Through the National Endowment for the Humanities’ Picturing America program, a whole slew of local schools and libraries (among 26,320 nationally) will receive 40 reproductions of great works of American art for educational purposes.

Here’s a copy of the press release from NEH; that’s followed by a list of the schools and libraries from the Lower Hudson Valley to receive the awards:

WASHINGTON, DC (June 2, 2008) – Today the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) announced that 26,320 schools and public libraries across the nation will receive Picturing America, a free initiative that helps teach American history and culture by bringing some of the country’s great art directly to classrooms and libraries. Information on specific local recipient schools and public libraries is available on the Picturing America Web site (PicturingAmerica.neh.gov).

Awardees will receive 40 large, high-quality reproductions of great American art and a comprehensive teachers resource book to facilitate the use of the works of art in core subjects. Delivery of these materials is scheduled for August 2008. Additional education resources are also available through the Picturing America Web site.

“Thanks to an unprecedented number of educators, librarians, and citizens who applied during the first application period, I’m proud to announce that over 26,000 schools and public libraries across our nation will receive Picturing America this fall,” said NEH Chairman Bruce Cole.

“Works of art are more than mere ornaments for the elite; they are primary documents of a civilization. A written record or a textbook tells you one thing—but art reveals something else. Our students and citizens deserve to see American art that shows us where we have come from, what we have endured, and where we are headed,” continued Chairman Cole.

Picturing America has received broad-based national support from federal agencies, the arts community, and educators, among others. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, (HHS) Office of Head Start, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), and the National Park Service (NPS) partnered with the NEH and have been instrumental in expanding the reach of the program. The American Library Association (ALA) is working in cooperation with the NEH to provide Picturing America to schools and public libraries, nationwide.

“Picturing America’s goal of introducing representative art works into classrooms is certainly one to encourage,” said Pulitzer prize-winning American author, John Updike who recently presented NEH’s 37th annual Jefferson Lecture in the Humanities. “The Endowment’s selection and the commentaries seem to me quite brilliant.”

Schools currently participating in a nationwide Picturing America pilot program have been tremendously receptive to the initiative. Educators have even testified before Congress on behalf of Picturing America and its educational impact on their schools.

“The Picturing America grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities has truly enriched our lives,” said Katrine Watkins, Librarian at Shaler Area Intermediate School in Glenshaw, Pa. at a recent Congressional hearing in Washington. “Valuable as the Picturing America posters are to teaching our curriculum, however, perhaps their greatest worth is their limitless potential to teach us all—students, staff, and parents—about ourselves.”

From Jan. 7 through April 15, 2008, 26,320 schools and public libraries in all fifty states, the District of Columbia, and five U.S. Territories successfully applied to receive Picturing America in the program’s first nationwide application period. A complete list of recipient schools and public libraries in cities and states across the country is available on the media page of the Picturing America Web site.

The NEH will offer Picturing America to more schools and libraries through a future enrollment opportunity beginning in Aug. 2008. All eligible organizations in the U.S. and its territories that have not previously received Picturing America may apply for the program from Aug. 4 through Oct. 31, 2008 at PicturingAmerica.neh.gov.

In addition to schools and libraries, through an interagency agreement, NEH and the Administration for Children and Families within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Head Start will work together to make Picturing America available to the 20,000 Head Start centers around the nation. This partnership will provide for the development of materials to supplement Picturing America and ensure that the program will enhance early childhood development and family literacy.

The NEH wishes to thank the following organizations: the American Library Association, Office of Head Start, Institute of Museum and Library Services, the National Park Service, The History Channel, and the National Trust for the Humanities. The NEH is grateful for the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Smith, as well the support of Honorable William D. Rollnick and the Honorable Nancy Ellison.

Picturing America is distributed by the NEH in cooperation with the ALA. For information about the ALA, please visit www.ala.org.

And, as promised, the list of schools and libraries, grouped by community:

Ardsley
Ardsley Middle School
Concord Road School

Armonk
H.C. Crittenden Middle School

Bedford
Fox Lane High School
St. Patrick’s School
Bedford Hills Elementary School

Blauvelt
Cottage Lane Elementary School
South Orangetown Middle School

Brewster
St. Lawrence O’Toole

Briarcliff Manor
Briarcliff High School
Briarcliff Middle School
Todd Library Media Center

Bronxville
Bronxville Middle School

Carmel
Carmel High School
George Fischer Middle School
Kent Elementary School
Kent Primary School
Kent Public Library

Chappaqua
Douglas Grafflin Elementary School Library

Chestnut Ridge
Fleetwood Elementary School Library Media Center

Cold Spring
Haldane Middle/High School Library

Congers
Clarkstown High School North

Cortlandt
St. Columbanus School

Dobbs Ferry
The Masters School

Elmsford
Our Lady of Mt. Carmel School

Garnerville
St. Gregory Barbarigo School

Goldens Bridge
Increase Miller Elementary School Library

Harrison
Harrison Public Library

Hartsdale
Sacred Heart School

Hastings-on-Hudson
Graham School Library
Hastings on Hudson Public Library

Irvington
Irvington Public Library

Katonah
Katonah Village Library

Lincolndale
Somers High School Library Media Center

Mahopac
Mahopac High School Library
Mahopac Public Library
St. John the Evangelist School

Mamaroneck
F.E. Bellows
Mamaroneck Avenue School
Mamaroneck High School

Monsey
ASHAR School
Elmwood Elementary School
Grandview Elementary School
Margetts School Library

Mount Vernon
A.B. Davis Middle School
Grimes Elementary
Our Lady of Victory School
St. Ursula Learning Center

Nanuet
Albertus Magnus High School
St. Anthony School

New City
Hillcrest Intermediate School
New City Elementary School
New City Library
St. Augustine Parish School
Summit Park Elementary School

New Rochelle
Holy Name of Jesus School
Iona Grammar School
Jefferson Elementary School
Trinity Elementary School

North Salem
North Salem Middle High School

Nyack
Nyack Library
The River School

Orangeburg
Tappan Zee High School

Ossining
St. Augustine School
Brookside School Library
Ossining High School
Park School Library
St. Ann’s School

Patterson
Matthew Paterson Elementary School

Peekskill
Hillcrest Elementary
Peekskill Central School District
Peekskill High School
Peekskill Middle School

Pelham
Colonial Elementary School
Hutchinson Elementary School
Our Lady of Perpetual Help
Pelham Memorial High School
Pelham Middle School
Prospect Hill Elementary School
Siwanoy Elementary School

Piermont
Tappan Zee Elementary School

Port Chester
Corpus Christi School
King Street School Library

Purchase
Purchase Elementary School

Rye
Midland School
Milton School
Osborn Elementary School
Rye Middle / High School

Scarsdale
Edgemont Jr/Sr High School
Immaculate Heart of Mary

Shrub Oak
Lakeland High School

Sloatsburg
Sloatsburg Elementary School
Sloatsburg Public Library

South Salem
Lewisboro Elementary School
Meadow Pond Elementary School

Spring Valley
Eldorado Elementary school
Finkelstein Memorial Library

Suffern
Montebello Elementary School
Pomona Middle School
Richard P. Connor Elementary School / Library
Viola Elementary School

Tappan
William O. Schaefer Elementary School

Tarrytown
Sleepy Hollow High School
The Hackley School
Washington Irving School

Thiells
Fieldsone Secondary School Library Media Center

Tuckahoe
Tuckahoe Public Library

Valhalla
Mount Pleasant Blythedale UFSD

Valley Cottage
St. Paul School Library

West Nyack
Clarkstown High School South

Yonkers
Christ the King School
Commerce Middle School Library Media Center
Greenburgh Academy
Mark Twain Middle School
Orchard School Library
P.E.A.R.L.S. Hawthorne School
Paideia School #24
R. C. Dodson
School 13
School Five
St. Anthony School
St. Bartholomew School
St. Joseph School
St. Peter’s School
Westchester Hills School 29
Yonkers Middle School