Students can submit 1- to 5-minute films in any genre, including documentaries, animations and music videos. Selected young filmmakers will receive statewide recognition and an invitation to join The Film Lounge Academy, complete with a red-carpet screening plus a filmmaking workshop with industry pros and job-shadowing opportunities at IPTV. And by all means, please spread the word. Help us discover the next big star right here in Iowa.

Entries are due Jan. 15. Find all the details at thefilmlounge.org.  

Do you know any talented teens? Are you one yourself? The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is now accepting submissions from students ages 13+ in grades 7–12!   ​

Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards is the nation’s longest-running and most prestigious scholarship and recognition program. The Awards feature a distinguished list of alumni including Andy Warhol, Stephen King, Sylvia Plath, and Tschabalala Self. In the 2019 program year, nearly 340,000 works were submitted, with over 2,700 students receiving national recognition.
​
Students are invited to submit original work in 29 art and writing categories, such as architecture, painting, poetry, and video game design. Deadlines for submission vary by region, so check here to learn more about important dates in your hometown. The Award recipients will be announced in March 2020, followed by a week of celebration in New York City in June, including a ceremony at Carnegie Hall. 

This is part of the Department of Education’s Equity and Future Ready initiative.  Spread the word about the Clearinghouse (a work-based learning that includes projects, internships, and apprenticeships that are embedded into classwork) to your networks.  Check out the fine arts projects and consider using one in your classroom. We are looking for arts educators to submit some "Take and Bake Project Ideas" to the Clearinghouse. We need to have more rigorous and authentic fine arts projects up there in general, and music, theater, and dance projects in particular. If you have thoughts or suggestions, please contact our Fine Arts Consultant, Angela Matsuoka at angela.matsuoka@iowa.gov

The Arts Education Data Project is coming to Iowa! The Department of Education has signed on to funding this project and we are in the early phases of mining data. Goal: What is the status of arts education in our schools? The data will be a means to an end to strengthen and extend student engagement, access and participation in the arts. The Arts Education Data Project will take existing data acquired by the Department of Education and make it usable in our field. This data project is already active in 10 states with New Jersey being the first state to include data on their state/school report card. Mid-Spring is the estimated dashboard release date for Iowa art educators to view.