150,000 Los Angeles Fifth Graders to Receive New Museum Calendar to Encourage Children and Families to Participate in the Arts.

Business Editors & Education Writers

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2002

Initiative Sponsored by Mervyn's, Target Corporation and Local Arts

Organizations developed in collaboration with the Art Knowledge

Corporation and the Business Committee for the Arts

The Museum Calendar (2002-2003 Los Angeles edition), a colorful new calendar developed to encourage 8-12 year old children and their families to visit Los Angeles museums, is being distributed free of charge to 150,000 schoolchildren across Los Angeles County. In an event held today at the Japanese American National Museum, Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, Los Angeles City Councilmember Jan Perry and Laura Zucker, Executive Director of the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, gave the premiere issues of The Museum Calendar (Los Angeles edition) to 60 fifth-grade schoolchildren from Eastman Avenue Elementary School in East Los Angeles.

In addition to providing students and their teachers with a region- specific 15-month listing of events and exhibits, as well as other information, The Museum Calendar offers the children and their families free or reduced admission tickets to a number of Los Angeles cultural facilities.

"The Museum Calendar merges art, education and people. After all, a museum is an educational tool. We learn from museums," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky. "I want to make sure that our kids have the opportunity to see every exhibit they can."

"This calendar will expose Los Angeles children and their parents to our cultural institutions," said Councilwoman Jan Perry. "It has such a significant impact on children when we open their eyes to the art and history stored in such great museums as the Japanese American National Museum, Museum of Contemporary Art and the Getty Center."

The launch of The Museum Calendar also kicks off the annual Los Angeles Arts Open House on Saturday, October 5th, when admission is free to over 150 arts events, museums and arts organizations across the county. The free Open House, organized by the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, is part of the state-wide celebration of Arts Day in California.

The Museum Calendar, developed and published by The Art Knowledge Corporation, New York, NY (publishers of Museums Magazines and Museums for Families) in collaboration with the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc., New York, NY, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Los Angeles, Calif., and the Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau, Los Angeles, Calif., is sponsored by Mervyn's and Target Corporation with additional support from a number of Los Angeles cultural institutions.

As a new resource for arts educators in the Los Angeles area, The Museum Calendar is also designed to help museums build attendance and future audiences as an outgrowth of Museums for Families, a two-year old magazine published by The Art Knowledge Corporation, which offers families fun and educational experiences at museums. The 15-month calendar features a comprehensive listing of museums, cultural attractions and exhibitions along with monthly color-illustrated articles on topics such as dinosaurs and aquatic adventures; Latino, Native American and Asian art and culture; as well as Impressionism, contemporary and pop art.

"The Museum Calendar is a terrific partnership among civic and non- profit organizations and the business community, particularly Mervyn's and Target, to create an educational initiative that encourages our children to learn more about the rich array of museums and cultural institutions in Los Angeles County," said Laura Zucker. "We are pleased that through the support of the Arts Commission and the Los Angeles County Office of Education we were able to coordinate the distribution of The Museum Calendar to every 5th grader in the County."

"This calendar is an excellent, easy-to-use resource for educators and school children alike," said Bernard Boudreaux, Senior Manager, Community Relations, Mervyn's and Target Corporation. "We hope that when parents see the variety of exhibitions ranging from Impressionist paintings and Mexican pottery to displays of dinosaurs, dogs and neon signs, that they will take the whole family to the local museums for a visit and keep coming back."

Target is one of America's leading supporters of the arts, including arts education and programming to better the quality of life in communities large and small throughout the country. Since 1946, the company has invested 5 percent of its federally taxable income in the communities it serves, contributing more than $2 million every week.

Additional support for the Los Angeles edition of The Museum Calendar comes from: the City of Glendale Arts and Culture Commission; The City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs the City of Pasadena Cultural Affairs Division; Pasadena Foundation; the City of Santa Monica Cultural Affairs Division; the Entertainment Industry Foundation; The Herb Alpert Foundation; The J. Paul Getty Trust; The Jewish Community Foundation; The Los Angeles Convention and Visitors Bureau; the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA); and The Winnick Family Foundation. The Los Angeles County Office of Education is distributing the Calendar.

"The Los Angeles edition of The Museum Calendar is a natural extension of our business, which is focused on increasing interest in museums and the visual arts, and enhancing the museum-going experience," said Larry Warsh, publisher of Museums Magazines and Museums for Families, both divisions of The Art Knowledge Corporation. "In addition to helping children become more familiar with the many museums of Los Angeles, and encouraging them to explore what each institution offers, we want to bring the museum home by providing families with information about books and Web sites that continue the learning experience. And for educators, the calendar is a tool for enriching the K-6 arts education curriculum."

The 2002-2003 Los Angeles edition of The Museum Calendar is the second in a series of Calendars being developed by The Art Knowledge Corporation and the Business Committee for the Arts, Inc. The first Calendar was distributed in March 2002 to 80,000 schoolchildren in New York City public schools. Other Calendars are planned for Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York (second edition), St. Louis and Washington, D.C.