FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 26, 2008

***MEDIA ADVISORY***PRESS CONFERENCE NOTICE***PHOTO OPPORTUNITY***MEDIA ALERT***

New Orleans Students Unveil Collaborative Mural at National Art Education Association (NAEA) 
                                              Convention, Now Underway in New Orleans

WHAT: National Art Education Association Press Conference

WHERE: Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel

WHEN: Thursday, March 27, 2008, 12:30 p.m.-2 p.m.

DETAILS:

New Orleans students, teaching artists and art educators from across the country worked collectively to create artistic tiles that will be put together to form an inspirational mural for the community. The mural will be unveiled at the NAEA press conference, which will address the importance of art education in New Orleans and throughout the country. Following the unveiling, the mural will go on tour to each of the four participating schools, allowing fellow students and faculty to appreciate the artistic creativity and hard work that went into this project.

The mural will be unveiled with the help of NAEA conference attendees, teaching artists and students from William J. Fisher, Martin Behrman, Harriet R. Tubman and Kate Middleton Elementary, who participated in the mural project that will bring a bit of color back into the schools and community.

The mural art project, made possible by the partnership of Crayola, Young Audiences (YA) and the NAEA, is aimed at revitalizing art education programs in New Orleans public and charter schools, which were all damaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina nearly three years ago. Through the arts-in-education programs made available by YA and art supplies donated by Crayola including paint, Model Magic, crayons, markers and Slick Sticks, teachers at these four schools can ensure that students experience the benefits of an arts education.

NEWSWORTHY SPEAKERS:

• Representatives from Crayola, NAEU and Young Audiences, that nation’s leading sources of arts-in-education programs and services, will speak to the project’s spirit of fostering creativity and arts appreciation among the country’s youth.

MEDIA CONTACTS: NAEA/YA: Josh Friedman, 504-523-3525, info@ya4la.org

New Orleans CVB: Tara Letort, 504-566-5048, tletort@neworleanscvb.com , Kelly Schulz, 504-421-0962, kschulz@neworleanscvb.com or Mary Beth Romig, 504-606-8430, mbromig@neworleanscvb.com

Young Audiences: Josh Friedmann, 504-523-3525 or 504-258-0020 (cell), info@ya4la.org

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