By JOYANNA LOVE/ Senior Staff Writer

The Council for Art Education has chosen Alabama as a Youth Art Month Award of Merit recipient.

The award is based on the report submitted by Clanton Elementary art teacher Julie Harrison, who serves as Youth Art Month chairman through the Alabama Art Education Association.

“Each year, I submit a yearly report for the state that includes proclamations, budget, endorsements, activities/events, affiliations, and statistics for Youth Art Month,” Harrison said. “…  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my report had won ‘Award of Merit ‘ out of all the entries in the nation. I am very honored to represent art education and share it with others.”

Youth Art Month is promoted by The Council for Art Education “to emphasize the value of art education for all youth and to encourage support for quality school art programs,” according to a press release.

The 2018 awards are based on the 2017-2018 school year.

Three other states — Louisiana, Utah and Wyoming — were also selected to receive the Award of Merit. The Award of Merit of the third tier of recognition.

The second tier is Award of Excellence, and New Jersey, New York, Texas and Virginia were selected. Wisconsin was chosen as the Claire Flanagan Memorial (Grand) Award recipient.

Each Recipient will be honored at the 2019 National Art Education Association Convention, March 14 – 16 in Boston.