Reminder-Deadline is April 8th! Get busy creating!!!



Calling all Young Artists with Special Needs!!!


Two of my fav resources, CVS Caremark’s All Kids Can CREATE program and VSA (the international organization on arts and disabilities) have again joined together to offer the 5th annual opportunity for young artists to see their work in action, and on display for all to see.

This year’s theme, What Inspires Me?, invites children to showcase their answers through original artwork. Appropriately enough, the contest kicked off yesterday on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday. Artwork submitted before April 8, 2012, (click here) will be featured in an online gallery and considered for display in the “What Inspires Me” exhibition debuting at the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, D.C. in August 2012. One hundred and two pieces of art―two from each state and the District of Columbia―will be part of the exhibition. Last year’s call for entries resulted in more than 4,700 submissions from across the country and featured paintings, photography and sculptures.


Children are invited to stretch their imagination by using traditional art materials as well as non-traditional ones, such as wrapping paper, newspaper or aluminum foil. In addition, teachers who submit their students’ artwork are eligible to receive one of four $1,500 cash awards to use in their classrooms.

The deadline for the 2012 All Kids Can CREATE Call for Art is April 8, 2012. To submit artwork, click here.

“CVS Caremark is proud to partner with VSA for the fifth year on the All Kids Can CREATE campaign, furthering our commitment to inclusion and giving children of all abilities a unique opportunity to express themselves through their artwork,” said Eileen Howard Boone, Senior Vice President of Corporate Communications and Community Relations, CVS Caremark. “The artwork celebrates each individual student and raises awareness in schools and in local communities about the importance of inclusion.”
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You know I like this stated mission, so get busy expressing your creative self and help change perceptions about what artists with special needs CAN do.

All Artwork from 2011 contest courtesy of CVS Caremark. All Kids Can. Used with permission.
Top: Shades of Grey-Martin Luther King, Jr. by Isabelle, age 11
Middle: A Color World by Jacob, age 12
Bottom: African Elephant by Tucker, age 5