SPRINGDALE — A large contingent of elementary art students from Pea Ridge had their art accepted into the Celebrate Art! art competition being hosted by the Arts Center of the Ozarks as a part of National Youth Art Month.

Thirty-four students from kindergarten through fifth-grade will have their art put on display in the Arts Center gallery this week for display throughout the month of March.

Artists in the competition came from any and all schools, public or private, located in Carroll, Madison, Benton or Washington counties. Awards will be announced next week with a reception planned for the young artists at 1 p.m.

March 6 at the Center.

Supported by the national government’s Independent Committee on Arts Policy, the group issued a statement saying that “well developed programs of studying art serve many functions. They help students better articulate their perceptions and shape coherent responses to their experiences. When children learn to appreciate form and color ... when they learn the importance of fashioning their own images of the world aroundthem, they achieve greater discipline and self confidence. Further, the arts have extrinsic public value as they are increasingly important to this nation’s economy.”

New Jersey Governor Christine Whitman said: “Too often the value of participation in the arts is underestimated. The arts enrich our lives and enrich our learning. The arts are a valuable learning tool that reinforces the other disciplines, like reading, writing, social studies, even science and math.”

The art work submitted by the local students was done in a variety of mediums, including pencil, pen, watercolor, tempera, marker, colored pencils, oil pastels, dry pastels and charcoal. The art was selected from work done in the classroom over the pastfew weeks.

Artists included in the event are: kindergarten - Nalea Holliday, Monique Holley, Masie Foltz and Lauren Wright; first grade - Jackson Revelle, Allie Kiggins, Dillon Brouse, Marcus Nobles, Zaelea Harris and Rebecca Trammel; second grade - Holden O’Neal, Lorena Razuri, Haley McGee, David Snarr, Alexia Whitehead and Stephanie Harris; third grade - Ashley Hansen, Ashley Henson, Tori Scrogham, Hollyn Davis, Nicholas Coble and Braeden Kennedy; fourth grade - Aimee Harper, Shiann Calico, John Wesley Bross, Parker Revelle, Elizabeth Bryant and Nakoa Manues; fifth grade - Haley Messer, Rachel Wood, Austin Anderson, Izzi Smith, Spencer Ellison and Megan Turner.

“While I put in a lot of time, framing and labeling these art works,” John McGee, elementary art teacher, said, “as always, it was a lot tougher just deciding on what art to use in these competitions. We have a lot of talented kids here and I could have easily submitted a couple of hundred pieces that would have been worthy. There were some I would have entered had they not beendamaged traveling from school to home then back again.”

Anyone wishing to view the art can see it at the Arts Center of the Ozarks public gallery located at 214 South Main St. in Springdale, two blocks south of Emma Street in the downtown area. The art can also be viewed at www.artsonia.

com/pearidge2.

School, Pages 9 on 03/03/2010