Each group in our art direction class was given a client to execute an ad campaign for in the form of three print ads. Our client was the National Endowment for the Arts, and the goal of the campaign was to persuade the public that the NEA should remain included in the Congressional budget.

We wanted to find a solution that not only highlighted just how little of the annual budget is appropriated to the NEA but also created a conversation about the impact of arts participation in children and the power of art therapy. What we landed on was the idea of "arming the arts," which we executed by arranging art supplies so that the negative space created the shapes of various weapons.

Each print ad focuses on a different aspect of the effect of the arts on the public. One focuses on how arts participation in children builds confidence and encourages them to stay in school, another highlights the disproportion of funds allocated to the NEA versus the military, and another focuses on the impact of art therapy on military patients and others living with trauma.

The result is a campaign that visually entices the viewer and educates them on some key aspects of how arts participation positively affects many different aspects of society.