Washington, KS — (October 2022) Washington County High School student Kady Toole recently won Artsonia’s Artist of the Week contest in late October, a voting competition held on Artsonia.com, the world’s largest collection of student art portfolios exhibiting over 95.5 million pieces of student art.

Kady received more than 1,500 online votes for her winning art, a charming chalk pastel piece depicting a small child gazing into the eyes of a lamb, titled, ‘Nose to Nose.’

“I like having a relaxing class and I enjoy being with other students who appreciate art,” Kady said regarding her art class.

When asked how she felt when she found out she won Artist of the Week, Kady said, “I was happy not just for me but for the opportunity for our entire class to win something.”

Kady’s teacher, Erin Toole has been teaching art for more than 15 years. Her passion for art education is fueled by, “Seeing students excitedly share about an idea they want to try or seeing them finish a piece that they are really proud of.”

When asked what it means to have a student honored for their artistic achievement, Toole said, “I love when students are recognized for their hard work and persistent commitment to their craft, not just for talent.”

Toole is one of the thousands of art teachers who use Artsonia to showcase their student art, manage the art room, crowdsource lesson plans, and fundraise for their classrooms. Artsonia lets family and friends of student artists create and purchase custom keepsakes from the student art and then gives back 20 percent of all revenue to the local art classroom.

Artsonia developed Artist of the Week ten years ago as a way to encourage teachers to submit student artwork and engage the school and community to vote on and recognize students for their creative achievements. Every week, Artsonia selects 12 random submissions in each of four different age groups (PreK-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12) from artwork submitted the previous week. Voting is open to the public for several days before the winner is announced.

Blick Art Materials generously donates a $100 gift certificate to the winning school and an individual $50 gift certificate to the student artist.

“Our mission at Artsonia is to bring communities together to celebrate children's artistic expressions,” said Jim Meyers, CEO, and co-founder of the company. “Artist of the week is a perfect way to get local schools, families, and friends involved in the process of creating, recognizing, and cherishing student art.”