Square 1 Art | Our Story

Our Story - where it starts with your art!

Promoting the accomplishments of the artist
Marty Reid, an elementary art teacher working for a fundraising company, had an epiphany in 2000. While she appreciated the process of replicating children’s art on a variety of products to raise funds for schools, she and her husband recognized this type of fundraising program was cumbersome for the art teachers, and was focused primarily on the dollars raised, and did little to promote the accomplishments of the artist.


The art fundraiser is a natural fit within the school curriculum
When her suggestions for ways to improve the program went unheeded, she set off on a quest to start a company that went back to square one — and Square 1 Art was born. Marty taught her team the rigors and challenges teachers face every single day and developed her system to fit them, not fight them. Using innovative techniques, they customized the program to promote each child — ensuring “every child felt like an accomplished artist” by having their artwork
published on something to share (regardless of whether funds were raised or not). As the company grew, the lesson plans improved and are the only art fundraising plans tied directly to national art education standards — making it a natural fit within the school curriculum.


Raise funds while building creative minds
When looking for a way to raise funds while supporting the arts and building up the creative minds of students, “Get back to Square 1 Art — where it starts with your art.”

How to create a Squicker Wall of Fame

No time to hold an art show?

We have a quick and easy way to display student artwork that is sure to pump up their self-esteem! What a great way to motivate families to participate in the elementary school art fundraiser!

Think about it!

How much do your students love their free gift of Square 1 Art Squickers?

(20 custom stickers of their very own artwork that they receive free upon their school participating in a Square 1 Art easy to run art fundraiser)

Plan ahead and create a Great Wall of Fame with each child's artwork.

Follow these three easy steps to creating a beautiful wall of art!

This idea was created by: West Bradford Elementary, Downingtown PA

Step One

Dress up your bulletin board.

Use butcher or kraft paper to create a dramatic back drop. Cut out shapes or letters to outline the stickers. This will keep the stickers in place upon applying.  Do you want your shapes or letters to appear 3-D? Use foam core board as a backing for the stickers.

Many stores in your neighborhood typically are willing to give away scraps.  When I was in art school I would go by the interior design shops and retrieve their old fabric samples to use in my art.

Step Two

Apply the Squickers.

Upon receipt of your custom catalogs and squickers that showcase the student's artwork, pull one sticker off of each sheet and apply them to the bulletin board.  Another fun idea is to involve the students in your creation.  Have them apply their own stickers.  They could also sign the back drop as they are choosing the perfect squicker location.

Step Three

Reveal the completed Squicker Wall of Fame

Hold a parent night and have the students present the wall. You could also showcase the wall during morning announcements or a pep-rally.

This is just another fun and easy way to showcase your pint sized Picasso's beautiful art masterpieces!

Do you have a picture of your Great Wall of Fame? Share it with us! #square1art or @square1art

Keys to a successful school art fundraiser!

Promotion through Communication = Successful Fundraising!

Communicate the school art fundraiser to students and parents.  Remember, through our online ordering option parents may share their child's artwork with out of town family members!

The sky is the limit with Square 1 Art Fundraising!  

 Create excitement by showcasing sample products at your school.  Create billboards and use the posters we provide to decorate hallways, lunch rooms, and the front office. 

 Allow students and families to view, touch, and feel the quality of Square 1 Art products.  You will make a great impact if families see the products in person.

Photos courtesy of Kristeen Jahner, Art Specialist at Horizons Elementary

Additional ways to promote 

• Reward students
• Sweet treats
• Parties
• Extra recess
• Reward parent volunteers
• Thank you cards
• I owe you coupons
• Luncheons
• Principal spreads the word
• School wide email
• Voice mail call out system
• School Marquee
• School newsletter
• Classroom newsletter

Link to Square1art.com from your website.

Use the code below, it's that easy!

< a href="http://www.square1art.com" target="_new"><img src="http://www.square1art.com/css/images/logo.png" alt="support your school fundraising ideas by purchasing your child's art on unique keepsakes "/> </a>

Check out Mendon Center Elementary School's PTSA website.  This a great way to reference the Square 1 Art school art fundraiser on your website!

We've created an attention grabbing video that is sure to pump up the students and get them talking about the unique Square 1 Art fundraiser.  We ask that you show this during your morning announcements and/or in the classroom.

Need more ideas?  Contact us at

(888) 332.3294

We are available to customize a promotion plan specific to your school!  Our mission is to ensure that you have a successful school art fundraiser and we take great pride in what we do!

Donate your Square 1 Art funds to charity

One of our school partners in Maine, Eliot Elementary, donates the money they raise from the art fundraiser to a local charity. Last year the proceeds went to the Maine Animal Welfare Society.

Hope Elephants Charity


This year the money is going to a group called Hope Elephants. Located in Hope, Maine, where Eliot Elementary is located, they care for injured and retired circus elephants!

In case you were wondering what happens to circus elephants, and I know you were, you have your answer.
Post by:
Dan Goldhaber
Account Manager at Square 1 Art

Take a tour of Square 1 Art, easy to run school art fundraiser

Square 1 Art is an innovative school art fundraising company that sells custom and unique products that display children’s artwork.  We manufacture all of your products in our own facility.

Welcome to our Home

Take a photo tour of our facility and see where all the magic happens!

Friendly Reception

Beautiful Great Wall of Art

Customer Care and Account Management

Team is responsible for customer service and managing school accounts. Individuals are responsible for fulfilling customer concerns about product orders, and general questions about our fundraisers.

Happy Gram

Company-wide we have implemented many different programs to recognize hard work and achievement.  Our Happy Gram program allows employees (not just managers) to recognize their peers for a job well done.

Human Resources Center

Team is committed to equal opportunity employment and encourages applications from people of diverse backgrounds.

Information Technology

Team is responsible for the development, installation, and implementation of computer systems applications.

Art and Order Receiving

Team is responsible for accurately organizing children's art into folders and crates for handling by other departments. Inspect art for problems and correct illegible or non-conforming art. Other duties may include opening packages of art and order forms for customers and art care as needed.

Data Entry

Team is responsible for the data entry of customer and order data.

Print Production

Team is responsible for performing artwork capturing, image editing, printing, organizing of catalogs and product transfer materials.

Production and Match

Team is responsible for the manufacturing of custom products. Duties include paper trimming, heat press operation, product packing and quality control.  Along with pick/pack and quality control of catalogs and customer orders.

 Finance

Team is responsible for asset management along with printing fundraiser checks for our school partners.

Did you know?  Within the last 10 years, we have given millions back to our school partners to use towards their fundraising goals!

Your time is important when choosing a school fundraiser

When it comes right down to it, the most important thing to keep in mind when choosing a fundraiser for your elementary or private school is time! It's the one thing most of us lack but want more of.

We recommend that you look for an easy to run school art fundraiser when comparing your options.  This will give you more hours in the day to do the things you love like spending time with your family.

How do you know it's going to be easy?

I've listed some important features to look for below :

• Organized
• The artwork and orders are sent back organized by class and student for easy distribution.
• Easy One Time Artwork Shipment
• The art fundraiser provides an easy way for you to ship artwork by including shipping labels.
• You don't have to put in the work of uploading artwork because the company photographs all of the artwork for you.
• The school fundraising company keeps the artwork in their database for orders after the fundraiser is over.
• Ideal Order Experience
• The art fundraiser provides a family friendly shopping experience by providing three easy ways to order: Paper order form, online ordering, and phone orders.
• One woMan Show
• The company prints the school, student, and class information on the school fundraiser take home documents and fundraiser orders to ensure that you could run the fundraiser by yourself or possibly with one other parent volunteer.
• Excellent Customer Service
• The company should provide you with 100% customer satisfaction.
• Their commitment should be to offer you excellence in school fundraising programs and ease of use.
• The art fundraiser should have an 800 number with a customer care department that is available to answer your questions during the fundraising process.
• Some companies only allow you to deal directly with one representative and you should not have to wait for only that person to respond to your question.
• Your inquiries should be answered in a timely manner and shouldn't take more than 24 hours for a response.

Have you had the joy of experiencing the key features above for your easy to run school art fundraiser? 

Please feel free to connect with us at (888) 332.3294.

We welcome the opportunity to speak with you in more detail about how we offer a true fundraiser partnership with school parent organizations just like you!

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The school art fundraiser Square 1 Art is a huge hit!

The Square 1 Art school art fundraiser has been a big hit at our school (Jamestown Elementary)!

Products students are excited to use

Our students have absolutely loved having the opportunity to create art that they will see

reproduced professionally on products! Each student receives their own group of stickers with their art on it for free so that no matter what the student’s financial background, everyone gets a professional product that they are excited to use!

Parents love to continue the tradition

Parents have wanted to ensure that we will continue the program year after year to help them with gift ideas for family.

Extra cash for your art budget

Of course, we as art teachers, have been so excited to have extra cash for our ever-diminishing art budget. Square 1 art has been a Win-Win all around!

Successful Kid Art Lessons Plans

In choosing the projects that would be most successful for each grade level, we tried to choose iconic images that are easy for all students to draw, images that are easy for all ages to connect to, and subjects that could be individualized according to the student’s interest and talent.

Some examples of subjects were: self-portraits, hearts, fish, hands, suns, moons, etc. Every grade level had at least a couple of choices of subjects, with freedom growing with grade level. 

With our upper grades, we allowed them to bring in a sketch if they had an alternative subject idea. With all grades, we just emphasized the things that we teach daily: balance, warm/cool colors, emphasis, pattern, lines, drawing large and filling the page, overlapping, etc. We also placed many examples on the board to get their creative juices flowing!

Kids were so excited to get started, couldn't wait to receive their stickers, and had such enthusiasm while brainstorming who they wanted to purchase a gift for.

We look forward to repeating the school fundraiser next year!

Courtesy of guest blogger:

Denise Teitsma, Art Teacher, Jamestown Elementary

Jamestown Elementary Art Blog

Jamestown Elementary Art Lessons for the Square 1 Art Fundraiser

Join us. Be part of our team

New! Coordinator's Forum

Communicate with other coordinators running the Square 1 Art school art fundraiser. Become a member of the Square 1 Art Coordinator's Group on Linkedin.

• Share best practices, artwork lesson plans, and school fundraising ideas 
• Ask questions regarding elementary school fundraising
• Teach fellow PTA/PTO , art teachers, and volunteers how to promote effectively and efficiently

Join the conversation!  What are you waiting for?

What are the features that you look for in a school fundraiser?

Give us your thoughts by leaving a comment

Thank you to Helen Goren Shafton for the nice comment below. It got us wondering what you look for in a school art fundraiser?

"I have used Square 1 Art at both of my schools for the past three years. It is an excellent way to fundraiser for my art program. One of the best features is not having to scan the student artwork. We just send it to Square 1 Art and they photograph all of the art, create catalogs, take orders and ship the merchandise, which is excellent quality. Over the past 3 years I have received a combined total of almost $3000 from two schools. Don't mean to sound like a salesperson, but this has been a wonderful addition to my program."

Check out our school fundraising programs.  We offer art fundraisers for elementary and private schools.

WANT 20% OFF YOUR NEXT ORDER?

Email us an electronic version of your kids art lesson plan with artwork photos toLisa@square1art.com  Subject: Art Lesson Blog Contest

One art lesson will be chosen weekly to be highlighted on our art fundraising blog!

If you are the chosen you will receive 20% off your next Square 1 Art order.

Be the first to send yours in!  What are you waiting for?