79th Annual Robert T. McKee Student Art Contest & Exhibition

February 4 - May 2, 2010

For 79 years the museum has honored the vision of founding individual Robert T. McKee by hosting this exhibition which features work of student artists in kindergarten through grade 12.

Every year the invitation is sent to all public, private and charter schools as well as homeschool groups in San Joaquin County. And every year, we receive on average 1,000 pieces of art chosen by teachers as the best of their class. Works are created in crayon, colored pencil, pastel, watercolor, oil and acrylic paint; in addition to photographs and mixed-media pieces.

The resulting exhibition is a snapshot of arts education in our area and underscores the importance of creative activity in the classroom.

Art is not only about self-expression, but also about problem solving, persistence, fluency and complex interrelationships. It expands individual students and connects them to the world.

The Haggin Museum is proud of this longstanding collaboration with the schools of San Joaquin County. We are honored again this year to celebrate the effort of its teachers and expression of its young artists.

CALLING ALL TEACHERS

It is thanks to the teachers in San Joaquin County’s schools that the museum has been able to display student art work for nearly 80 years. They have played a key role in selecting works for this show. Currently, each teacher can choose up to five works per class to submit for the McKee Exhibition. The museum is once again calling on teachers to contribute student art work from their classes for display in this year’s McKee show. 

The upcoming dates for teachers to bring art work to the door on the south side of the museum are:

• Thursday-Friday, 21-22, 2:30-5:30 p.m.
• Saturday, January 23, 1:30-4:30 p.m.

An educators packet containing Submission Guidelines, an Inventory Sheet, and Labels can be downloaded here: 2010 McKee Submission packet (PDF)

Please contact Curator of Education Lisa Cooperman at (209) 940-6315 or education@hagginmuseum.org with any questions.

Delta Instructor Gary Carlos Selected as Judge

San Joaquin Delta College Instructor Gary Carlos has been selected as the judge for the 2010 McKee Student Art Contest & Exhibition. Carlos grew up in Stockton and attended Delta College after graduating from Linden High School in 1990. He received a BA in Painting from San Francisco State University in 1995 and an MFA in Ceramics from San Diego State University in 2004.

He has taught at numerous colleges, schools and community organizations which included creating collaborative public art projects in the San Francisco and San Diego areas. His art is greatly influenced by the landscape of the valley where the stark contrast of agricultural and suburban landscapes along with rich cultural diversity led him to deal with issues related to American culture and land use practices.

His work has been included in many national exhibitions and publications including “Suburban Escape: The Art of California Sprawl,” published by the San Jose Museum of Art. Carlos now lives in Stockton and is a sculpture instructor at Delta College.