Iowa’s Bettendorf Community School District Teacher Honored with 2022 Art Education Leadership Award
Herbert Hoover Elementary School and Mark Twain Elementary School art instructor Meghan Purcell is the recipient of Artsonia’s 2022 Art Education Leadership Award. The award honors pioneers in the art education community who continuously inspire their peers and engage students.
Purcell’s peers and Artsonia selected her among thousands of instructors as one of 15 national winners of this award.
“Being recognized as a leader in arts education is an incredible honor,” Purcell said. “I truly love what I do, and as every educator does, I constantly wonder if I am doing enough. This award reminds me that the work I am doing as an art educator is meaningful to my peers, my students, and their families. This award reminds me that being an art teacher is important and the work I am doing is inspiring others around me.”
Purcell is in her seventeenth year as an art instructor. She strives to cultivate an environment where students can freely express themselves.
“Many of my students, just as the rest of us have, experienced trauma in some form or another over the past few years,” Purcell said. “I strive every day to make my classroom a haven where students can shed fear and anxiety and escape into our creative world even if just for a little while. I want my students to be able to take the unique techniques and experiences we have learned in art class with them in their creative journey.”
Purcell is one of thousands of art teachers from over 100 countries around the world who use Artsonia to showcase their student art, crowdsource lesson plans and help fundraise for their classrooms. Artsonia, the world’s largest online student art museum with more than 90 million pieces of art, allows family and friends of student artists create and purchase organic keepsakes from the student art, and then gives back 20 percent of all revenue to the local art classroom.
“Artsonia has allowed me to share the amazing work my students are doing in class with their families all over the country, not just here in Bettendorf,” Purcell said. “Artsonia allows students to become curators of their own digital art portfolios, reflect on their work through artist statements, and build self-esteem with comments from their fan club of family and friends.”
Artsonia’s 2022 Art Education Leadership Award serves as a way to honor the passionate, dedicated instructors who teach their students to create and value art, produce innovative lessons, and continually motivate their peers on Artsonia.
“Artsonia strives to provide art educators a platform to inspire one another,” said Jim Meyers, CEO and co-founder of the company. “We could not thrive without the commitment and ingenuity of teachers like Meghan who use their online gallery and lesson plans to motivate others. This Art Education Leadership Award is a way for us to recognize the hard-working, passionate people who help our children cherish art and cultivate their creative side.”
For more information, visit artsonia.com.
About Artsonia
Artsonia is the world’s largest online collection of student art and a destination for thousands of art educators in over 100 countries worldwide. The website curates 90 million pieces of student art (and counting). Artsonia works with teachers to create online school art galleries and student art portfolios. Parents and relatives can view the art online, leave comments and order keepsakes featuring the artwork. As part of its mission, Artsonia donates 20 percent of merchandise revenue directly back to local classrooms. Since 2000, it has donated more than $12.5 million.
A 2020 Common Sense Education Top Pick for Learning, Artsonia inspires students and promotes the sharing of art with its weekly Artist of the Week campaign and online gift shop — all while helping to fund local school art programs.
To learn more, visit artsonia.com.
