COUNTY — The Pickens County Cultural Commission recently announced that, in recognition of “National Youth Arts” month as well as “National Music in our Schools” month, March will once again be Pickens County Youth Arts Month.

The Pickens County Museum of Art and History and the schools of Pickens County will celebrate with a reception to kick off the month at the museum on Saturday, March 1, from 1-4  p.m.

A special “thank you” presentation for elementary schools will be made at 1:30 p.m., and an awards ceremony for the middle and high schools will be held at 2:30 p.m.

In addition to the always-entertaining

visual arts exhibition, which will be on display beginning March 1 and continuing through March 27, the Pickens County Museum will also host, on Thursday, March 20, from 5-7  p.m., a special evening of “Music, Performance and Piggybanks,” which will feature the creative talents of School District of Pickens County performing arts students. The evening will be capped off with a live auction of artist-created piggy banks.

Sponsored by the

Easley Junior Women’s Club, “Project Piggy Bank” is a way to get the entire community involved in art. Piggy banks designed and decorated by local artists were displayed in area businesses during December. All money collected in those banks goes to provide scholarships for youth that would like to attend summer art camps or youth art classes at the Pickens County Museum of Art and History. Now the pigs are on display at the museum so that visitors can enjoy the opportunity to contribute to the scholarship fund and acquire their favorite pig for your own collection. All bids must be in by 6:30 p.m. on March 20.

A selection of other exhibits, concerts and performances will take place at a variety of locations throughout March. As the many schools are sponsoring events too numerous to list, contact individual schools for programming information.

“Pickens County Youth Arts 2014” is sponsored in part by:

Pickens Savings and Loan, South Carolina Bank and Trust, Earth Design, Inc. and Robinson Funeral Home, Crematory and Memorial Gardens. The Pickens County Museum of Art and History is funded in part by Pickens County, members and friends of the museum and a grant from the South Carolina Arts Commission, which receives support from the National Endowment for the Arts.