Signatures Past
In October of 1990, Shirley Olson and Del Siegel from AGATE and Jan Clinard from MATELA discussed the need for a student literary and art magazine in Montana and then later convened with seven other educators at the MEA Convention in Bozeman. Three goals emerged from the collaboration:
The state was arbitrarily divided into seven geographical areas; letters and flyers were sent out to advertise the new project. Two volunteer educators, one in art and one in writing, from each area were asked to serve as an editorial board. They held local selection committee meetings to select the best submissions. These committees met with Shirley, Del and Jan in Helena to further select and assemble the work. Del designed and formatted the magazine, Art Craft of Billings printed it and the Montana Office of Public Instruction mailed a copy to each school librarian in Montana.
Several hundred pieces of writing and art were received in 1991: 85 K-12 students were published from 39 schools. Each selected contributor received one copy and another for his/her teacher. Every applicant who sent SASE’s received a personal note of encouragement and suggestions to his/her returned work, hoping this contact would encourage the student and teacher to work further for excellence on future work.
Signatures from Big Sky continued to reach for as many Montana students as possible by various means: we welcomed Montana Arts Council Artists in Schools and Communities work in a special section when they were unable to publish their student work as they has in the past; asked Signatures board members to present sectionals at the annual teacher conventions and other state meetings; refined the advertising process to send posters to all schools libraries and flyers to elementary and middle school principals, high school art and writing teachers, county superintendents and the list of submitting teachers from the previous year. We also contributed the pictures for a Montana Health and Services Calendar for five years. Every year, we receive hundreds of submissions and enjoy a robust selection from talented young people across the state.
The work displayed in Signatures has shown what it has been like to grow up in Montana over the last 27 years, in small towns, cities and ranches, from foreign exchange students, fifth-generation Montanans and Native students whose ancestors go even further back than that. The perspectives are as unique as the art and writing itself and we are proud to share them.
. . . and present
Mandy Maass is in her third year as the editor of Signatures from Big Sky. Signatures received 194 submissions from 11 schools for the 2019 edition.
- To provide an opportunity for young Montana artists and writers to publish
- To make it a publishing experience, striving for excellence, not a contest
- To provide a resource for teachers and students in classroom work in the arts
The state was arbitrarily divided into seven geographical areas; letters and flyers were sent out to advertise the new project. Two volunteer educators, one in art and one in writing, from each area were asked to serve as an editorial board. They held local selection committee meetings to select the best submissions. These committees met with Shirley, Del and Jan in Helena to further select and assemble the work. Del designed and formatted the magazine, Art Craft of Billings printed it and the Montana Office of Public Instruction mailed a copy to each school librarian in Montana.
Several hundred pieces of writing and art were received in 1991: 85 K-12 students were published from 39 schools. Each selected contributor received one copy and another for his/her teacher. Every applicant who sent SASE’s received a personal note of encouragement and suggestions to his/her returned work, hoping this contact would encourage the student and teacher to work further for excellence on future work.
Signatures from Big Sky continued to reach for as many Montana students as possible by various means: we welcomed Montana Arts Council Artists in Schools and Communities work in a special section when they were unable to publish their student work as they has in the past; asked Signatures board members to present sectionals at the annual teacher conventions and other state meetings; refined the advertising process to send posters to all schools libraries and flyers to elementary and middle school principals, high school art and writing teachers, county superintendents and the list of submitting teachers from the previous year. We also contributed the pictures for a Montana Health and Services Calendar for five years. Every year, we receive hundreds of submissions and enjoy a robust selection from talented young people across the state.
The work displayed in Signatures has shown what it has been like to grow up in Montana over the last 27 years, in small towns, cities and ranches, from foreign exchange students, fifth-generation Montanans and Native students whose ancestors go even further back than that. The perspectives are as unique as the art and writing itself and we are proud to share them.
. . . and present
Mandy Maass is in her third year as the editor of Signatures from Big Sky. Signatures received 194 submissions from 11 schools for the 2019 edition.
Kobee BigBack Wave
Colstrip High School 12th grade |
Arieannah Allphin Anger
Burlington Elementary School 4th grade |
