Artsonia: Online Gallery
Raises Funds, Art Awareness,
And Self-Esteem

Part 2

Did you catch Part 1 of this article? If not, be sure to read Part 1 to learn about…

Art teacher Kathy Jadud has found Artsonia to be enjoyable for parents and students and professionally rewarding for herself. While she first used Artsonia as a showcase for her students’ work, she is now benefiting from its fundraising elements.
Susan Bivona, a self-described “Artsonia groupie,” says that her students’ gallery has made students, parents, and administrators take notice of the art program she instructs. Students love their Artsonia portfolios and Bivona appreciates how the company responds to teachers’ requests.
Tiffany Rahn, Artsonia’s education director shares the company’s history and goals.
Artsonia vets offer tips for newbies.

"WATCH ME GROW"

Last spring, when the local phone company in Arlington Heights, Illinois, desired to decorate its book of yellow pages with children's artwork, Tricia Fuglestad, an art teacher at Dryden Elementary School, directed the book's designers to her students’ Artsonia gallery. There they "shopped" for images to fill their book, and the finished product showcased many wonderful projects produced by Dryden artists.

The "Art"
Of Artsonia

Art teacher Tricia Fuglestad has managed an Artsonia online gallery for several years. She says that one of the most practical rules to follow when establishing a gallery is to label artwork clearly with the student's first name so that it is easy to see who the art belongs to in the digital image.

"Also, try to register parents yourself," she advises. "It may seem like a bunch of work upfront, but there is a huge benefit. The very first time a piece of artwork is uploaded for a child, the registered parent will get an email message. Parents are much more likely to participate in the fun of writing comments, joining fan clubs, and making purchases. The more parent involvement, awareness, and buzz, the more purchases are made. It's a win-win situation."

For Fuglestad's students, Artsonia holds a "working portfolio" of finished artwork from their early days of school. She includes a description of each project gallery so that visitors can identify the learning objectives and accurately discern how well their children met those goals. At the end of their elementary experience, the students burn digital portfolio CDs of their work. However, Artsonia remains as a personal online gallery that the students may continue to add to throughout middle and high school.

Last year, Fuglestad worked with a group of volunteer student filmmakers to create a "commercial" for Artsonia to help promote community participation. They wrote an original song, recorded it, and filmed in front of a green screen with the Artsonia Web site layered behind. Watch Me Grow illustrates the enthusiasm that the students have for Artsonia and what it offers to them. The Dryden gallery has earned more than $1,000 in each of the last few years, enabling Fuglestad to obtain a new digital camera, interactive whiteboard, projector, software, supplies, and other materials for the art room.

"Artsonia came to my district during our annual Recharge conference for art teachers in 2002," recalled Fuglestad. "I asked for administrative approval [to participate] at the time but was denied. I think my district didn't have policies in place for a teacher to host a fundraiser. So, I asked the PTA to sponsor and chair my online digital art gallery. This plan was approved in May of 2005. Being a PTA-sponsored committee means I automatically have parent volunteers and parent participation, which is key to Artsonia really impacting an art teacher's program."

Recently, Fuglestad found an additional way to inspire more participation among parents. She chose to replace the art room smocks by using budget money to purchase them through Artsonia. Before she bought the smocks, she held a free, all-school raffle to determine the student artwork that each smock would feature. Thirty winners were selected school-wide. Her raffle flyer served as another opportunity for families to sign up to join the gallery and drummed up great excitement for the student art.

"One of the cutest phenomena I've noticed since I've begun to use Artsonia has to do with students wearing shirts that feature their artwork," Fuglestad shared. "Students buy a shirt from Artsonia and wear it on their scheduled art day. When they come in the room, they walk extra slow in front of me, waiting for me to notice. When I do, I make a huge deal about it, grab a camera, and take their picture. I use those photos to fill the art display case at the end of the school year when all the regular artwork goes home."

Like Mount Prospect School, Dryden Elementary has a very diverse population. There are many English language learners who have extended families in other parts of the world. Family members join the students' "fan clubs" and leave comments about their artwork.

"They are staying in touch and connected over art while boosting my young artists' self-esteem," said Fuglestad. "I just love reading through the comments posted for my students. There are affectionate outpourings of love and pride in English, Polish, Italian, and other languages."

Tricia Fuglestad's students get a kick out of posing for her in their Artsonia "gear."

She added, "I try to encourage students to give compliments to each other about their artwork. I have used Artsonia as a tool to teach students to write nice messages to younger students, not just their friends. Every comment is like a wonderful, confidence-boosting present."

Students aren't the only ones who take advantage of Artsonia's artistic camaraderie. Fuglestad uses the site to communicate with other art teachers on a regular basis. If she has questions about the details of an eye-catching project, she just dashes off a message to another teacher and they "talk shop."

"I'm exchanging ideas with art educators all of the time," admits Fuglestad. "As visual art specialists, we really get it when we see it, so having all of those images of lessons available is so much better than just reading about them."

SPOTLIGHT ON
YOUNG ARTISTS

"I have found that some of the biggest fans of Artsonia are grandparents," says Donna Staten. "They love being able to see the artwork online and write sweet comments to the children. They love ordering items featuring the artwork as well. The gift items are very high-quality, and I have never had a complaint about anything ordered. The fundraiser income is a nice benefit of Artsonia, but I would still do this even without it."

A nine-year veteran of Artsonia, Staten is building a fresh gallery this year with students in her new assignment as an art teacher at Gattis Elementary School in Round Rock, Texas.

"There are so many benefits that come with Artsonia, but I think the best is simply giving children an online venue to showcase their art," shared Staten. "Many children receive accolades for their athletic or music talents; but there are far less avenues for talented artists to shine publicly. And for those children who thought they were not artists -- now they are!"

While coordinating an online gallery adds more work to an already busy school day, Staten firmly believes that the outcome is worth her investment of time and effort. She finds the tasks easier to complete if she stays current with uploading pictures of projects as they are finished and tries to publish every piece of student artwork. Artsonia staff members have been helpful in answering questions and solving problems quickly and professionally.

"A specific way that Artsonia is meaningful is in giving a tool to military parents serving overseas to still be directly involved in their children's school lives," Staten added. "They can view the artworks and write touching comments from wherever they are stationed. I've had this happen many times."

04/13/2009