Art Saves! Get Involved!

How do you think Art Saves? Show us! Click here to download the Art Saves template, then print it out and decorate it however you'd like. Scan or photograph the final version and email it to us as a JPG.

You are not limited to the template, nor must you draw something. Make this your own special Art Attack! Send us your sketches, collages, photos - anything you think represents the thought that Art Saves. We'll post contributions at the readergirlz blog all month long, then archive them at the readergirlz website at the end of July.

Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Take a picture of your favorite bookstore, your best friends, or your pets.
- Piece together a tote bag made out of old clothes.
- Draw with chalk on your sidewalk. (Try making shadow outlines like those in Same Difference by Siobhan Vivian, one of this month's rec reads!)
- Gather with friends, dress up as the Janes, and recreate the book cover.
- Set up a park or beach clean-up day.
- Run/walk a marathon for a good cause and sing or dance every time you finish a lap.
- Go to an animal shelter, ask if you may take pictures of the critters and make posters to help get them adopted.
- Volunteer at a local library or hospital during arts-and-crafts time.

Don't stop there - Pay it forward! If you're a teen, make copies of the template (on recycled paper, naturally) and pass them out to your friends. If you're a teacher or librarian, distribute copies to your students or patrons, and have a drop-box where they may turn in their completed pages. Parents, break out the markers and crayons and have each member of your family make his or her own art - or have everyone contribute to the same picture!

Psst . . . Cecil Castellucci is also drawing up a little something for this, and we can't wait to see what she comes up with! The readergirlz divas and postergirlz are also getting in on the action, as are some of your favorite contemporary YA authors, artists, activists, and bloggers. Keep checking the rgz blog throughout July to see their designs!

Update: All of the Art Saves contributions have been added to the July 2009 issue of readergirlz. You may also see each piece at the blog: Click here to view all of the Art Saves posts.