Art, Innovation, and Ideas: TCNJ’s Juried K-12 New Jersey Student Exhibition

This summer, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) hosted Art, Innovation, and Ideas, a statewide, juried K-12 student art exhibition. The exhibition recognized exemplary artwork created by New Jersey’s K-12 students, and also showcased innovative lessons designed by New Jersey’s talented art teachers. The show consisted of 120 artworks, which were on display from June […]

Words by TCNJ's editorial staff

This summer, The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) hosted Art, Innovation, and Ideas, a statewide, juried K-12 student art exhibition. The exhibition recognized exemplary artwork created by New Jersey’s K-12 students, and also showcased innovative lessons designed by New Jersey’s talented art teachers. The show consisted of 120 artworks, which were on display from June 2 through June 23, 2013, in the campus art gallery and two additional exhibit rooms. The exhibition highlighted innovative art making that aimed to connect student learning and art to the real world, academic subjects, social issues, big ideas, and contemporary art.

The call for submissions was open to all New Jersey K-12 art teachers. Each teacher was able to submit up to three artworks, which included a digital image of the student work and completed submission form with lesson plan details. Individual and collaborative two-dimensional, three-dimensional, and media artworks were welcomed. More than 440 artworks were submitted from 152 different schools (representing 111 New Jersey towns) The submissions were reviewed by a jury of five contemporary artists, curators, and art educators, including internationally acclaimed artist, illustrator, and author Faith Ringgold; New Jersey artist and educator Aylin Green; Baltimore-based sculptor and fine artist Christine Tillman; painter and director of Art Collaborations in Princeton Heather Barros; and TCNJ Gallery Director Emily Croll.

The artworks were assessed on four main criteria: student creativity and innovation; ability of the artwork to communicate an important message, story, or thought; the lesson concept behind the work and its connection to real world, academic subjects, social issues, big ideas, and/or contemporary art; and how well the lesson challenged or pushed traditional boundaries of the visual arts in K-12 schools. Although every grade level was represented, because of the limited gallery space, only 120 artworks were selected for the show. The review process was extremely competitive, with an acceptance rate of approximately 27%.

This juried exhibition was conceived by Lisa LaJevic, assistant professor and coordinator of art education at TCNJ. It originated from her experiences visiting New Jersey schools to observe pre-service art teachers, where she is often impressed with not only the quality of artwork being produced by K-12 students, but also the quality of the dedicated art teachers. As LaJevic explains, “I hoped this exhibition would bring together artworks that positively represented all the wonderful lessons that I see on a weekly basis (in individual schools located in different geographic areas) in one exciting artistic space! Furthermore, as an art educator, I am particularly interested in art that transcends the boundaries of what we typically think of as ‘school arts.’ As the world is changing, I believe it is vital that arts pedagogy and curriculum reflects the world in which we live. Art is inherently connected to life, so it is important to encourage students to explore themselves, others, and the world through the arts.”

Understanding that teaching is a very challenging profession, this show recognized the hard work and creativity of our New Jersey art educators and students. There is great potential for learning through the arts, and the goal of the exhibition was to showcase some of the endless possibilities! Plans are underway for another exhibition in the near future.