Student Art Show & Sale Committee

What is the Purpose

The Heard Museum Guild’s American Indian Student Art Show & Sale provides young Indian  artists in grades 7-12 a unique opportunity to have their art displayed in a museum setting, to have it judged by professional artists, to compete for ribbons and cash prizes, and, potentially, to sell their works of art.  Additionally, top prize winning student artists are offered the opportunity to participate in the Summer Art Workshop at ASU-West.  The goal of the Show is to give emerging young artists a venue that will allow their talents to be shown and recognized--often for the first time.  Many professional artists obtained their starts at this annual event.

Who is Involved

The Chair of this committee is appointed by the President of the Guild with the assistance of the Community Programs Coordinator.  The Chair, in turn, typically recruits an assistant Chair or  “Shadow”, who trains to become the Chair the following year.  The committee is made up of a core of experienced volunteers who have worked on the Student Art Show & Sale for a number of years.  This group of 6-8 experienced volunteers help plan and organize the event, fill in key operational roles during the event, and assist in supervising and training the other volunteers.  In addition, 50-60 volunteers are recruited to assist in conducting this event.

What are the Tasks

Reserve the Monte Vista Gallery and the lobby area in front of the Every Picture Tells a Story Gallery for the time needed before, during, and after the Show when the Museum’s annual calendar is being prepared.

Develop and maintain a mailing list of High Schools and Junior High Schools with American Indian students enrolled in art programs.  An effort is made to include as many Federally Recognized Indian Nations and Tribes as possible.  In addition, American Indian artists who may be mentoring young talent are included in the mailing list.

Send out the application forms and information packets  to those on the mailing list in November and, if funds permit, a reminder mailing in January.  Packets should include a letter of invitation; application rules, procedures, divisions & categories; application forms; and information about scholarship applications, grant applications, and the Summer Art Workshop at ASU-West. 

Recruit a qualified panel of nine judges from different  art categories.  Typically, some judges are drawn from the artistic community, (i.e., artists, gallery owners, collectors, etc.); others are appropriate members of the Heard Museum’s artistic staff.  The nine judges are organized into teams of three and, based on their areas of expertise, assigned to judge entries in several of the thirteen art categories.  Judges who are not Museum employees are entitled to a $150 honorarium.

Recruit, schedule, and train committee members to lead and to serve on the various subcommittees before, during, and after the Show.  The subcommittees include Receiving, Computer Operations, Judging, Luncheon, Staging, Preview, Member’s Reception, Silent Auction, Take Down, and Packing.

Recruit and schedule the 50-60 volunteers needed to conduct the Show & Sale.  Recruiting begins with the annual Job Fair held in at the October Guild meeting.  Sign-up Sheets are prepared for use at the Job Fair, are made available at subsequent Guild meetings, and are sent out with the January and February issues of Artifacts.   In addition, each volunteer from the previous year is personally contacted to volunteer again.

Coordinate publicity with the Museum’s Director of Marketing and the Design, Graphics & Exhibition Department.  Typically, publicity for the Show includes:

• items strategically placed in selected media by the Director of Marketing.
• rack Cards designed & printed by the Museum’s Design, Graphics and Exhibition Department.
• posters & directional signs displayed in the Museum during the Show & Sale.
• feature articles in the on-line Native Youth Magazine.
• feature articles in Artifacts and Earth Song.

Consult with the Design, Graphics, & Exhibition Department to produce photos of the Show, including selected art pieces and winning artists, to be used to promote the Show & Sale the following year.

Inventory fixtures, stationary, & supplies.  Purchase what is needed in advance.

• Stationary supplies are in the Student Art cabinet in the Guild Room.
• Supplies, i.e., scissors, staplers, tape, markers, labels, tags, string, paper clips, display tacks, nails, hammers, wrapping paper, etc. are in the Guild Room cabinet and the off-campus storage unit.
• Fixtures are in the off-campus storage unit and in the exhibit preparation area.
• the Art Department at Coronado High School (480-990-4300 x5504) will loan six art display panels for the Show.

Order the ribbons awarded to the winners in advance.  For each award winning piece, the artist and the buyer each receive a ribbon.  Therefore, the maximum number of ribbons needed is 26 blue-1st place; 52 red-2nd place; 52 white-3rd place; 78 green-Honorable Mention; 18 maroon rosette-Judges Award; 4 orange rosette-Chairs Award; 8  maroon rosette with Note Card printed on the face; 4 turquoise rosette-Best of Division, and 2 purple rosette-Best of Show. 

Send Participation Certificates  to all those who entered the Show.  These certificates are printed on the computer by the Show’s computer person.

Send to the Museum membership two items in a single mailing; (1) a letter soliciting donations to help defray costs and (2) an invitation to attend the opening night Membership Reception and Silent Auction to which they should RSVP.  Printed Rack Cards are used for this mailing.  Work with the Museum’s Membership Manager on this mailing.

Consult with the Guild Assistant Treasurer to plan and organize the handling of monies during the Sale.  The Assistant Treasurer will recruit and train cashiers for the sale days.

Arrange with appropriate Museum staff to have tables, fixtures, and supplies delivered to Monte Vista and to set up the room for each phase of the Show & Sale.

Check in, inventory, label, judge, exhibit, and sell (or return) all items received.

Pack and return all unsold items to the artists.

• Packaging that was used to ship the art to the Show is saved to be reused in mailing the unsold pieces back to the artists.
• An envelope containing a list of their sold items, a Certificate of Participation, and any ribbons won is enclosed in the package.
• To minimize postage costs, local artists are encouraged to come to the Museum and pick up their unsold pieces.

Acknowledge, by thank you note or other means, appreciation for the work done by the volunteers.

What is the Time Line

June/July

• Print all materials for the Student Art application & information packets to be sent out in November.
• Check supplies of stationary & envelopes.  Reorder if necessary.

August

• Prepare and submit the current year’s operating budget to the Guild Treasurer.
• Submit the first article about the Student Art Show for the September issue of Artifacts.
• Reserve Monte Vista and the lobby area in front of Every Picture Gallery for the block of time needed before, during, and after the Student Art Show & Sale and get those dates posted on the Museum’s yearly calendar.

September

• Correct and update the mailing list.  Phone books, Tribal listings, and the internet are helpful resources.  Native American K-12 Schools on the Internet at www.hanksville.org/NAresources/indices/NAk12.html is one helpful source.
• Submit an article about volunteering for the Student Art Show for the October issue of    Artifacts.

October

• Provides the refreshments & decorations for the October Guild meeting.
• Prepare the volunteer Sign-up Sheets for the Job Fair at the October Guild meeting.  Also, prepare a poster to draw attention to Student Art Show volunteer opportunities at the Student Art table.
• Submit an article asking for Student Art volunteers for the November issue of  Artifacts. 

November

• Mail the application forms and information packets the schools and individuals on the mailing list.
• Recruit nine judges and send each a thank you note for volunteering.
• Recruit a volunteer to chair the luncheon for judging day.  The chair will need to ask volunteers to bring enough dishes to feed the judges, 30-50 volunteers, and the shop staff.  Contact the appropriate Museum staff member to reserve Encanto and the Steele kitchen for the day.  
• Contact the Event Sales Manager regarding who will be catering the Member’s Only Reception.  The Membership Manager will contract with the caterer.
• Begin calling the list of volunteers from last year.  

January

• Order ribbons from Amazing Awards, 6731 North Black Canyon Highway (Frontage Road on the east side of I-17 between Bethany Home & Glendale) 602-242-8171.
• Call the Art Department at Coronado High School to reserve the six art display panels used in the past few Shows.  We will arrange for pick up and return.
• Submit an article asking for Student Art Show volunteers to Artifacts for its February issue.  Volunteer Sign-up Sheets should be included as an insert. 
• Check inventory of mailing supplies for the end of February/first of March mailing to the Museum membership.  The membership list has 7,000 names.  Prepare the solicitation letter and the Rack Card invitations for the February mailing.  If there is still a supply of Rack Cards on hand, they will need to be dated.

February

• Mail the solicitation letter and Rack Card invitations to the Museum membership.
• Begin to finalize the volunteer schedule.

March

• Conduct meeting to finalize plans for delivering fixtures and supplies, setting up Monte Vista for receiving art, and clarifying everyone’s role, i.e., receiving, recording and labeling, judging, judges’ luncheon, staging, Members Only Reception, silent auction, sales, take down, and packing.  Key volunteers and appropriate staff members should attend.