Visual Art
Paintings
Drawings
Collage
Digital design
Photography
Participant Instructions
Fostering Creativity is a public awareness campaign that seeks to empower those who are or have experienced foster care to share their perspective with the world. Youth will create art that will help raise awareness about foster care and adoption. The created artwork will be displayed at a Showcase Event in September that all youth artists will be invited to attend. Additionally, MARE will feature the submitted art as part of a public awareness campaign.
Featured Artists
All pieces of art will be part of an exhibit at a showcase event. Five pieces of artwork will be selected for a special feature based on artistic quality and pieces that best raise awareness about adoption from foster care. These submissions will be turned into T-shirts or other apparel in collaboration with the artist. These items will be available for purchase in the MARE store and used to raise awareness in the community. The selected artists will receive a copy of the apparel created and a gift card. MARE will also work with these artists to create videos and photos about the artist and their work.
What you need to create
Art
A piece of art or particular design that expresses your message. Submissions can be in visual media (paintings, drawings, collage, etc) or written media (poetry, essays, or stories).
Name
Give your piece of art a name.
About You
A one paragraph description of who you are. Share about your personality, experience with foster care, and why you are participating in this project.
Message
A one to two paragraph description about your art, its meaning, and your message to the community. Work with your family, your social worker or with us at MARE to help create this.
crafting your message
As someone currently or previously in foster care, your voice is the most important perspective on foster care and adoption. We need your help raising awareness in the community so that more people can understand your experience and help in any way they can. Art speaks louder than words. We want to give you a platform to help create change for kids who have experienced foster care through the power of art.
Prompts
Use one or more of the following prompts to think about what you want people to know about foster care and adoption. It might be helpful to talk about these questions with your family or social worker.
Reflect
- What does foster care mean to you?
- What does adoption mean to you?
- What does family mean to you?
- What do you want the world to know about youth in foster care?
Fill in the blank
- Foster care is _____.
- Family is _____.
- Adoption is _____.
- I am _____.
- When I think of the future, I feel _____. My dream is ___________.
Why did you fill in the blanks the way you did? What does it mean to you? Were there any that felt particularly meaningful? Hopefully these prompts help you get your creative juices flowing.
Now, let's make some art!
Artwork Types
We are accepting art pieces in any visual media or written form. Visual art should be no larger than 24” x 24”. Written contributions should be no longer than 1500 words. Please note that we are unable to accept multimedia pieces at this time (videos, recorded music, or performances).
All pieces should be intended to share your perspective as someone who has experienced foster care and raise awareness in the wider community about foster care and adoption.
Creative Writing
Essays
Stories
Poetry
submitting your art
It is important that we receive the original artwork you created. This will be displayed at the Showcase Event and used for the Fostering Creativity public awareness campaign. As a reminder, your submission is considered a donation to MARE and you will not receive your piece back after submission.
Complete the Submission Form
All participants must complete the submission form in tandem with submitting their artwork.
If you have any questions, please email Ana Eira at anae@mareinc.org.
How to Submit Your Artwork
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Option 1: Mail your artwork to MARE
Massachusetts Adoption Resource Exchange
19 Needham Street
Suite 206
Newton Highlands, MA 02461
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Option 2: Drop-off your artwork at MARE
Please note that the office building is only open M-F during business hours. To arrange for live drop-off and ensure someone is present to receive your art, please contact team.communications@mareinc.org
Additional Ways to Submit
(not relevant to all participants)
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Option 3: For those with an adoption social worker
Pick up days will be arranged at each ADLU office. A MARE staff person or volunteer will collect art stored at these locations by August 1st. It is the responsibility of the adoption social worker making the submission to inform MARE that a collection needs to be made. Contact us at team.communications@mareinc.org
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Option 4: For creative writing or digital submissions
If you created your art on your computer, either through writing or digital design, or have a digital file like a photo to submit, then you can submit your artwork online. You can email your artwork to team.communications@mareinc.org.