You are a mother who, despite your endlessly busy schedule, has encouraged the creative output of your children. You may now be facing a mountain of objects or piles of artwork that sit somewhere or everywhere throughout the home. You may even feel guilty for not displaying it in some bulletin board type fashion on a wall. A few of you may even have thrown it all away (secretly I hope). If this is you, first drop the guilt. This is your home. It should represent you and how you want to live and function within it. There are ways of managing artwork without dedicating a room to the storage of it.

Let's establish the idea that we want our children to create and will not limit their output as long as they are putting creative effort into each piece. We also want to acknowledge their efforts. This usually involves displaying the work for a time. Time and amount of space for the purpose of display are the two varying factors you can play with.

If you have very little space in your home and don't want the big bullitin board effect, purchase an 11 x 14" frame for each child.  It's a breeze to change out pictures in new frames with the metal latches in the back. Group the frames together and display a new work as often as once a week with little effort. Your children will love the profesional appearance of their work displayed this way.

You can use a bullitin board and push pins devoted specifically to your children's art. Occasionally back up the picture with a colored border of construction paper for a Wow effect. You can use a refrigerator and magnets if you like that look. The important thing is to choose some way of display that fits with the ideas you have for your home. Any room is fair game as long as visitors can be taken there so that the children have a way of showing their work to others.

Art that won't be displayed: Artwork in sketchbooks should be left there and stored on a bookshelf. Tear out only those works that will be displayed. Loose sheets should be kept in a portfolio. A portfolio is two covers joined together on one side so that the covers protect the artwork. These can be purchased, constructed of chipboard or heavy cardboard fastened by tape, or can be as simple as a sheet of poster board folded in half. Stacked upright against a wall or between bookends, you can store a lot of work in one place. It has the added benefit of being a special place that can be perused through by child and grandparents at any time. While you are storing artworks in portfolios be sure to record the child's name and age on the portfolio. If you have time put that information on each work.

If you are a tosser, I suggest not letting your children know. As an art teacher I've had many children not put effort into their work because they told me their Mom will throw it away when they get home. Sad. I suggest displaying some things, even if you only devote one frame to it as suggested above, and stuff the others away until they are forgotten, then edit the work. I'm glad I did not edit my children's work too soon. I'd forgotten some things that they were into at certain ages. Like browsing through photographs, it reminded me of some beautiful parts of their childhood once they had grown up. 

Sculptures can be displayed within the child's room. Those sculptures that won't be displayed can be put in a box that your child knows about so that they can share their current work with others. Then edit at some later date after the child forgets or no longer cares about the object. When you do this will depend on how much space you have for storage. I hope these ideas leave you guilt-free and your child enthusiastic and proud of their accomplishments in the arts.    
 

A designated frame for each child will ensure that you are encouraging artistic expression while controlling the space that artwork takes up in your home. How many children do you have? These frames look great grouped in 2's, four's, eight's, or anything in between.

I bought new 11 x 14" frames that came with a matte cut to 8 x 11". These frames had metal latches attached to a board backing which slid easily into grooves that were cut into the wooden frame. This held the picture tightly against the glass when in place. 


Photographs have different measurements from art papers. Photographs are 8x 10" while a comparable size paper is 9x 12". While putting a 9 x 12 piece of paper in this matte will work, you may find that the matte hides too much of the picture, especially if your child tends to draw or paint all the way to the edges. You can cut a matte with an 8x 10" opening to 8 1/2" by 11 1/2". This will leave a quarter inch around all edges. 

Group the frames and use this area as a permanent display space for each child. Artwork can be changed easily and as often as you like.

  


Brenda Ellis
Artistic Pursuits Inc.
2626 East 109th Ave.
Northglenn, Colorado 80233
www.artisticpursuits.com
To Contact Brenda at Artistic Pursuits Inc.

PORTFOLIOS