On Tuesday, January 5th, and Friday, January 8th, a group of energetic and thoughtful volunteers came together to serve as the jury for Creative Connections’ 2009-2010 International Childrens Art Exhibition, to be presented from April 14 to May 16, 2010 at the New Canaan Public Library in New Canaan, CT.

The selection took place at the studios of the Wilson Avenue Loft Artists in Norwalk, CT. Over 2,000 pieces of student art from the United States and 28 other countries were viewed by the jury and around 150 pieces were selected for the show. Selection criteria included both the pieces’ cultural content and artistic merit.

Since November, packages of artwork have been arriving at our offices in Norwalk, CT from classrooms in the US and around the world as part of our ArtLink exchange program. Now that the selection is completed, each package of artwork from the US will be forwarded to a partner classroom overseas and each overseas package will be sent to a US classroom.

The students in each class will use the art as a means of learning about the culture of their partners and many of the partner classes will engage in further dialogue and communication with each other, continuing their exchange of information and ideas.

Creative Connections would like offer our sincere thanks to the following individuals who gave so much time and careful consideration to the selection process:

Peter Corbin, Millbrook, NY
Kathy Draper, Norwalk, CT
Maria del Rosario Fernandez, Key Biscayne, FL
Barbara Kurtz, Stamford, CT
Christine Glidden, Redding, CT
Leslie van de Velde Laughren, Darien, CT
Gillian Marshall, Norwalk, CT
Kim Pendergast, Norwalk, CT
Ann Weiner, Westport, CT