WASHINGTON, October 8, 2008 –VSA arts and CVS Caremark All Kids Can are encouraging children and youth to share their creativity through a national call for visual art. The theme, “Celebrating Who I Am,” invites young people with and without disabilities across the United States to create visual art about their interests, talents, and dreams. All artwork submitted before the March 6, 2009 deadline will be included in an online art gallery. One piece of art from each state and the District of Columbia will be displayed summer 2009 at Union Station in Washington, D.C., as part of a children’s art exhibition. Ten representatives of the exhibition will be selected to travel to Washington to be honored at a reception on Capitol Hill.  
 
The call for art is part of VSA arts and CVS Caremark’s yearlong campaign, “All Kids Can…CREATE!” to encourage learning and community engagement through creating art. The program includes the call for art, artist-in-residence programs in schools that will expand access and document learning through the arts for students with disabilities, and community volunteer activities with CVS Caremark employees that engage their communities and/or schools in building inclusive environments.  
 
“CVS Caremark and VSA arts are joined by a mutual commitment to students with disabilities,” said Soula Antoniou, president of VSA arts. “This is our second year working together, and we look forward to expanding this year’s programming and reaching even more students than we did last year.”
 
“CVS Caremark is excited to partner again this year with VSA arts on this initiative,” said Eileen Howard Dunn, senior vice president of Corporate Communications and Community Relations for CVS Caremark. “The arts provide a powerful opportunity for children of all levels of abilities to express themselves and to learn. ‘All Kids Can…CREATE!’ encourages children to discover themselves as artists and works toward building inclusion.”
 
There are no limits to what a child can create. Children are invited to use traditional art materials as well as non-traditional ones, such as hair rollers, wrapping paper, newspaper, or aluminum foil. The exhibition will be on display during VSA arts’ annual Start with the Arts Family Festival. New to the program this year, teachers who submit their students’ artwork are eligible to receive one of five $1000 cash awards for use in their classroom.
 

To find out more about the teachers’ award or to submit artwork, please visit http://www.vsarts.org/allkidscancreate or call (202) 628-2800.
 
About VSA arts
VSA arts is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1974 by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to create a society where people with disabilities learn through, participate in, and enjoy the arts. VSA arts provides educators, parents, and artists with resources and the tools to support arts programming in schools and communities.  VSA arts showcases the accomplishments of artists with disabilities and promotes increased access to the arts for people with disabilities.  Each year millions of people participate in VSA arts programs through a nationwide network of affiliates and in 55 countries around the world. VSA arts is an affiliate of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
For more information, please visit http://www.vsarts.org

About CVS Caremark All Kids Can
All Kids Can...CREATE! is part of CVS Caremark All Kids Can, a five-year, $25 million commitment to support children with disabilities. The goals of CVS Caremark All Kids Can are to support children with disabilities by raising awareness in schools and in local communities about the importance of inclusion, creating greater opportunities for physical activity and play, and providing access to medical rehabilitation and related services. CVS Caremark and its more than 190,000 employees plan to help children with disabilities learn, play and succeed through partnerships with leading local and national nonprofit organizations such as VSA arts and many others across the country.
 For more information, visithttp://www.cvscaremarkallkidscan.com .

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