Art Story #2: All Around the World Summer 2012

So one day, I was on my way to work and I was thinking of an old friend with whom I had just reconnected with a few days before. I had this idea…I should send him one of my new Kids Need More Art shirts and have him send me a picture of him wearing it. That was it…a simple thought, a simple idea that became our first summer campaign. “Kids Need More Art Around the World” came to me in a moment, but in the two months that followed became a movement that would inspire and motivate me, and hopefully others, each day as the art stories rolled in. We ended with seventy-one entries that warmed my heart and brought global attention to the very fact that the visual arts are important in our schools and in our children’s lives.

From the moment we began to design this “Around the World” campaign, it brought me only sheer happiness. Starting a business has its challenges, yet every time I received a photo with an art story, it gave me the extra motivation and little push I needed to keep moving forward. What started out as a campaign ended as an inspirational gift for Kids Need More Art and me. I never have any doubt that KNMA will be a success because we now have a family of “artist friends” who have embraced the talent and imagination of young artists and have proclaimed that the visual arts are a necessary part of our lives.

I send all of the people behind the 71 entries my deepest gratitude for carrying those shirts, bags, and cameras with you to make this all possible. My heartfelt appreciation goes out our Facebook family members who ‘liked’ and commented along the way and to the nearly 500 people who voted to help select winners! As always, I thank Davis Streker who can take my little thoughts and make them into a creative, technical reality as brilliantly as only he can do.

I hope all of you know how much sharing a moment from your busy daily lives has meant to me. I so look forward to next summer when I am expecting KNMA to travel even further around the globe. Until then, visit our page as a reminder of our amazing global art journey from the summer of 2012. I know that when I need that extra motivation, I will come here to be reminded that we are all making a difference.

Karen Nobel