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For Immediate Release

High School Artists Vie for Scholarship and Opportunity to
Promote Slogan "Life is Better with Art in It"

(PITTSBURGH) September 22, 2003—High school students interested in a design career will have a unique opportunity to put their talents where their art is by entering the Poster Design Scholarship Competition, sponsored by The Art Institutes and Americans for the Arts.

Students will create original poster artwork that expresses the slogan, “Life is Better with Art in It.”  More than $200,000 in scholarships will be awarded, with the first place prize-winning student receiving a $25,000 scholarship to study design at one of 30 Art Institutes locations throughout North America. Entry deadline is February 13, 2004.

"We’re pleased to be collaborating with Americans for the Arts because we believe, as educators, this is a critical time to support and strengthen the role arts play in our lives and in our communities," says Michael Maki, Vice President of Academic Affairs, Education Management Corporation, the parent company of The Art Institutes.  

According to Robert L. Lynch, president and CEO of Americans for the Arts, “as funding for arts programs continues to be slashed in federal and state budgets, we want young people to remember that art is an essential part of American life that needs to promoted and preserved.”

The competition takes place in two stages; a preliminary competition will be held at Art Institutes locations in the US and Canada in March. Winners from the preliminary competition will have their entries placed into consideration for the final stage and national judging, which takes place in April.

The first-place winner and all preliminary competition winners' work will be used in a promotional calendar for Americans for the Arts, to be distributed to high schools across North America. In addition, Americans for the Arts will create an online gallery of all scholarship winning artwork on its web site www.AmericansForTheArts.org. In addition to the online gallery, the first-place winner's poster will be used in national marketing materials for Americans for the Arts.

The contest is open to graduating high school seniors interested in pursuing a career in design.  Students must submit an original poster design, a current high school transcript, and a statement describing their design process and why they want to attend an Art Institute school. In April, an industry panel of judges selected by Americans for the Arts and The Art Institutes will assess each student's poster based on the specified criteria. Contestants are notified of their winnings by May 7, 2004.

Locations participating include: The Art Institute of Washington (Arlington, VA), The Art Institute of Atlanta, The New England Institute of Art (Brookline, MA), The Art Institute of California – Los Angeles, The Art Institute of California - Orange County, The Art Institute of California - San Diego, The Art Institute of California - San Francisco, The Art Institute of Charlotte, The Art Institute of Colorado, The Art Institute of Dallas, The Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, The Art Institute of Houston, The Art Institute of Las Vegas, Miami International University of Art & Design (Miami, FL),   The Art Institutes International Minnesota, The Art Institute of New York City, The Art Institute of Philadelphia, The Art Institute of Phoenix, The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, The Art Institute of Portland, The Art Institute of Seattle, The Illinois Institute of Art Chicago, The Illinois Institute of Art Schaumburg, The Art Institute of Vancouver, The Art Institute of Vancouver-Burnaby and Bradley Academy for the Visual Arts (York, PA).
 
For more information on the competition or an application, visit www.artinstitutes.edu/poster.  

About The Art Institutes
The Art Institutes  (www.artinstitutes.edu/poster), with 30 education institutions located throughout North America, providing an important source of design, media arts, fashion and culinary professionals. The parent company of The Art Institutes, Education Management Corporation (www.edmc.com) is among the largest providers of private post-secondary education in North America, based on student enrollment and revenue. Including the recent acquisitions of AEC and South University, student enrollment was approximately 50,000 as of fall 2002. EDMC has 66 primary campus locations in 24 states and two Canadian provinces. EDMC's education institutions offer a broad range of academic programs in the media arts, design, fashion, culinary arts, behavioral sciences, health sciences, education and business fields, culminating in the award of associate's through doctoral degrees. EDMC has provided career-oriented education for 40 years, and its education institutions have more than 150,000 alumni.

About Americans for the Arts
Americans for the Arts is the nation's leading nonprofit organization for advancing the arts in America. With a 40-year record of service, it is dedicated to representing and serving local communities and creating opportunities for every American to participate in and appreciate all forms of the arts. For details, visit www.AmericansForTheArts.org.

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