators exhibit, featuring books written and illustrated by local children. The winner of the museum’s annual Bull-Bransom Award for excellence in wildlife illustration in a children’s book will be announced during the kid-centric evening, with the winning illustrator invited to attend. Also announced at the celebration will be the winner of the Betty Nelson Artistic Promise Award, given for the best Wyoming entry in the youngest K-3 age group of the Wyoming Federal Jr. Duck Stamp Competition. The Celebration of Young Artists event is free and open to the public.

“This year we’re including the 15-year-old Young Illustrators exhibit as a newly stand-alone program we’ve separated from the Wyoming Young Authors program with the help of the Teton Literacy Council of Teton County School District #1.  We wanted to offer the independence specifically to recognize the illustrations that children make for their poems and works of fiction and non-fiction,” says Amy Goicoechea, the museum’s associate director of programs and events. “This year marks our fifth presentation of the Bull-Bransom Award to a children’s book illustrator, and we decided it was time to honor not just illustration for kids, but book illustration by kids – and with some remarkable results.”

The School Arts Spectacular exhibition, now in its 11th year, includes works of art by Teton County School District #1 and Journeys School students. The theme for this year’s Spectacular is “Species Parade” with work primarily consisting of puppets and masks, “the better to be used interactively in a fun real-life ‘species parade,’” says Goicoechea. The School Arts Spectacular is sponsored by Cross Charitable Trust and the Wyoming Arts Council and will be on display from May 1 – June 1, 2014, in the Wapiti Gallery.  The Young Illustrators exhibit will be on display in the Children’s Discovery Gallery throughout the summer, and is sponsored by the Nichols Foundation in Memory of Sara W. Coxhead.

Created in the tradition of such prestigious children’s book illustrator honors as the Caldecott, Coretta Scott King and Hans Christian Andersen awards, the Bull-Bransom Award is presented annually by the National Museum of Wildlife Art to recognize excellence in the field of children’s book illustration with a focus on nature and wildlife

A complete schedule of museum exhibitions and events is available online at www.wildlifeart.org. The museum is also active on Facebook and on Twitter at @WildlifeArtJH.

Media Contact: Darla Worden, WordenGroup Strategic Public Relations, 307.734.5335,darla@wordenpr.com


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