Host a work of art in your storefront window and support arts education in Burke

About

From April-August we’d like to invite you to display student art in your store-front window! This is an opportunity to 1) engage unique audiences, 2) collaborate across schools and districts, and 3) honor the creativity of art students across Burke. This collaboration was originally envisioned and designed by the amazing Amber Rickertsen. 

Historically, every middle and high school in the Burke County Public School system has participated as well as Mountain View Elementary School along with the North Carolina School for the Deaf and the North Carolina School of Science and Math. This year we are thrilled to include Salem and Drexel Elementary schools! 

The community can discover all 60+ works of art in downtown business windows & vote for their favorite. Three prizes will be awarded for the popular vote in elementary, middle, and high school. These students will each receive $50.

How to Participate

Share your information below (google form) before EOD April 11th, and our volunteers will bring you the student posters to display the week of April 21-25th.

Timeline

  • Kick off event: April 17th (4:30-7pm) Third Thursday Art Crawl (flier on the way!)

  • Poster Display: April 21st - August 15th

  • Voting: April 17th - May 12th via QR codes on the posters -> https://www.tosstudio.org/news

  • Winners announced: May 14th (online through TOSS, BCPS, and the Main Street Office)

Host Responsibilities

  • Hosting 1-3 student art posters (17x11in each) in you business storefront window along with the exhibition map (8.5x11in).

  • Share the project details with staff so they may relay details to customers if questions arise.

  • Attend the voting kick off event (Art Crawl) with students, parents, & school community (flier on the way!)

  • Encourage folks to vote - April 17th - May 12th! A QR code on the poster will direct folks to the digital voting platform.

FAQs

  • Can I choose which posters I host? Unfortunately no - the organizers select which poster(s) you will receive to make sure we have an equal distribution of middle and high school art throughout the town.

  • Can I keep the poster at the end of the show? We would love that but unfortunately no- we recirculate the poster in the school system at Central Office and the Media Resource Center to maximize the reach of the artwork.

  • How do I get the poster back to you? We will come pick it up Aug 15th

Sponsors 

This project is made meaningful through the creativity of students in Burke, curated by Burke County Public School Art Teachers in collaboration with Connecting Arts in Burke and sponsored by TOSS, Table Rock Printers, the Main Street Office of Morganton.

Join us!

2024 Recap

Big congrats to the 2024 winners of the downtown student art expo:

Paxton W.- East Burke High School
Camila M. - Heritage Middle School
Aiden S. - North Carolina School for the Deaf (elementary division)

These amazing students will receive $50 from TOSS and all of the posters will remain on display downtown throughout the summer. Giant thanks to the 200+ folks in the community that submitted their votes. We love supporting these young artists!

2023 Recap

The 2023 winners were: Reese Reinhardt from Draughn High School, Lydia Dupuis from Liberty Middle School, and the students participating in the Drip Art Collaboration with Mountain View Elementary.

How It Came About

A group of arts educators have come together to increase student art opportunities in Burke County. This group, meeting since 2022 is called Connecting Arts in Burke (CAB). Displaying student art downtown, an idea cultivated by Liberty Middle School instructor, Amber Rickertsen, was one of our first collaborative projects!