The Reflections program was founded by Mary Lou Anderson in 1969 and provides students an opportunity for recognition and access to the arts which boosts student confidence and success in the arts and in life. Each year, students in pre-K through grade 12 create and submit original works of art in response to a student-created theme selected through the annual Reflections Theme Search Contest. The theme for the 2024-2025 program will be "Accepting Imperfection".
Students submit their completed works of art in one or more of the available arts categories: Dance Choreography, Film Production, Literature, Music Composition, Photography, Visual Arts. While the primary focus of Reflections is a celebration of creativity through positive recognition, finalists from local PTAs will move on to their council PTA, then finalists from councils will move on to the state round. Washington State PTA finalists who receive an “Outstanding Interpretation” award will advance to the National PTA round.
Only original works of art are accepted. The six art areas are:
Dance Choreography: originally choreographed dance composition.
Film Production: original works, with or without sound, of animation, narrative, documentary, experimental or music video/film.
Literature: works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, prose, drama, short stories and lyrics.
Music Composition: original musical composition, with or without words.
Photography: color or black and white, included techniques: photogram, negative sandwich, and multiple exposure.
Visual Arts: drawing, painting in tempera, oil, acrylic, watercolor & t-shirt paints, computer generated art, two-dimensional collage, printmaking, needlework & leather tooling.
Participation is organized by student age and grade levels. Student works are critiqued against others in the same grade division. This allows recognition and judging of artworks by appropriate developmental age and skill levels. The grade divisions are:
Primary: Pre-school – Grade 2
Intermediate: Grades 3 – 5