SAVANNAH, GA.- The Telfair Museum of Art announced today an exhibition, The Values of Art, to coincide with Youth Art Month (YAM) in March 2005. The exhibition, on view during the month of March, will feature artwork created by Savannah and Chatham County’s fourth-grade students during field trips to the Telfair Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Youth Art Month is an annual observance, sponsored by The Council for Art Education, Inc. and the Art & Creative Materials Institute, Inc, each March to emphasize the value of art and art education for all children and to encourage public support for quality school art programs. Established in 1961, YAM provides a forum to support art education through development of self-esteem, appreciation of the work of others, self-expression, cooperation with others, and critical thinking skills – all vital to the success of our future leaders, our children.

Student work to be included in the Telfair exhibition are “Transformation Masks,” inspired by the museum’s From Apache to Zuni and Continuing Traditions exhibitions of Native American art on view from September 25, 2004 to January 2, 2005. Many Native American cultures share the belief that the traditional and ceremonial masks have the power to transform the wearer into the creature the mask represents. The mask project, created by the Telfair’s education department, introduced students to American Indians living in the Pacific Northwest region of our continent.

As part of Youth Art Month, the Telfair will also present internationally recognized artist and educator Tim Rollins at a youth workshop and a lecture. Rollins and his collaborators, high school students from New York’s South Bronx area, make works based on classical literature. Rollins, a conceptual artist, began teaching learning-disabled students in the early 80s, and later formed the Art of Knowledge Workshop. Works by some of his students, who dubbed themselves Kids of Survival (K.O.S), became part of the Art of Knowledge Workshop, are in the major museum collections worldwide including that of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.

On Saturday, March 12, Rollins will lead a youth art workshop at the Telfair for high school students that incorporate literature, drama and fine art. The final result of the workshop will be a collaborative artwork based on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Nights Dream that will become part of the museum’s permanent collection. The piece will be exhibited as part of the museum’s Youth Art Month exhibition and will be displayed in the Telfair’s new Jepson Center for the Arts when the building opens. Participation in the workshop is limited and is available by reservation only. Call 912.232.1177 x25 for information and reservations.

On Sunday, March 13, Rollins will present a lecture about his career and the Kids of Survival at 3pm. at the Telfair Academy. Both events are sponsored by the City of Savannah Department of Cultural Affairs/Leisure Services Bureau.