Danielle Slentz's Blog

6,314,136 pieces of artwork are being hosted at this site for friends, family and other eager artists to view!  Artsonia is the world’s largest kids art museum online!  Educators can now have a site to store their students artwork, while also making it accessible to the world!  Friends and family can view the artwork online, join the fan club and leave personalized comments.  Schools can even earn money when family purchases keepsakes with their child’s artwork on it, which is a big boost to the budget!

I am so thrilled to have found out about this site!  On my way to the NYSATA (New York State Art Teacher’s Association), the K-2 Elementary art teacher (in my district) who I drove with, was telling me about it.  And go figure, there was also an Artsonia workshop at the conference as well. 

We’ve been attempting to figure out how we were going to go about beginning our student’s art portfolios.  We’ve already begun photographing their work and organizing them by class and student.  Where we kept hitting a problem was when the time would come to purchase 350+ rewritable C.D.’s.  Whose budget would it come from, could we write a grant, would a retailer donate them?  Now finally, we have an answer…and so much more!  We’re planning on hosting students artwork at artsonia, and hoping families and friends will be more involved and aware of their children’s work.  Not only is this site great for managing photos, disk space and making children feel accomplished, but it’s promoting art as a legitimate, interesting an”money-making” discipline that ties people to one another.

Signing up as an educator and getting your artist’s portfolios rolling is easy!  Just watch this video tutorial and start snapping pictures.  It would be extremely beneficial to include an “About Artsonia” along with your student’s photo release forms and urge parents and family to regularly check and comment on artwork.  You’ll be amazed at how quickly your art program will grow in stature and funds!  Have fun!