Artist Information

Art Project Submissions

ATGO selects 10 projects (5/year) every other school year (selections on odd years).

If you are interested in submitting please contact our Program Design Chair at program@ArtToGrowOn.com from September to March of a selection year. An ATGO representative will contact you to set up a meeting before the selection in April.

You will need to prepare a presentation board (see below) that includes the lesson plan and provides lots of examples. Refer to the Lesson Plan/Docent Handout description below. Projects will be selected using the following criteria:

    • Quality of the student’s experience.

    • Adaptability for students in kindergarten through eighth grade.

    • Ease of preparation, presentation, and clean up by the docents.

    • Availability of material and safety (Refer to Attachment 2).

    • Time Limitations: should take no more than 1 ½ hours to complete.

    • Project should be success-oriented in the student’s eyes.

    • The cost per student should average $1.20 per project.

    • The projects that have an historical lesson and/or a lesson of an

    • art technique are the most favored.

If your projects are chosen you will receive $250 after your workshop contract is fulfilled. The workshop requirements consist of teaching an ATGO workshop for approximately 2 hours to approximately 100 docents. ATGO workshops are held at the San Pedro United Methodist Church (SPUMC) 580 W. 6th Street, San Pedro, CA.

Art to Grow On is extremely gratful to all of our submitting artists which enable the organization to preserve its wonderful art enrichment program and cultivate future artists. We look forward to working together with you in the future. Thank you.

GUIDELINES FOR THE SAFE USE OF ART AND CRAFT MATERIALS IN CALIFORNIA (UPDATED 2014)

California Education Code prohibits the purchase of art or craft materials containing a toxic substance for use by students in kindergarten and grades 1-6. For the complete list of unapproved art supplies click here.

Partial list of unapproved craft and art supplies:

Rubber cement, household cement, aerosol glue sprays/mounting sprays/glitter sprays, Krazy glue or permanent bonding glues, various ceramic glazes, oil-based stains, varnishes, solvents (any liquid used to dilute or disperse other substance), permanent inks, etching inks, oil paints, artist grade watercolor paints, any products with a negative health hazard label. See the full list for specific items at the link above.

Art and Craft Materials to Avoid and Recommended Substitutes

1. AVOID: Products that may generate an inhalation hazard. Examples include clay in dry form, powdered paints, glazes, pigments, wheat paste, and aerosols (for example, spray paints, fixatives).

SUBSTITUTE: Wet or liquid non-aerosol products. (If dry products are used, they should be mixed while young children are not present.)

2. AVOID: Hazardous solvent-based products. Examples include rubber cement and its thinner, turpentine and other paint thinners, and solvent-based markers.

SUBSTITUTE: Water-based glues, paints, markers.

3. AVOID: Materials that contain lead or other heavy metals. Examples include some paints, glazes, and enamels.

SUBSTITUTE: Products that do not contain heavy metals.

4. AVOID: Cold water dyes or commercial dyes.

SUBSTITUTE: Vegetable dyes(onion skins and so forth).

5. AVOID: Instant papier-mâché, which may contain asbestos fibers or lead or other metals from pigments in colored printing inks.

SUBSTITUTE: Papier-mâché made from black and white newspaper and library or white paste (or flour and water paste).

Some art and craft projects involve processes that are inappropriate for young children. Some examples are airbrushing, enameling, photo developing, and soldering. Instructors are encouraged to avoid projects that would involve these processes.

*Information obtained from the State of California Education Board https://oehha.ca.gov/risk-assessment/art-hazards


PROJECT LESSON PLAN / DOCENT HANDOUTS SPECS.

The California State Board of Education wants students in grades K-8 to perceive and respond to works of art, objects in nature, events and the environment. Your project should be made out of materials that are non-toxic and safe for students. Please use this outline to assist you in the preparation of the lesson plan.

  • Title: Fun titles get more attention during our project selections.

  • Description/Objective: The description should include the history and background of the the artist, art technique, or art movement being studied and what students will learn from the project such as art vocabulary terms or techniques and the medium of the project.

  • Motivation: Where does this project get its inspiration from? What inspired you to create it? Can you recommend a selection of music that could go along with the project to set the mood (optional)?

  • Materials/Supplies: List specific materials including paper/brush sizes, grades of paper, types of pencils, markers, brushes, paint, brand names, and colors etc. Please include links to online supplies or addresses for local resources, suppliers etc. Our supply acquisition volunteers will appreciate as many details as possible!

  • Cost per student: Please provide a breakdown of the cost per student based off of required supplies. We try to keep costs at or under $1.10 though slightly more expensive projects may still be accepted.

  • Instructions: Step by step instructions with photos if possible are most helpful and required.

  • Additional References: include a list of where teachers can find additional resourses including any books, periodicals, posters, paintings, links to videos or websites, etc.

  • Project Examples: Provide examples of the finished art, student examples are preferred. If you can test your new project with a group of children of different ages to make sure it will work with varied grade levels it is helpful.

  • Artist Biography: Provide a brief history of your personal background, career, qualifications, accomplishments, and experience working with children.


This is an example of a presentation art board that is used during our project selections to present your project. It is built on a bi or tri-fold foam-core or cardboard display panel and has information such as project title, artist information, objective of the project, and student examples of the project. We ask that you not include your name anywhere on the boards for fairness during the selecion, but it can be included in the submitted lesson plan documents along with your about the artist section.

You can download an example of a typical lesson plan here.