Art Attack

864

That’s the number of masterpieces per child you’ll end up with if you keep just three artistic creations a week, nine months of the year from nursery to grade six. That’s an awful lot of art.

So ’tis the season to get your artwork management system in place for the oncoming deluge of creativity. It’s a good idea to establish a system that works for your family and your space, make sure everyone’s on board with it and avoid the piles (and the guilt). It’s a four-step process—Display, Decide, Store and Destroy/Recycle.

Display
Establish a place where the daily art that comes home can be displayed. Beyond the usual fridge door or bulletin board, there are other creative and simple options:

• Hang ‘em high – string a lightweight clothesline in the corner of the child’s room or playroom and clip on with clothespins
• Wall for all – designate an entire wall in an out of the way place such as the back entrance as the family art gallery and give each child a section, using sticky tack to attach the art to the wall
• Under glass – slip art under the sheet of glass protecting your coffee table or dining table
• Stick up – install a magnetic board (we like the clean lines of the Spontan from IKEA in each child’s room and allow them to display the week’s worth of art there