The Arts
The Links support of the arts can be traced to our cultured co-founder Margaret Roselle Hawkins. Her innate artistic talent, discovered at a young age, earned her a four-year scholarship to the Women’s School of Design, later known as the Moore Institute of Art.
The goal of The Arts facet is to increase and expand art activity, and elevate our programs through arts integration and effectively create an arts renaissance within our organization and
throughout the nation today. Links Chapters partner with museums, symphonies, arts councils, educational institutes and corporations in order to support art programs, especially where there is a focus on artists of color.
Signature Arts Program: Classics Through the Ages
Classics Through the Ages promotes art education among youth of color to pique their interest, increase their knowledge and encourage their continued study in classical arts. This program seeks to afford exemplary student artists the opportunity to hone their talents and skills and earn recognition and support for their educational and career pursuits. The development of education and community partnerships optimize the program’s impact and leverages chapter resources. Classics Through the Ages strives to recognize, reward and develop avenues to support excellence in artistic education. The program runs annually from May 1st through April 30th of the following year. Chapters sponsor one or more artistically gifted students in a selected classical art discipline (visual arts, performing arts or humanities). Student sponsorship carries over from year to year until the student graduates from high school.
National Poster Art Contest
The National Poster Art Contest runs biennially from October through June, commencing in uneven years. Chapters conduct local competitions between October and March. In April and May, chapters submit their first place winners from each grade category for the selection of area winners. A National Poster Art Contest judging event takes place in May or June and national winners are selected from the winning area entries. All area entries become part of the National Poster Art Exhibition.
Local Poster Art Initiative
The Harbor Lites Chapter creates and supports art activities for students in its local service areas of North Chicago, Zion, and Waukegan and at the National level. In April and May, a public online contest is run where Links members and supporters vote for student entries submitted to our chapters. After the public voting period, a panel of seven national judges from the arts vote on the finalists. Winners from each of the four categories are announced and their work is then displayed at The Links, Incorporated, National Assembly.
Ysabella Baker, a student at A. J. Katzenmaier Academy, in North Chicago, was a 2016 NATIONAL POSTER ARTS CONTEST WINNER.
National Poster Art Competition:
Theme – Transforming Communities by Making Health a Habit.
Judges – A small group of non-Link community artists, school educators and others
appointed by the chapter president and arts chair.
National Poster Art Competition flyer and teacher verification documents were sent to the Lake County Regional Superintendent of Schools.
There are four categories of art competition entries: Category I – Grades 1-3, Category II –
Grades 4-6, Category III – Grades 7-9 and Category IV – Grades 10-12.
Materials – watercolor, charcoal, pencil, acrylics, pen, paint, fabric, collage,
crayons, mosaic, scratch art or a computer-generated image (no computer clipart).
Artwork can be 2D or 3D collage.
Sizes – 9”x12” or 11”x14”.