Spring Branch ISD Featured News

Artsonia.com, the world’s largest online collection of student art, recognizes Allisson Contreras for her winning artwork.

Northbrook High School student Allisson Contreras is the proud winner of Artsonia’s Artist of the Week contest, a voting competition held on Artsonia.com, the world’s largest collection of student art portfolios, exhibiting over 100 million pieces of student art.

Artist of the Week winner Allisson Contreras 

Contreras received over 500 online votes for her winning artwork titled Harvest Haven. The piece depicts a blue tractor parked next to a barn with a pile of hay.

“I would say my inspiration came from the beauty of real-life things,” Contreras said of her winning artwork. “My process was to try not to be a perfectionist. I realized that the more I focused on having fun while drawing, the less I stressed, and it took less time than I expected.”

When asked how she felt when she learned she won Artist of the Week, Contreras said, “The funny thing is that I thought I had lost because I looked at last week's winners. So, when I found out, I was in disbelief. However, I was very proud of myself because I could say I did something to impact other people’s lives.”

Contreras’ teacher, Christopher McVay, has been teaching art for more than nine years.

“I find passion in creating with kids and seeing how they grow in their craft. I also love to find opportunities for my students that I never had when I was their age,” McVay said.

McVay is one of the thousands of art teachers who use Artsonia to digitally showcase student art, organize and plan art lessons, and fundraise for their classrooms. Artsonia allows family and friends of student artists to view the art online and create custom keepsakes from the student artwork. Artsonia gives back 20% of all revenue to the local art classroom.

“I’ve used Artsonia for seven of the nine years I’ve taught art,” McVay said. “It’s fun to visit work from students in the past to help remind us of how far we’ve come as a department.”

Artsonia launched Artist of the Week 20 years ago to encourage teachers to submit student artwork and engage schools and communities in voting for and recognizing 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.

“It means everything to me, knowing that my students are recognized for their artistic achievements,” McVay said. “I give many opportunities for achievement in art, but I never thought one of my students would win Artist of the Week. I am so proud and so happy for Allisson to win this award.”

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

"Artsonia's mission is to bring communities together to recognize children's creative expression," said Jim Meyers, CEO and co-founder of the company. "Artist of the Week serves as a way to encourage local schools, families, and friends to get involved in the process of creating and celebrating student art."

For more information, visit artsonia.com.