03/2/14

My Green Dream – Children’s Appreciation of the Arts

Each Fall Frogs Are Green hosts a Kids’ Art Contest. It gives me such a thrill when hundreds of children from around the world answer that call.

These children are enrolled in after school art programs. Their parents must realize how important it is to enrich their child’s education and encourage them to express themselves through art.

I grew up in Queens, New York, and my parents enrolled me in ballet and piano lessons, and my father, an accountant by day and an artist by night, would sit with me and teach me how to draw a house or a tree. He was so excited when I chose art as my career and began my higher education at the School of Visual Arts in New York.

My brother and sister and I were introduced to a thriving cultural world. We would get dressed up and head into New York for the circus, Ice Capades, ballet, museums, Broadway theater and opera. This gave me a rounded appreciation for the arts that I still feel.

Is this culture missing in children’s lives today?

I will tell you that the submissions to the 2013 contest yielded 450 entries, but only a few came from the USA. My only conclusion is that children in this country are not being taught arts appreciation the way I was decades ago. Is this due to the digital age of games and apps, or the economy and arts classes/programs being cut? When children spend their days watching TV and playing games that others have created, and they are not learning how to express themselves, this will hurt them later in life. I’m sure of it.

When I see the artwork that comes in from kids between 3 and 12 from Estonia, Australia, the Philippines, Bangladesh, South Africa, Macedonia, Serbia, India, China and so many other countries it’s clear from their skills that they are not learning just about art but conveying their own personal messages about the state of the environment and how they feel about frogs. The USA is just not seeing how important this ability to self-express is, and so it must change for the next generation.

I’m happy to share that The Distillery Gallery & Artspace in Jersey City, New Jersey does have art classes for kids (as do a few other places here) on Saturday mornings, and it is partnering with Frogs Are Green to bring our “Green Dream” to life and show why children need this education in their lives.

Opening on April 4 and running through April 27, “Green Dream” will be an International Children’s Earth Day Exhibition. It will be the first time Frogs Are Green is showcasing the amazing artwork received over the years. Many of the works will be hung on the walls and a digital projector will show hundreds more. The children in The Distillery art classes will also be showing their frog pictures and are creating flower pots.

I hope you will celebrate with us on Earth Day (4.22), Save the Frogs Day (4.26) and join us with your children for this extraordinary event. If you would like to learn more and support this effort to increase environmental awareness and heal the planet, visit the Indiegogo campaign here:

Green Dream – International Children’s Earth Day Exhibition – Indiegogo Campaign

Video by Brandon Somerton, Filmmaker

11/27/13

Green Friday 2013 – North America’s Frogs 2014 Calendar

On this day before Thanksgiving, I just wanted to say thank you to all the fans that help me spread the awareness. May you all have a safe, happy and healthy holiday season.

On Friday, please think Green and not Black! My latest collaboration is with The Wandering Herpetologist and photographer, Sara Viernum with this beautiful 2014 calendar, which you can pick up in the store, right here on this website. 13 beautiful frogs from across North America.

11/3/13

2013 Kids Art Contest Hosted by Frogs Are Green

Calling All Kids ages 3-12! – The 4th annual 2013 Frogs Are Green Art Contest

Contests officially opened on July 20th, 2013.

Last year we received over 260 entries from kids around the world, and the year before over 500! As always, we are so impressed by kids’ creativity and imagination and the variety of ways they express themselves: in crayon, watercolor, colored pencil, clay, 3D sculptures, dioramas, murals, mosaics, and mixed media.

We will award winners based on age in these age groups: 3-6, 7-9, 10-12. We also added a few new categories last year, Best 3D, Most Unusual Artwork, best Environmental, and this may expand depending on what we receive. The 1st place winners will receive a Frogs Are Green Poster of their choice from our store. All kids receive a certificate via download on our site.

Our 2013 campaign to help frogs! As part of the campaign we’re excited to announce the 4th FROGS ARE GREEN art contest for kids.

Contest theme:

How Will YOU Help Save Frogs and Amphibians!

Your artwork can be about frogs/amphibians and how you (or all of us) can help them.

Deadline for submissions is December 15, 2013 and the winners will be announced January 21, 2014. The winners will be featured in a post.

We’re looking for drawings, paintings, sculpture, collage, or whatever format helps you express yourself.

This year we have a new contest area using Flickr, where you can enter yourself.

There are three different group pools, so be sure to enter your photo/artwork into the right group pool.

Frogs Are Green 2013 Kids Art Contest

For the Kids’ Art Contest, you must add a caption, with your Name, Age, and Country (and a caption if you like) or your submission will not be added.

Please print out the attached flyer to post in your neighborhood schools.

We can’t wait to see your artwork!

06/7/13

Hops for Habitat in Montauk – Open Call for Artists

OPEN CALL FOR ARTISTS! Cornell Cooperative Extension of Suffolk County (CCE) has been actively involved in the protection and restoration of local eelgrass meadows that are an important habitat for many biologically and economically important species of finfish and shellfish.

To help raise community awareness, they are seeking artist responses to this issue and would like to see works inspired by underwater habitat reflecting the value of our local marine environment during our “Hops for Habitat” art show and sale in Montauk Brewing Company’s Tasting Room from June 28 through July 31, 2013.

Deadline for submissions is June 15.

Please visit www.marinemeadows.com or contact Kimberly Barbour at kp237@cornell.edu for submission information.

04/22/13

A – Z Frog Species: Spring Peeper – Pseudacris crucifer

Spring Peeper (Pseudacris crucifer) is a tiny little chorus frog found across most of the eastern U.S. and Canada. Tan with a dark cross on its back they are often less than an inch in length. Making home to a number of wetland environments they prefer semi-wooded areas and must lay their eggs in an aquatic location. Feeding on a variety of invertebrates they can often be found near lights in warm summer months where all sorts of bugs gather. Capable of surviving temperatures as low as -8 dC they hibernate under logs or beneath lose bark. One of the greatest sounds of spring, their call, signals warm weather is here!

New series by guest blogger, Coyote Peterson, Coyote Peterson Brands, LLC.

10/9/12

Calling All Frog Artists! A Reminder about the Frogs Are Green Kids' Art Contest 2012

Now that school is underway and the weather is getting colder (at least in this part of the world), it’s the perfect time to create some frog art. We hope you will consider submitting your frog art masterpieces to Frogs Are Green for our 2012 Kids’ Art Contest.

Here are the details:

Contest theme: IT’S EASY BEING GREEN!

Your artwork can be about frogs, how we can help them, or about ways we can be green at home, at school, or in the community. Your art can really be anything that inspires you about frogs or other amphibians. A winning piece from last year’s contest, for example, submitted by Ula Lekecinskaite, a 12-year-old girl from the Kaunus Art Gymnasium in Lithuania, celebrates frogs and rainy days:

We will award winners based on age in these age groups: 3-6, 7-9, and 10-12. The winners will receive a Frogs Are Green poster of their choice from our store and a winner’s certificate. All kids who enter the contest will receive a certificate of participation that can be downloaded from our site.

We’re looking for drawings, paintings, sculpture, collage, mixed media, or whatever format helps you express yourself.

Deadline for submissions is December 15, 2012; winners will be announced January 15, 2013. The winners will be featured in a post.

This year we have a new contest area using Flickr, where you can enter yourself. You must add a caption/ description with your Name, Age, and Country or your submission will not be included. Please see the contest page for more details.